But instead of turning to each other, we decided to hate each other.”
“I am so sorry for my part in that.” She steadied herself for a moment, wanting to be sure her next words came out exactly right. “I’ve always been jealous of you, Cheri. I allowed it to eat away at me.”
Cheri glanced out toward the water, shaking her head. “What a complete waste.”
Tanyalee felt her throat tighten. No more crying. No more blubbering. “I’ve missed you, Cheri. I’ve always missed having the kind of relationship I see between most sisters, something strong and honest, two women who know they can rely on each other when nothing else in the world makes any sense. I’m only just now seeing how much I lost by making you my enemy.”
Cheri’s head whipped around. She stared at Tanyalee, the last bit of evening sun sparkling in her tears. “I found all those things in Candy.”
Though the statement was accurate, it stung. But Tanyalee straightened in the rocker and put on a smile. “I am very happy you did. You and Candy have stuck by each other through thick and thin. She’s a marvelous woman.”
A frown crumpled Cheri’s brow. “You never had anyone like that in your life, did you?”
Tanyalee laughed. “No, I did not. I never trusted or liked other women much, probably because I didn’t trust or like myself. I always figured they were up to the same shit I was!”
Cheri giggled, and Tanyalee joined her. “It was always men for you, wasn’t it?” she asked.
“Oh, heavens, yes—men, men, men.” Tanyalee pursed her lips. “But only for what they could give me, not for their friendship. I can’t say I’ve ever had a male friend until—” She stopped herself. Was Tanyalee really about to say “Dante?” The truth shocked her something awful.
Dante Cabrera is my friend.
He listened to her. Cheered her on. Laughed with her. Enjoyed her company. And Tanyalee reciprocated all of it. Though shocking, Tanyalee realized she’d made several friends since returning from Arizona. Temple Smathers had become a friend. And Candy. And though she wouldn’t admit it, Fern was most assuredly her friend. Tanyalee was on a friendly basis with Bitsy Stockslager, too, and Gladys, and now with Granddaddy Garland.
She leaned back in the chair and studied her beautiful, smart, and hardworking sister, knowing that she wanted to be friends with Cheri, too. If friendship was too much to ask, then Tanyalee would settle for peace between them, enough ease that they could be in the same room with one another.
“I would be honored if you were my friend,” Tanyalee said.
Her sister blinked. Her lips parted. But she couldn’t manage to respond, which was fine by Tanyalee. After all, she couldn’t expect to enjoy a slice of the pie until she’d picked the apples.
The words came tumbling out. “Cheri, I am awfully sorry for everything I did to you and J.J.”
Her eyes flashed at the sound of her husband’s name.
“I feel so ashamed now, thinking back to how much time and energy I spent trying to figure out ways to keep you two from being happy. It started way back in high school, you know.”
Cheri raked her slender fingers through her hair, clearly nervous. “I know.”
“I had a whole mess of ideas about how to break up the two of you so you wouldn’t go off together after graduation. But you saved me the trouble when you left for college and told J.J. he was nothing but dead weight.”
Cheri laughed uncomfortably. “I was young and stupid—not to mention just plain wrong. But nobody could have convinced me differently.”
Tanyalee paused, taking a deep breath. “Well, now I need to tell you everything about J.J.”
Cheri blinked.
“Everything J.J. told you about me is true, Cheri,” she said. “I don’t know how in the world you will ever be able to forgive me for what I’ve done, but you need to know every last horrible, evil, twisted thing I did out of my jealousy for you.”
Cheri gripped the armrests of the rocker so hard her knuckles turned white. Tanyalee could see her sister’s body quiver as she breathed. There was nothing left to do but spit it out.
“The second J.J. returned from college and working overseas, I set my sights on him. When Granddaddy hired him on as the Bugle’s city editor it made things awfully easy for me. Our worlds overlapped naturally. Viv had him over for dinner all the time, and Granddaddy treated him like a son. I made sure