Excerpt from Love In Bloom's      Susie found Julia waiting halfway up the stairs on the landing, the only place in the store that wasn't full of chattering, browsing customers. She took a bite of her bagel and glanced around. She and Julia were surrounded by wall clocks in a variety of colors, offered at a variety of prices. To have so many clocks staring at her was like being trapped in a Salvador Dali painting.      "So, what's this disaster?" she asked, feeling a little better now that she had some food inside her.      "Grandma Ida wants to name me president of Bloom's."      "She wants to name Mom president? That sounds about right to me."      "Not Mom. Me."      "You?" Susie guffawed. Her sister could no more run Bloom's than Bart Simpson could run the Vatican. And her sister wouldn't want to run Bloom's. She was a lawyer. Lawyers didn't sell lox. "Why the hell would Grandma Ida do something like that?"      "Because she's Grandma Ida," Julia explained, twirling a finger nervously through the fringe of her scarf. "Because she's crazy. Because she's pissed at Uncle Jay and she can't bring herself to turn the place over to someone who isn't a blood relation."      "Why is she pissed at Uncle Jay?"      "Because he married The Bimbette and he spends too much time doing Internet stuff."      "The Web site is pretty cool. It's got all these great pictures of gift baskets overflowing with bread and phallic-looking salami and big green apples." Every now and then, when she was Web surfing, she liked to visit the Bloom's site, just to get in touch with her roots.      "Grandma Ida doesn't understand the Internet, so as far as she's concerned it's useless."      "And this president thing can only go to a blood relative?"      "That's why she won't give it to Mom."      "That's ridiculous." Susie tore off a small chunk of bagel and popped it in her mouth. "Why you? How come she didn't name me the president?"      "You've got a tattoo," Julia told her.      Grandma Ida was clearly exercising great wisdom. Uncle Jay had married The Bimbette, so he was out. Susie had a little butterfly inked into her skin above her left anklebone, so she was out. Mom had spent thirty years married to Dad, but she carried no Bloom blood in her veins, so she was out. "It should have gone to Mom," Susie said.      "I know. I feel sick about this. I don't want it. Mom does want it. Grandma Ida has managed to screw us both."      "So why don't you kill her? I'll be your character witness during the trial. I'll testify you were driven to it. I'll say you acted in self-defense."      "Thanks," Julia grumbled. "I knew I could count on you."      "What does Mom have to say about all this?"      "She doesn't know yet. Grandma Ida asked me to come for brunch, and then she laid this on me. We've got to do something."      "What can we do? She owns the damned company."      "And if she wants it to stay solvent," Julia said, "she'll name Mom the president, because Mom ran the damned company with Dad for years, and she's been practically running it all by herself since he died."      "Well, you'd better tell Mom. She's going to shit a brick."      "What do you mean, I'd better tell Mom? We're going to tell her together."      "Why do I have to be there? You're the president."      "I can't tell her alone. You see? I can't become president of Bloom's. A president would have to have the guts to give people bad news. I don't."      "You're a lawyer. You give people bad news all the time, and charge them hundreds of dollars an hour for it."      Julia ignored her remark. "What I thought was, if Mom is home now, we can go upstairs and tell her. The three of us can come up with a plan."      "What if she's not home?" Susie asked hopefully. She really didn't want to have to go upstairs and deliver such lousy news to her mother. There would likely be a scene, and Susie hated scenes-at least, she hated scenes involving her family. Scenes involving strangers she found kind of fascinating.      Julia hauled her cell phone from her purse. "I'll call her, and if she's home I'll tell her we're coming up."      Susie nibbled on her bagel and issued a silent prayer that her mother wouldn't answer. God must not have been paying attention, because in the time it took her to swallow, Julia was saying, "Mom! You're home! Wonderful!"      Wonderful, Susie thought grimly. Just wonderful.

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