skeptical breath. “Well, there’s attraction, yes, but we agreed not to act on it.”
“Whatever you say.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Come on. I saw how you looked at each other. All that intimate smirking, that guilty-thrill look. I’m not an idiot.”
Tara’s face heated. “Well, we shouldn’t be doing that. There’s no point to it.”
Candee watched her for a few seconds, then finally gave a snorting laugh. “I don’t know why I’m picking on you. I’m over Dylan. I finally am.” She shook her head. “It’s just habit. Knee-jerk stuff.”
Relieved to hear her say that, Tara said, “I know what you mean. I’ve been doing that since I came back to town.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Being a brat...hypersensitive to every slight...thinking the worst of people...”
“Making googly eyes at Dylan?”
She laughed. “That, too.”
A sad look crossed Candee’s face. “He never looked at me like that. If I’d realized that before the wedding, I wouldn’t have wanted to marry him.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Tara said. “I don’t know if this makes you feel better or not, but I was jealous of you when I heard you two were married. He committed his life to you, which was far more than he did with me.”
“Yeah?” Candee looked her over, sharp assessment in her gaze. Tara liked her. She was a straight shooter. She dropped her gaze to the floor, took a drink of her beer. “He wanted it to work. I know that,” she said finally, softly. “He fought like hell to hang on to me, but I wanted the real thing, not leftovers, you know?” She looked at Tara, this time her eyes were soft and open.
“I do. I really do.” She felt a snap as they connected with each other. “I admire you both for staying friends. That can’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t. Not at first. It’s easier when I stay away from the wedding album.” She gave a sheepish smile.
“For me, it’s the German chocolate cupcakes.” She picked one up and bit off the frosting.
Candee picked up one herself and began to eat it, a thoughtful expression on her face. When she turned to Tara, her expression held mischief. “Well, all I can say is lucky for you, I no longer want to scratch your eyes out.”
Tara stopped chewing and lowered the cupcake from her mouth, startled to realize how pissed Candee must have been at her.
“I’m kidding,” she said, grinning. “I’m more of a hair puller.”
Tara burst out laughing. “I like how you think.”
Candee smiled. “The truth is...I’m seeing a guy. His name’s Adam. Dylan doesn’t know yet. He’s perfect for me. At first I got scared because I kept comparing him to Dylan. That horrified me because of Dylan doing that to me with you.”
“I can imagine.”
“But after a little while, my Adam memories pushed the Dylan ones out the window. Now when I’m with him, I’m totally with him.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah. Now I have to tell Dylan.”
“He’ll be happy for you, I’m sure.”
“I hope so.” She took another bite of cupcake. After she’d swallowed, she said, “You have a boyfriend?”
“Not at the moment.” She peeled away the cupcake paper. “I need to get on that. I didn’t realize I was so lonely. I have this great condo, but I treat it like a hotel. I’m living like a guest in my own life.” She stopped abruptly. “I don’t know why I said that. I hardly know you.”
“You know enough.”
“I guess so.”
Suddenly Duster jumped between them, dropping his head on Tara’s lap, flapping his tail on Candee’s.
“Duster just declared us friends,” Candee said.
“Smart dog.”
“Yeah,” she said, “though he never did any tricks for me.”
As if in response, Duster got up and reversed his position so his head was on Candee’s lap, his backside on Tara’s.