Sweet Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

made the black dress look even more stunning and Mark's heart jumped in his chest the second he saw her.
    "Oooh, so pretty!" Sam's eyes lit up when she saw her mom. She wiggled out of Mark's arms and ran to K's side. Reaching up, she tried to touch the fabric of the dress.
    "Whoa, Nelly. You look fantastic, honey." Kissing her softly, he could smell her perfume as it whisked through his senses. K smiled with a look of glee, knowing she did look good and was going to use it for everything it was worth tonight.
    "How was your day?" She asked with a sparkle in her eye. She turned and started back up the stairs after she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Mark followed her and sat on the edge of the bed, watching her. He told her about the slow day and how he didn't get much of anything done. He left out the part about the snarling traffic and the news report. It all seemed like a distant memory now.
    "Sam, where's my other earring, the silver and black one?"
    Sam was milling around Mark's feet trying to take his shoes off and giggling when he would push her over. She would then get back up and try again in hopes that he would push her over again. She looked up at K and tried to seem innocent, her little hand hid behind her back clutching the earring like a pirate who just found the key to a hidden treasure. "Pretty earring," She said, not willing to give up her precious loot.
    "Sam, Mommy needs it," She leaned over and tried to reason with Sam, her bright hazel eyes opened wide while trying to look sincere. Sam slowly put out her hand and opened it, revealing the missing earring. "Thank you, Sam," K said. Sam soon forgot about the loss, found a piece of string on the floor, and walked around the room announcing that it was a necklace.
    When the doorbell rang, Sam jumped up and ran down the stairs yelling, "Gramma, Granpa!" K's parents were great at babysitting, which was nice when they needed someone to look after Sam overnight.
    Scooping up the bag of teddy bears and other overnight "necessities," Mark made his way down to say hello to his in-laws and to hug Sam goodnight.
    Sam was jumping up and down, giggling. She loved to go over to her grandparents' house. Her blue eyes were wide as she grabbed her sippy cup and Grandpa's hand and pulled him out to the car.
    "Samantha, come give me a hug and a kiss!" Mark said.
    "She doesn't even care, she just wants to go," Mark laughed as Sam ran back, gave him and K a quick hug and a kiss, and then ran back toward the car snagging Grandpa's hand on the way. Mark watched as their dark blue Chrysler Mini van pulled out of the driveway and onto Carwell Avenue. Bill and Holly
SWEET
    DREAMS
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    Bardwell live in the Westhampton, and had ever since K could remember. They had money but lived there before you had to be one of the wealthy to own a home there. K grew up in the same house that her father Bill had grown up in. She loved it out there and now the Bardwell's had a very exclusive bed and breakfast they ran in the summers. Bill was in real estate and had done very well for himself over the years. Holly was in love with art and that is where K got all her love for the arts, and her talent. They used to spend hours looking out at the sunsets from the back porch of their home painting what they saw, and sometimes not at all what they saw--but what they felt.
    K went up to their bedroom to finish putting on her makeup, and Mark changed into a black pinstriped suit with a white shirt and a dark, blood-red tie. He ran some water through his short blond hair and made it spike up a little and K laughed at him. "Hey, some people don't just fall out of bed looking good, I have to try a little harder than you do." K tied a thin silk ribbon through part of her hair and it held part of it back as the rest fell on her shoulders. She glanced at him and smiled, it was that smile! And it was worth it. ________________________________________

    KIRK WESTON SAT IN the third row of the briefing room and