Stealing Taffy (Bigler, North Carolina #3) - Susan Donovan Page 0,23

some thought. How many of my life’s terrible, horrible relationships are entirely my fault?

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she drove through downtown Bigler. At the stoplight at Main and Boscombe, she grabbed her hankie and blew her nose. About ten seconds later, she slammed on the brakes. “What in heaven’s name—”

When had Jonesy Carmichael’s old insurance building become a hub of downtown revitalization? Tanyalee saw pickup trucks parked half on the sidewalk, men teetering on scaffolding, and from inside the old brick building came the pounding of hammers and the buzz of a mechanical saw. She did a U-turn and parked across the street, then got out of the Cadillac, the tears and the unpleasantness with Maryvelle forgotten.

“Yoo-hoo!” she called out into the open front door. Tanyalee coughed from the clouds of dust and backed away, aware that no one could hear her with all that racket going on. So she walked around the side of the building and into the unkempt back parking area. She stepped over broken bottles and construction debris, climbed up the back steps, and poked her head through the open back door.

“Oh, my goodness!” She put a hand to her heart in surprise. “I am so sorry!”

Turner Halliday had Candy Carmichael cornered in the back hallway, kissing the living daylights out of her. Tanyalee had clearly intruded upon an extremely private—and hot—moment between lovers. She spun around and headed back down the steps, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

“Hold up, Tanyalee,” Turner said, the amusement plain in his voice. “I was just leaving.” The statement made Candy giggle.

Tanyalee collected herself, knowing full well that was a lie, then turned around again. She smiled brightly at the two of them. “I just stopped by to see what was going on with the building. We can visit some other time.”

“No, now is completely fine.” Candy yanked a paper mask up over her mouth. “Here,” Candy said, taking a mask from the box and handing one to Tanyalee. “The plaster dust isn’t good for you.”

“It’s not good for anyone,” Turner said, resting a proprietary hand on Candy’s belly. When Candy placed her hand over Turner’s, Tanyalee noticed the sparkle of a nice little engagement ring on her left hand—what looked to be about a half-carat brilliant-cut diamond with little baguettes on each side.

Tanyalee almost fell backward down the crumbling concrete steps.

“Bye, baby.” Turner nuzzled Candy’s neck. “What time should I pick you up?”

“About six is fine.”

He kissed her cheek. “Love you. Promise me no ladders, okay?”

“No ladders. Love you, too.”

Turner paused and placed a hand on Tanyalee’s shoulder. It was a friendly gesture she hadn’t expected. “Nice to see you, Tanyalee. Welcome home.”

“Why, thank you, Turner!” She stepped aside and watched him practically skip down the steps and around the side of the building. Tanyalee pulled the elastic strap over her head, careful not to disturb her chignon, and adjusted the mask into place. “My goodness!” she said to Candy. “I leave for a few weeks and the whole world changes!”

Candy laughed, then gave Tanyalee a warm hug. “You were gone two and a half months. A lot can happen in that amount of time.”

Tanyalee knew it was impolite of her, but she glanced down at Candy’s belly then at her engagement ring, just double-checking that she wasn’t imagining just how much had happened. When she looked up again, Candy was smiling at her from behind her paper mask. “Oh! I’m sorry, but I … I couldn’t help but notice…”

“Yes. I’m pregnant.”

“Please tell me you weren’t hurt in all that drug ruckus out in Preston Valley. Aunt Viv told me what happened. It sounded so perfectly awful!”

“I’m fine,” Candy said, wrapping her arms around herself. “It was bad. It’ll take time for the memory of it to fade, but I’m lucky that I have so much to look forward to.” Her eyes misted over. “I am blessed in my life these days.”

Tanyalee blinked, not able to speak right away. She noticed how truly beautiful her sister’s best friend was. Her skin was pink. Her blond curls were thick and glossy. Her eyes shone with joy. Tanyalee remembered her own pregnancy, and how she hadn’t been able to take any pleasure in the changes her body was going through. She certainly wasn’t all pretty and radiant the way Candy was right now. Maybe it was because her circumstances had been so different from Candy’s. Sure, Tanyalee had trapped J.J. into getting her pregnant, but she couldn’t force him