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PROLOGUE

“What are we looking at?”

“It looks like a shopping center to me.”

“Oh, it’s not just any shopping center,” Cory replied. “It's ours. You are gazing upon the Sloan Sisters' Shopping Extravaganza.”

At forty-four years old, Corrine Sloan was the oldest sister. She had thick blond hair and clear blue eyes that saw a vision of what this property could be.

“What are you talking about? I think I would remember buying a shopping center,” CeCe remarked.

Cecilia was the quintessential middle sister of the Sloan siblings. Her fiery red hair and crystal blue eyes matched her personality. She was a forty-two-year-old good time ready to happen and was usually responsible for the fun.

“We didn’t buy it,” Cat Sloan said. “Explain yourself, Cory.”

The youngest and therefore the baby sister, Catarina was thirty-seven. Her rich dark chocolate hair set off her blue eyes that matched her big sisters'. She was the quiet, reserved one, but not to be overlooked.

“Do you remember when Dad’s rich uncle died and gave us all that money?”

“Of course I remember,” CeCe scoffed. “He took us out to dinner and told us not to get any ideas about spending it.”

“Yeah, as far as I can remember that’s the only time he spent any of it,” Cat added.

“Well, Daddy set aside part of that money for us,” Cory said. “He left explicit instructions for us to do something with it together. This shopping center includes three stores, one for each of us.”

“Why are we just now finding out about this?” CeCe asked, giving her sister a measured look. “And why isn’t Mom telling us about it?”

“You know since Dad died Mom gave over all the financial stuff to me,” Cory said.

“Yeah, Dad’s been gone a year, Cory. What took so long for us to find out about this?” CeCe demanded.

“Dad had this in an investment that didn’t mature until now. Mom told me about it last month,” Cory replied.

“Why didn’t you tell us!” Cat exclaimed.

“Because I had to be sure there was plenty of money for Mom to live comfortably going forward,” Cory said defensively.

“I thought Dad made sure of that with his life insurance,” CeCe said.

Cory nodded. “He did, but there were other things we had to do to get the money. It was all documentation bullshit and as you’ve both told me numerous times, neither one of you cared to be bothered with that. Right?”

CeCe and Cat looked at each other and smirked. “So, tell us what happened,” CeCe said with a dramatic sigh.

“Mom told me about the investment. I contacted the company and they gave us an option of monthly disbursements or a lump sum.” Cory took an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to CeCe. “This is what Dad wanted.”

CeCe opened the envelope and held it so Cat could read over her shoulder. Tears welled in both their eyes as they scanned the handwritten letter.

CeCe looked up at her sisters with fire in her eyes. “I don’t know why he couldn’t have enjoyed this money instead of saving it for us! He kept working at that damn factory, building planes, when he could’ve retired and spent time with Mom or us!”

Cat put her arm around her sister. “He loved building those airplanes. Can you imagine him sitting around? No, that wasn’t who he was. The man was always building something. And did you ever hear Mom complain? Did any of us ever really want for anything growing up?”

CeCe sighed loudly. “We weren’t poor, but we damn sure weren’t well-off either!”

“This is what Dad wanted,” Cory said, taking the letter from CeCe’s hands. “Can you imagine how proud he would be if we owned our own stores, side by side? This is the place!”

“It’s not even finished yet,” CeCe observed.

“That’s the beauty of it. CeCe, you have always wanted to open your own salon. You can customize this space and make it yours. How many chairs do you want?” Cory asked.