The Sweetheart Deal: A Clean Romance

by Syndi Powell

Overview

Sweet redemption 

When he returns to his Michigan town, Adam Hawkins doesn't expect everyone to just forgive and forget, especially Megan Sweet. But when a killer snowstorm destroys buildings and businesses, including Megan's family-owned bakery, it's his chance to make amends. Now a bank manager, Adam has the power to make things happen. His ideas go way beyond rebuilding his community and mentoring high school kids. He wants to make it up to Megan, who's carrying her own guilt about their shared past. What will it take for Adam to show her that he's a changed man who's ready to rebuild their lives—together?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781488008979
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Syndi Powell started writing stories when she was young to help her find out what happened after the happily ever after and has made it a lifelong pursuit. She’s been reading Harlequin romance novels since she was in her teens and is thrilled to be a part of their team. She lives near Detroit with her mom who is the first reader of all her books, and two dogs who provide hours of endless entertainment.

Read an Excerpt

Megs rested her hand on the old recipe ledger, missing Grammy even more today than ever before. Had it really been four months already since she had died? It didn't seem possible.

She shook off her grief and glanced at the clock. It was a little after four in the morning, her favorite time of the day, just before her employees arrived, when the bakery she had inherited belonged to her alone. She flipped through the pages of the ledger, looking for the right recipe. She needed something special. Something that would shake the dark foreboding that sat heavily on her shoulders.

With the radio blaring, Megs sang along as she creamed the butter and sugar. A strange sound made her look up, but only for a moment. Then she was sifting the flour into the butter mixture, beating the silver cup with the side of her hand.

Though many of her customers loved their standbys, she liked to introduce new items every once in a while. Sometimes to good reviews, others to less than stellar. Hopefully, these butter cookies would inspire new beginnings just like Grammy had promised in the ledger.

Another weird groan came from above her, then a crack as if ice were breaking. She glanced at the ceiling and frowned. One fleeting thought sprang to mind: Get under the table. She hugged the ledger to her chest and scooted beneath the workta-ble just before the roof gave way.

Cold. So cold. Megs peeked from under the table and saw chunks of ice and snow amid roof shingles and splintered wood littering the floor of the kitchen. She remained where she was, however, unsure of whether there would be more falling debris. She hoped not. She hoped this didn't mean the end of the Sweetheart.

Megs tried not to cry. Would someone hear her if she did? She called out, but it was so early. Who else was up this early? "Help!" she hollered again. "I'm under here!" Only silence followed. She thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans, but she'd left her phone in her jacket, which was across the room. Out of reach.

Minutes passed. How long had she been under here? She wasn't sure anymore. It felt like hours, but it couldn't be. Didn't matter, her back was cramping badly. Shivers raced down her spine. Staying here for much longer wasn't an option. She tested her feet, her legs, her arms. Mentally checking if she was all right. She seemed to be. She could be grateful for that at least.

Grateful? How could she—

Was that…

The sirens of the fire trucks and police cars already. "Don't worry," she whispered, clutching the ledger tighter to her chest. "They're coming. Everything will be fine now."

Oh, how she wanted to believe those words.

Adam Hawkins's phone rang twice before he had reached the bank. Because of the precarious conditions of the roads, he ignored it and continued on his way. He needed to get in early so he could get the sidewalks shoveled before customers arrived. He'd already called to ensure the plows had reached his parking lot, but the sidewalks were his responsibility. Welcome to small-town Northern Michigan.

As much as he hated to admit it, returning to his hometown as bank manager was pretty gratifying. The people in town hadn't thought he'd grow up to be much more than a thug, but he'd shown them. He'd become respectable, even wore a suit and tie. A man that his father should be proud of.

Not that anyone seemed to have noticed the internal change in him. Not even his parents, who lived in the same town, but still refused to see him. They still saw the bully, though dressed in a suit. He pulled into the bank parking lot near the back, grabbed the shovel he'd stowed in the bed of his truck and walked carefully to the snow mounded on the sidewalks. Within minutes, he had a square foot of cement cleaned off and felt ready to quit and hire someone else to shovel the rest. Despite the deceptive white fluffy appearance, the snow was wet and heavy. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and his arms ached. Still, only thirty minutes remained until his employees would show, then another thirty for his first customers.

Another car belonging to his teller Eva Stone arrived at the parking lot. When she got out of her car, she looked as though she had dressed for Alaska. She was wearing a thick parka with a hood fringed with faux fur, two scarves wound around her neck and fat mittens on her hands. She approached him slowly, carrying a shovel. She leaned back to look up into his face since she only reached halfway to his shoulder. "Did you hear about the roofs collapsing downtown?"

Leave it to one of his employees to have the latest scoop. "What roofs?"

"Several businesses on Lincoln are gone." She shook her head then started to shovel small loads of snow. "It's too bad about the Sweetheart."

Adam stared across the parking lot toward town. Megan, the baker, was a client of the bank's both professionally and personally. He wondered if she was okay, then reminded himself that she seemed to want nothing to do with him since his return to Lake Mildred. When he ordered pastries for the staff meetings, her sister or another employee delivered them. The night he had stopped in to the bakery himself, she'd stayed in the kitchen for his entire visit until he'd left with his bread. And she never came by his office at the bank when she made her deposits. "Yes, too bad. What other businesses?"

"Will wasn't sure of the extent of the damage, but it's huge." She pushed the snow to the edge of the curb and leaned on her shovel. "The apartments, too. Lot of people homeless this morning."

Adam put his hand on Eva's shoulder. "You don't have to shovel the snow. I can take care of this."

"You saying I can't?"

The spark in her eyes made him wince. "No!" He cleared his throat and started over. "Once we get the snow cleared from the front door, I'd like you to get the branch ready for the day. Coffee brewed, hot water for tea. We're sure to have a lot of visitors today."

"I can shovel snow, too. I'm not an invalid."

He'd seen proof of that himself. He held up a hand. "Didn't say you were."

"Despite what my son says…" She continued to shovel the snow, and together they cleared a path to the door. She paused as Adam unlocked the front doors. Once opened, she disappeared inside. He glanced around the parking lot, then bent his head and continued shoveling the sidewalk.

Finally finished, he shook the snow off himself, then entered the branch. He sniffed appreciatively and walked through the lobby, down the hall to the staff room. Eva turned and handed him a cup of hot coffee. "Black, two sugars."

"You're too good to me, Eva."

"Someone has to take care of you bachelors." She took a sip of her own tea, then nodded to the thermoses on the counter. "I made extra if you want to deliver them to the emergency workers downtown. I'm sure they could use a hot drink right about now. Do wonders for the bank's image, no?"

Adam nodded. When he'd taken the branch manager position, he'd inherited a mess both financially and publicly. The previous manager had been responsible for foreclosing on many homes in the area, known for his tough stance rather than his compassion. Adam's district manager had warned him what he was walking into. Add that to his own past problems with the residents, and Eva was right. Giving out coffee would be only the beginning of what he needed to do. "I'll drop them off as soon as Sandy arrives. Great idea, Eva."

She tapped her head. "Got a bunch of them locked up here."

Later that morning, Adam bundled up and once again trekked out into the frigid landscape. He carried the two thermoses and a plastic bag full of cups, stirrers and packets of cream and sugar. When he reached the corner of Main and Lincoln, he paused. It looked as if a bomb had exploded. He moved to the barricades and motioned to one of the workers. "I brought you guys coffee."

Keith walked over. "Thanks, man."

"Anyone get trapped?"

"They're getting the baker out now. She was there when the roof collapsed. And they're still digging some of the tenants out at the apartments. In a weird way, it's a good thing it happened so early in the morning. Less people around to get hurt."

Adam closed his eyes at the thought of Megan trapped under snow and ice. She had to be okay.

Keith gave a grin. "I'm going to miss her double-chocolate muffins though. Those got me through many a shift."

"How long do you think it will take to get this cleaned up?"

Keith looked back and shrugged. "Day or two. But longer to rebuild." He accepted the thermoses and bags. "Appreciate it."

"Courtesy of the bank."

The man seemed to wince a little but returned to his crew with the coffee. Several turned to Adam and yelled their thanks. He nodded and turned to go back to the bank.

And then he saw her.

Megan emerged from the bakery, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and ambled between two emergency workers. Her sister ran to her and put her arms around her. She didn't look as if she'd been badly injured. He hoped she wasn't.

Before now he hadn't noticed that the Sweetheart was smack-dab in the middle of the most damage. He thought of the bank where he'd be needed. But his feet betrayed him as he walked slowly until he stood in front of her. "I'm sorry about the Sweetheart, Megan. But I'm glad you're all right."

She glanced up sharply at him then shifted away. Her sister, Kelly, rolled her eyes. "I'll bet you're sorry. Go find someone else to harass."

Okay, maybe he'd deserved that before, but he'd changed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "When you're ready to discuss rebuilding."

Megan looked at the card held out to her, then after many long seconds, she took it and put it in the pocket of her jeans. Never saying a word.

Adam turned and almost bumped into a man. He apologized, then paused. He didn't need to ask if the man he'd almost knocked down was Bobby Snow or not since he looked much the same. He still wore glasses, and the chubbiness of adolescence had remained. Bobby recognized him, too, as he made to leave. Adam followed him, however, weaving through the crowd of people who had come to witness the destruction. Adam called after him, "Wait, Bobby. I just want to talk to you."

"Leave me the hell alone."

"I want to apologize."

The other man stopped and faced Adam. "You're joking, right?" He turned to see if anyone else in the crowd was listening to him. "Is this guy kidding me? Because an apology won't make up for what you did."

"I was a jerk in high school. I'm sorry for the awful things I said and did to you."

"Such as…" Bobby crossed his arms over his chest.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. "You really want a list? Fine. I'm sorry for shoving you into the girls' restroom about once a week for three years. I'm sorry that I called you Piggy and Fatty and oinked when you walked down the hall at school." He started counting things off on his fingers. "I apologize for stealing your lunch. For having Sarah McGillis write you a love letter as a joke. For having my team members TP your house. And your car."

"You made Sarah write that note?" Bobby shook his head. "Of course you did. You hated me, so why not humiliate me?"

"I'm sorry." Adam sighed. "I want to apologize and see if I can do anything to make it up to you."

"Why?"

His other victims always asked that question, and he'd never been able to come up with the right answer. "Because I hate how I treated you when we were in high school. You didn't deserve it, and I'm sorry."

Bobby looked him over. "What can you possibly do to atone for making my life miserable for four years?"

Adam shifted his weight from side to side. This was always the hardest part. Because how could he make up for that? For some, it was easy to lend them a helping hand. Others let him off the hook without requiring anything. But Bobby seemed to be the type that would never forgive him no matter what. "What do you want, Bobby? How can I make this up to you?"

Bobby started to laugh, and people started to stare at them. "You really think you can do something to change the stuff that happened twelve years ago? That was the time to make amends. Not now." He hesitated then shook his head again. "Forget it."

He started to walk away, but Adam reached out and grabbed his arm. "Please. There's got to be something."

"You can't change what happened with us, but if you really want to do something you can go talk to the kids in high school like me who have bullies like you. Better yet, you can tell the entire high school how bullying turned you into a big shot while your victims suffered humiliation beyond high school, and worse, died."

Adam paled and dropped his hand. He was right.

Bobby waved him off. "You're all talk, but when it comes to action, you've got nothing. I don't accept your apology. Now you can live with that."

And he spun on his heel and left Adam among the crowd, who eyed him warily. He'd done what he came to do, so Adam took his leave and tromped through the snow heading to the bank. So much rebuilding was left to do in this town.

And the easiest part would be the buildings. The attitudes and memories would take much longer.