Read Online There's Always Plan B by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page B

for being a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy.”
    â€œThis is too surreal,” Carly said. “Tell me it’s five o’clock somewhere. I think I need wine.”
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    Instead of drowning her sorrows in a glass of chardonnay, Carly chose to put her morning activities behind her and work on her plan. She’d decided to make a formal presentation to her mother, putting everything in writing so they were both clear on where they were going. Assuming this all came to pass.
    After spending most of the past four days brainstorming ways to bring the inn back to profitable status, she found herself getting more and more excited about the possibilities. If her mother agreed with Carly’s ideas, there was a better-than-even chance they could make a lot of money. Things had a chance of going badly, as well, but Carly didn’t want to think about that.
    She ran the numbers for the fourth time that afternoon, then made sure all her spreadsheets were in order. While she would have liked to do her presentation on the computer, she thought her mother would be more comfortable with actual paper in front of her.
    She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice the time, and was shocked when Tiffany stormed into her room.
    â€œI’ll never forgive you,” the teen announced as tears spilled down her face. “Never, ever.”
    Carly glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was nearly three-thirty. She was supposed to meet with her mother at four.
    She put aside her paper and rose to face her daughter. Obviously her first day at a new high school hadn’t been a success.
    â€œTell me what happened,” Carly said quietly.
    â€œNothing. Exactly nothing. No one talked to me, no one even looked at me. It’s like I was invisible. I sat by myself at lunch. That’s never happened to me before. I’m the popular one. I’m the one who gets to say who’s in and who isn’t.”
    She wiped her face, then threw her books on the bed. “Plus you let Grandma come pick me up. Do you know how humiliating that was? She was standing outside the car! She called my name and waved.”
    Carly winced. When her mother had offered to pick up Tiffany, Carly had been grateful for the extra time to polish her work. She hadn’t thought to warn her not to acknowledge Tiffany in any way until she was in the car and they were safely out of sight of her friends.
    â€œI’m sorry about that,” Carly told her. “I know this seems horrible now, but it will get better.”
    â€œHow do you know?” Tiffany demanded. “You never changed schools when you were growing up. You never had your life destroyed. I hate you! This is all your f-fault.” Her voice broke on a sob. “If you weren’t such a bitch, Daddy never would have left us. We wouldn’t have had to move here. You did this. You—”
    Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, as if she’d just realized what she’d said.
    Carly experienced her own brand of shock. Her daughter had gotten angry with her before—countless times—but she’d never sworn at her. Sympathy turned to annoyance and threatened to grow into something else.
    She wanted a chance to have her own tantrum. When did she get to rage at the unfairness of it all? She wanted to give her daughter a few facts about where the blame lay, and point out that her precious father had only called under threat of a court order.
    Then the anger grew and was joined by the sharp pain of raising a teenager and being the bad guy all the time. Eventually she and Tiffany would reconnect. Eventually her daughter would understand what was important, but that era of peace and unity was years away. Until then there was only this.
    â€œI meant it,” Tiffany said, raising her chin. “I don’t care if you punish me. What does it matter if I’m grounded? I don’t have anywhere to go