"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 011 - Sunset Paradise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

"So what are you springing for today?" Sam asked, pushing her curls behind one ear.
"Something for Molly," Darcy said. "Something terrific. I'll know it when I see it."
Darcy was referring to sixteen-year-old Molly Mason. Darcy lived at the Masons' hilltop mansionЧsome people said it was hauntedЧand took care of Molly, who was a paraplegic due to a terrible car accident only months earlier. She also knew that Molly, who before her accident had been quite independent and fearless, hated going out in public in her wheelchair.
"You couldn't get Molly to come?" Sam asked.
Darcy shrugged. "It seems like it's one step forward and two steps back sometimes. But this guy has been calling her, the one we met at that clambake a while back."
Sam looked puzzled for a moment. Then it dawned on her who Darcy was talking about. "You mean Howie Lawrence?"
"Right!" Darey said. "They've been having this great phone friendship, and then last week Howie came over and we rented a video. Well, now he's asked Molly to the movies, so I wanted to get her something special to wear."
"That is so cool!" Sam exclaimed. She really had to laugh. Howie Lawrence was a nice guy she, Emma, and Carrie had met the summer before. He'd had a terrible crush on Carrie, who hadn't returned his amorous
feelings. Well, now it seemed as if Howie Lawrence had a new love interest!
"She hasn't even said she'll go out with him yet," Darcy admitted. "I'm hoping some new killer outfit will help persuade her."
Just then Becky stomped over to Sam. "This store sucks," she said. "You know that sweepstakes they're having where you win a trip to the Bahamas? Well, the salesgirl says we can't enter because you have to be eighteen."
"Enter for us, okay?" Allie asked Sam, coming up beside her sister.
Sam looked over at a huge display with bigger-than-life cutouts of a cute girl and guy, each wearing a bathing suit by Paradise Swimwear. Next to the cutout figures a sign read, Win a Trip for Two to Paradise. The Cheap Boutique carried a lot of Paradise's beachwear, and the company was sponsoring the sweepstakes. Other stores all across the country were participating as well. Sam knew this because she'd already read all the information on the entry form when she and Carrie and Emma had entered the week before.
"Sorry, I already filled out a form, and you can only enter once," Sam told her.
Becky took over at Darcy. "Would you enter for me?"
Darcy took in the Paradise display. "Nope, but I think I'll enter for me," she said, walking over to pick up a form.
Becky made a noise of disgust and strode away. Allie followed her.
"That's Becky and Allie for you," Sam explained apologetically to Darcy. "SorryЧ they haven't got the best manners in the world."
"I probably don't, either," Darcy said, reading over the entry form. "Well, it says here that all I have to do is fill this out. I can handle that."
"Better do it quick. Today is the last day to enter the sweepstakes," the salesgirl said as she walked over to them. "In fact, the winner is going to be announced tonight."
"Wait a minute," Sam said, her hands on her hips. "How can the winner be announced tonight if there are entry forms all over the country, and no one has collected them yet?"
"There's a hookup to each store's computer," the salesgirl explained. "Each store is supposed to enter all the data by five o'clock this afternoon. Then the company will pick the winner tonight at nine o'clock at the main office of Paradise Swimwear in New York."
"Miss, I'm still waiting for you to ring this
up!" an angry woman yelled from across the store.
"I'm coming!" the salesgirl called. "I wish I could enter," she said to Sam and Darcy. "I sure could use a week in paradise." She sighed and headed for her irate customer.
"Well, I might as well fill it out," Darcy said with a shrug. "Maybe I'll get lucky."
"Hey, I thought you were psychic," Sam teased her. "Can't you just divine whether or not you're going to win?"
"That's the problem with this psychic stuff," Darcy said absentmindedly as she filled out the entry form. "Sometimes I get flashes about things, and other times I'm a total blank."
"So I guess this is one of those total-blank times, huh?" Sam asked.
Darcy looked at Sam thoughtfully. "Maybe ... and maybe not."
"You mean you know something?" Sam asked, surprised.
"I never know. I just get certain feelings," Darcy explained.
"And?" Sam prompted.
"And I have a feeling someone I knowЧ someone from this islandЧis going to win something," Darcy said slowly.
"Is it me?" Sam asked breathlessly.
Darcy stared at her intently. "Why . . . yes! Yes! It is you!"
"Oh my God!" Sam screeched. "What am I going to win?"
"I see the number five," Darcy said in a throaty voice. "Fifth prize. You'll win fifth prize!"
Sam grabbed an entry form and scanned it quickly, trying to find out just what the fifth-place prize was.
"A T-shirt?" Sam said to Darcy with disgust. "Me and four hundred ninety-nine other lucky winners are going to get a Paradise Swimwear T-shirt?"
"I made that up," Darcy confessed, her eyes dancing. "The truth is, I haven't got a clue."
"Thanks," Sam said sarcastically.
"I really had you going there for a minute, didn't I?" Darcy laughed.
"You did," Sam finally admitted with a reluctant grin.
But for just a moment, Sam, who had never won anything in her life, had believed she might be about to wing her way on an all-expense-paid trip to beautiful, exotic, incredibly expensive Paradise Island in the Bahamas. She'd dreamed of sipping pina coladas by the pool and breaking the hearts of various international playboys. And best
of all, she wouldn't have given a single thought to the monsters while she was there.
"Sam, you've got something gross hanging out of your nose," Becky yelled, pointing at her and making a face.
Too bad Paradise Island was just a dream.
"You look awful. Couldn't you have worn a push-up bra or something?" Diana De Witt asked, critically eyeing Sam's bustlineЧor lack of bustline.
If looks could kill, Diana would die this instant, Sam thought, staring at her archenemy. Unfortunately, Diana was also one of the backup singer/dancers for the Flirts, so Sam had to spend a lot of time around her.