moment, then smiled at her. “I’m turning thirty this year and I do believe that’s way past the girl stage, don’t you? And, um, Aunt Viv?” She grabbed the wrinkled hand on her knee and squeezed it tight, staring right into her aunt’s wide eyes. “Please, for the love of God, stop calling me Taffy. I don’t like it. I never have and I never will. Thankyousoverymuch.”
Viv snatched her hand away. “Good gracious alive, Tanyalee Marie! Those Arizona people may not have had any manners but you didn’t have to change yourself to be just like them!” She took a slurp of her slush.
Tanyalee had to chuckle. Wasn’t that the whole reason Grandaddy Garland had spent a fortune to send her to Sedona Sunset in the first place—to help her change? Dr. Leslie’s words echoed through her mind: “Your family members may not like the differences they see in you. They may feel threatened when you begin to communicate directly. It will be a new dynamic for everyone, especially your aunt Vivienne. From what I can tell, she’s lived in a state of denial for much of her life.”
Tanyalee tried a softer approach. “I’m just telling you how I really feel, Aunt Viv. Please try to accept that.”
“Lor-dee!” Aunt Viv pushed the swing faster and stared out at the fireflies on the sloping front lawn. “When has saying how you really feel ever gotten anyone anywhere in this world?”
Tanyalee took a deep breath and counted to three. “It’s what I’ll be doing from now on.”
“Hmmph.” She turned away.
“I love you, Aunt Viv. I’m happy to be home.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, and the sentiment seemed to soothe her a bit.
“I love you, too, Taffy.” She tentatively returned her focus to her grand-niece and smiled softly. “I love both of my girls something fierce, and I’m so proud of you both!”
Tanyalee sighed deeply. Her aunt hadn’t heard a thing she’d just said.
“Now all we have to do is get you settled down and happy.” Viv patted her knee again. “We need to put our heads together and come up with a way for you to meet some eligible bachelors.”
“I plan to concentrate on myself for a while, not men.”
Her great-aunt shrugged. “Well, that explains why you haven’t hardly said boo to your poor granddaddy since you’ve been back—it must be because he’s a man!”
It occurred to Tanyalee that this was a pointless conversation, like most she’d had with Aunt Viv since the day she entered puberty fifteen years before. Tanyalee knew all she could do was speak her truth. Whether her aunt understood was a detail she couldn’t control. It was just as Dr. Leslie had predicted.
She responded to Aunt Viv’s jab with polite directness. “Granddaddy Garland’s been at the paper every day since I’ve been home, which is a funny thing for a man who’s supposed to be retired. But I enjoy spending time with him. And God knows he’s right at the top of my steps eight and nine.”
Aunt Viv took another sip and frowned. “Eight and nine steps going where?”
“I’m talking about the eighth and ninth steps in the twelve-step program. I make a list of all the people I have harmed and then make amends to them.”
Viv’s tennis shoe skidded to a stop on the painted floorboards, causing the porch swing to come to an abrupt halt. A bit of slush slushed all over the front of her blouse. Maybe that’s why Aunt Viv wore nothing but pink—it camouflaged the cocktail stains.
“Amends for what, exactly?”
Tanyalee took a slow breath. She hadn’t planned to reveal all this to Viv quite yet, but figured she might as well get it over with. “I will be making amends to all the people I’ve hurt. Lied to. Stolen from. Used. Manipulated. And I need to make amends to Granddaddy for … well, everything.”
Viv’s mouth opened in slack wonderment, then snapped shut. “I don’t believe all that’s necessary, do you? That misunderstanding happened in the past. You made a mistake. And anyway, your list can’t be very long, Taffy. You’re a perfectly lovely young woman.”
Tanyalee smiled sadly. That was the way Viv had always seen her—perfect and lovely. And for most of her life, that’s how she’d seen herself. But then, somehow, that perfect and lovely life seemed to get away from her. She became consumed with jealousy over J.J.’s love for her sister and decided to steal him from Cheri out of spite, tricking J.J. into getting her pregnant and