The Merriest Magnolia (Magnolia Sisters #2) - Michelle Major Page 0,76

anything with a glue gun.”

“Just don’t glue your fingertips together,” Meredith warned. “My dad did that once when he was trying to fix my favorite piggy bank after Theo broke into it.”

Carrie felt her chest pinch at the sadness in Meredith’s voice. Discovering their connection and the secrets Niall had left behind affected each of them in a different way. She knew Meredith had struggled with her new identity and what that meant for the father she’d grown up with and who’d raised her on his own for so many years.

“How is your dad?” she asked gently, feeling Avery go still next to her. Meredith rarely opened up to either of them.

“Still staying with Erik down in Wilmington,” she said casually. “He might be back for Christmas.”

Avery tsked under her breath. “Will you go there for the holiday if not?”

“Hard to find animal sitters at that time. We’ll see.” Meredith made a show of checking her watch. “If we’re not getting dinner, I’m going to grab some carryout and head home. I’ll see you both bright and early tomorrow.”

Carrie said goodbye to Avery, as well, and headed across the darkened town square on her own. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go—any of it.

The warring emotions of guilt and resentment crept along her spine like dueling spiders making her skin itch with discomfort.

She’d planned to test the lights on her own before tonight to ensure everything worked the way they should. How many other details had she overlooked? Between the time she spent with Dylan and the hours in front of a canvas, she hadn’t given nearly as much to the festival as she’d planned.

Now it felt like the whole thing was in jeopardy. But the piece of her that had spent the past decade catering to her father’s every whim and need rose up inside her like some kind of stubborn weed. What would happen if she really changed her mind about dedicating all of her energy toward the town?

Avery and Meredith worked hard, too, but they were doing it to help make sure the properties they’d inherited would be worth something. They didn’t seem to have the same driving compulsion to right the wrongs of their father in the same way Carrie did.

She paused as she caught sight of Dylan near the entrance to his building. He’d disappeared after the town went dark, and she’d figured he’d headed home to celebrate the fact that her plan seemed to be falling apart just when it counted the most.

His back was to her and she could see the cell phone against his ear. She thought about backtracking through the park and taking the long way home around the far side of downtown.

But that would just prolong the inevitable gloating. Why not pull up her big-girl panties and deal with it while her mood was already in the toilet?

She wasn’t sure whether he heard the heels of her boots clicking on the sidewalk or simply sensed her approach. Either way, he turned and held up a finger then pointed to the phone at his ear.

“Just get down here with the generator first thing tomorrow,” he said, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I don’t care about the overtime, Cody. Make it happen.”

He ended the call and shoved the phone into the pocket of his dark jeans. Once again Dylan proved he could look good in any situation. He wore a nondescript gray sweater and his worn leather jacket. Somehow, he managed to appear like he’d just stepped off the pages of a magazine spread featuring men of alpha style.

Carrie bit down on the inside of her cheek, hoping the pain would keep her focused on what she needed to say to him and not how he made her feel. Yet, she couldn’t help but remember how he’d come to her defense with the committee members earlier. “Do you want to start with the ‘I told you so’?” she asked, proud that her voice didn’t waver. “Or should I go first?”

His thick brows drew together as he stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

She hitched a thumb at the town square behind her. “The mess I’ve made of the light ceremony. I went too big, too far, too bright. Just like you probably knew I would.”

“It’s not a mess. We just need a backup power source. I’m having my company’s master electrician drive down with a portable generator tomorrow. I’ve already contacted the local utility company, so they know it’s