Not Quite Over You. Susan Mallery
of characters for her fans to love, complete with a mascot animal. The potent and prolific Mallery delivers again.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“You can always count on Mallery to deliver warm-hearted and quirky stories featuring emotionally dented individuals doing their best to survive and hopefully thrive.... A truly unforgettable read! Mallery is one of a kind!”
—RT Book Reviews, Top Pick!
To Shari—you are a delight and an unexpected bonus in my life. Thank you for being so kind and generous and just plain fun to be around. This one is for you. Well, honestly, you’re going to have to share Mr. Whiskers with the whole group, but the rest of it is yours!!
Contents
Extract
LOVE AT FIRST sight was never a wise decision, but Silver Tesdal couldn’t help herself. Sure, the Airstream was a few years old, with a couple of exterior dents and a messed-up interior in need of complete refurbishing, but still, the lines, the space. It was everything she’d wished for. She would need a three-quarter-ton truck to tow it and more staff, but she could make that happen—at least in her dreams.
There was a second, smaller Airstream in even worse condition, but the twenty-three-foot length would be perfect for low-key affairs. She could already picture what the two would look like refurbished and sporting her AlcoHaul company logo.
She leaned back in her desk chair and smiled. Right now her “company” had exactly one full-time employee—her. She hired any staff she needed on a per-job basis. But, she thought longingly as she looked at the For Sale listings on her computer, with the Airstreams, all that would change. She would need someone to run each of the new trailers, which meant a second and third employee, and hey, the money to meet payroll.
But first she had to buy the trailers, fix them up, get a couple of trucks to tow them from venue to venue and make sure she had enough bookings to make it all worthwhile. She’d run the numbers and she could do it and still turn a profit... In time. As for making it all happen now, when the trailers were available, for that she needed a loan. And while she loved her some Airstreams, she was less excited about dealing with banks.
Silver shut down her browser and picked up the slim, black leather briefcase she’d bought for eight dollars at an estate sale a couple of years ago. She wasn’t the briefcase type, but since starting her business, she’d realized there were times she had to fit in with the conventional world. The briefcase helped her fool those who would otherwise judge.
She slipped in her wallet and her phone, then smoothed the front of her black pencil skirt before heading to the door to her loft. Today and today only, she’d traded in jeans and a tank top for a skirt, silk shell and cropped black blazer. She had applied conservative makeup and had pulled her long blond hair back into a French braid. Faux gold studs and black pumps with three-inch heels completed her transformation. She felt stupid, but knew appearances mattered. Dumb but true.
Ten minutes later, she pulled her truck into the parking lot of California First Savings and Loan. She had already been turned down by three other banks. If California First didn’t give her a loan, then she was screwed.
“Not screwed,” she murmured to herself. “If I don’t get the loan, I will go on as before. I’m doing great and whatever the outcome, I’m going to be completely and totally fine.”
Only she wanted the Airstreams. She wanted to grow her business and be more than anyone had assumed was possible. She was just a nobody from the wrong side of the tracks who had made a lot of stupid decisions along the way. Being