LITMIR.BIZ

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of property with a flower garden, a big green lawn and fruit trees. The guesthouse in the back has its own yard. It even has a fountain.”

      She leaned forward, her interest piqued. “That sounds pretty.”

      He thought about the owner and how pretty she was, too. “It’s weird, though, because it belongs to an old girlfriend of mine.”

      Her eyebrows shot up. “Since when did you have a girlfriend? I thought you just...”

      Screwed around? He decided not to fill in the blank. It was already perfectly clear as to what she meant. “It’s Candy, from when I was a teenager. I’m not sure if you remember her, but you liked her when you were a kid. In fact, you more or less idolized her.”

      Meagan laughed a little. “Of course I remember her. She was like Miss America or something. Mom used to talk about her all the time. There are even some pictures of the two of you in one of those old photo albums Mom put together. I paged through them after Mom died.”

      “I didn’t know there were pictures of us around.” But he hadn’t gone through the albums. He wasn’t keen on reminiscing. Of course he’d been doing it since he’d run into Candy, letting his mind stray in all sorts of directions.

      Meagan’s voice cut into his thoughts. “As far I could tell they were from a school dance.”

      When Candy had worn the red dress? Now he was curious to see them, to refresh his memory about that night in greater detail, but he wasn’t about to go digging through the storage shed where Meagan kept their mother’s belongings. He missed his mom, but being around her things didn’t give him comfort, the way it did for his sister. “If they’re from a school dance, then it must be my junior prom. That’s the only dance we went to. So, how did we look?”

      “She looked like she just stepped out of a magazine.”

      He didn’t doubt it. He’d been wildly proud to show her off, introducing her to anyone she hadn’t met before. “And what about me?”

      “Are you kidding? You looked like a total goof.”

      “Gee, thanks.” He rolled his eyes. “Spoken like a true sister.”

      Meagan shrugged. “I wanted to grow up to be just like her.” She twisted her stringy hair. “Did I accomplish it? Is she a mess these days, too?”

      “She’s still beautiful, and so are you.”

      “Spoken like a true brother.” She glanced away, heavy with emotion. “A lying brother.” She returned her gaze to his, still resting a hand on her stomach. “Does Candy have kids?”

      “No.” He noticed how many children were visiting their loved ones in this awful environment, though, and every time he brought Ivy back here to see Meagan, it would be a constant reminder that his niece would be one of them.

      “So, she’s not married or anything?”

      “She’s divorced.” From the husband he wondered about. The man who’d become the mystery Tanner shouldn’t care about solving. To keep Meagan from asking more personal, Candy-related questions, he went back to discussing the real-estate purchase. “The only concern I have is that her guesthouse isn’t big enough. It’s only one bedroom, so I’d have to hire a contractor to add another one.”

      “Is that a major ordeal?”

      “Candy said getting the permits wouldn’t be a problem.”

      “Would the addition cost a lot of money?”

      “That depends, I guess, on how you evaluate it. The other house I’m considering has a two-bedroom guesthouse already on it. But the overall price of the property is more.”

      “So it balances out the same?”

      He nodded.

      “Tell me about the other house and what you like about that one.”

      “Besides the guesthouse? It’s less maintenance. It wouldn’t require as much yard work. It’s newer, too. But it doesn’t have the charm, either. The guesthouse on Candy’s property has that storybook-type architecture.”

      “Like the magic cottages in the stories Mom used to read to me?” She sighed, behaving like the dreamy kid she used to be. “I loved those stories. I’m going to read them to Ivy, too.”

      His heart clawed its way to his throat. “Maybe I should buy Candy’s place.”

      She snapped out of her gentle musings. “You don’t have to do that for me. Like I said before, you should choose the one you like best.”

      “Truthfully, I don’t have a preference. I’d rather choose it for you and Ivy, and I think Candy’s place would suit you and your daughter.” The other house seemed dull by comparison. “I could see Ivy running around in the yard when she’s a little older, darting through the flowers and trees.”

      “Oh, that’s sweet. I like that.”

      “I like it, too.”

      “Thank you, Tanner. For everything you’re doing for me and my baby.”

      “Just keep your promise about staying on the straight and narrow, and we’ll be fine.”

      “I will. And what I said about you looking like a goof in the pictures with Candy wasn’t true. You were as handsome as always, and the two of you made a cute couple.”

      “Don’t worry about it. How I looked back then is of no consequence now. Nor is the type of couple Candy and I used to be. All I’m doing is buying her house, not getting involved with her again.”

      “Don’t you want to at least be friends with her?”

      Did he? “I don’t know. Having a past with someone is complicated.”

      “Mom used to say that Candy was good for you.”

      Cripes, he thought. Did that have to keep surfacing? Wasn’t it enough that he’d already told Candy how his mom had felt? “You remember her saying that?”

      “I remember her saying all sorts of things. She went on about the same stuff for years. But I didn’t mind. I liked that Mom trusted me enough to say what was on her mind. It made me feel more grown-up.”

      Everyone was grown-up now, he thought, including him and Candy. Was he was wrong about the complication of being friends? If living in her house eased his mind, then wouldn’t having her as a friend do the same thing? Maybe his mom wasn’t so far off the mark about Candy being good for him.

      And maybe he was grasping at straws, using his old girlfriend as the baby buffer. With Ivy’s impending arrival creeping up on him, he was obviously too confused to know what to think.

      Meagan shifted in her seat, a breeze riffling her shirt and pulling it closer to her oversize bump.

      “What are you thinking about?” she asked.

      “Nothing.” He didn’t doubt that she was as scared as he was, maybe even more so. She was having a child that she was barely going to know. He reached across the table, encouraging her to take his hand. His jailbird sister and the little person in her womb.

      * * *

      Dana was right, Candy thought. Tanner was going to buy her house. He’d made an offer on the phone, and they’d discussed the price and the terms, and now he was coming over to bring a written copy of the agreement and a check for the deposit.

      As much as she was going to miss her beloved home, she was happy about the sale. It gave her comfort to know that he and Ivy and Meagan would be the family associated with it.

      Still, for her, starting over somewhere else was a daunting thought. But, she reminded herself, she would be staying with Dana and Eric for as long as she needed their help, and their generosity was a godsend, a much-needed opportunity to get her finances in order before she ventured back out on her

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