One Lucky Deal (21 page)

“I’m going out.” Tad slipped into his boots, not even bothering to tie them. Then he slammed the door behind himself. The windows rattled and a picture fell off the wall in the hall.

*

Tad had just needed to catch his breath. He couldn’t seem to get a grip on himself lately. He was acting like a prick and he knew it. He also knew that he was acting jealous and that part sort of shook him up a bit.

He realized he was angry at Candace for not knowing what he was going through, but he had never once let her in and told her. Then again, what was the point now? Candace and the doctor were circling and sniffing each other’s buttholes like two dogs in heat.

All this time that they’d been doing whatever it was that they were doing, he’d been worried that one of them—her mostly—was going to get sick of him and that they’d be left scrambling to put the pieces of just their friendship back together. The thought had never crossed his mind that one day she was going to go off and get the notion to start looking seriously at some other guy.

Tad had stayed out driving around with the windows down, taking his truck down grueling two-tracks and trails. He took her through some mud and spun his tires. Tad forced his truck through ravines he wasn’t sure they would make it out of and rode her hard until the sky got dark and his chest wasn’t so tight anymore.

When he got home his head was level again, but Candace was already in bed. He walked to her door and paused to find that she’d hung a pair of underwear on her doorknob. Not a man’s, but hers. She was alone but it was still a clear sign that she didn’t want him bothering her for the night.

Tad tipped his head against the wooden door and pressed his forehead to it. He thought about bursting in anyway, but he forced himself to back away. He took a deep breath and headed to his own bed. Alone. For the third night in a row.

* * * *

Candace didn’t see Tad again until the next night. He’d come home from work later than usual. She’d been hoping that he’d be coming in with his tail between his legs and one hell of an apology. Tad was usually really good at apologies.

“Hey,” Candace said when he came in the house.

“Hey,” Tad said back, but it wasn’t incredibly warm. It wasn’t an outright snip, either.

“How was work?” Candace asked as Tad went to the kitchen to pull open the door only to find the fridge had not yet been restocked.

“Sucked,” he answered.

“Want to talk about it?” Candace stood from the couch, holding Charlie in her hand as she walked with him to the kitchen. She found Tad drinking straight out of the faucet.

“Not much to talk about.” Tad shrugged and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“All right then, how about we talk about yesterday?” Candace put Charlie down and folded her arms across her chest. He scratched at her bare calf, wanting to be picked back up. When she didn’t oblige he simply wandered off to the water dish.

“I’m sorry.” Tad averted his eyes.

“You should be,” Candace said, disappointed in his half-assed apology.

“Really, Candy, I should be? What exactly is it I should be sorry for? For coming home while you had your boyfriend over? Because I let him drink my last beer? That I kindly got out of your way the instant I could?”

“No, not for any of that.” Candace approached him, now a little angry herself. “But maybe for how you treated both of us.”

“I think I treated him pretty damn well considering—”

“Considering what?”

“What the hell is he doing calling you that?”

The subject jump caught her off guard. “Calling me what?”

“Candy.” Tad’s voice was quiet but his eyes were blazing with heat and anger.

“
You
call me that.” Candace shrugged. “You didn’t think that if you said it enough that it might start circulating?”

“No!” Tad said adamantly. “Even so, you never told him to stop it.”

“You didn’t give me a chance to!” Candace threw her hands up in the air.

“Yes, I did. Plenty of chances,” Tad said, “I left you alone with him for half the night so you could have whatever kind of conversation you liked.”

“Keith is a friend.
A friend
,” Candace stressed.

“Sure he is. A friend? A friend with benefits?” Tad shot at her, and she recoiled as if she’d been slapped. Tad’s mouth was already opening to apologize.

“No,” Candace growled. “It seems I already have too many of those as it is.” Tad hung his head. “I haven’t done anything wrong here, Tad. Not a damn thing. I haven’t gone out with Keith, though he’s asked—quite persistently, if I may add. I’ve turned him down every time, though now I can’t for the life of me figure out why. But I’ve done nothing wrong. So quit treating me like I have. Last I checked I wasn’t your girlfriend, so you can cool the whole jealous boyfriend routine.” Candace was blazing mad. She grabbed her keys from the counter.

“Candy—”

She whirled on him. She was just about to demand that he not call her that but she caught the look of complete self-loathing on his face and she took it like a kick to the stomach. She turned back around and headed for the door.

“I’m going out.” And with that she pulled a Dundee and walked right out the door.

* * * *

Candace burst through the doors of Lucky’s. She approached the bar with determination and took a stool. Marlena quirked an eyebrow at her in surprise. It wasn’t like Candace to come alone, or to sit right up at the bar.

“Whiskey, double. Leave out the damn ice,” Candace barked before realizing that she was talking to Marlena, the sweet, graying redhead who had always looked out for her in the past. So Candace shrank a little in her ornery boots and said, “Please.”

The place was bustling. She was elbow to elbow with people at the bar. A blonde was sitting next to her. Of course a blonde was sitting next to her! She kept accidentally elbowing Candace in the boob. Candace was just about to accidentally elbow her in the boob right back when Marlena came along with a shot glass. She poured Candace a nice tall double shot of whiskey, no ice.

“Rough day?” Marlena eyed her.

Candace nodded and then let out a wry laugh and shook her head.

“Ah, all right, one of those, huh?” Marlena nodded and laughed. “Anyone I know?”

“Oh yeah.” Candace nodded and swallowed the whole thing in one huge exploding and stinging gulp.

“Are you going to tell me who?” Marlena waggled her eyebrows.

“No way.” Candace dropped the shot glass to the counter. “Hit me and keep ’em coming.”

“You never let me have any fun with you,” Marlena complained good-naturedly.

“That’s because in a town just a bit bigger than a postage stamp, news travels too fast, and by morning, my mother will be calling me wanting to know when the wedding is.” Candace held up the next shot.

“So when is the wedding?” Marlena asked.

“Don’t be silly. There is no wedding, but that’s how poorly news circulates. This town has a bunch of storytellers in it. Everybody knows everybody’s business, but it’s all distorted.” Candace finished the other half of her shot.

“Can I get another Blue Bahama Breeze?” the blonde beside her asked. Marlena held up one finger, shot Candace a wink, and walked away to make her one. The boob masher beside her did a double take. “Excuse me, and I apologize if I’m mistaken, but you’re Tad’s new girlfriend, aren’t you?”

Candace snorted and lifted her shot to her mouth. “That’s what
he
seems to think,” Candace said before tipping the shot back. “Oh shit.” Candace choked on the whiskey and widened her eyes in horror as she began coughing to clear her lungs. “
Is
that what he thinks?”

The blonde looked confused, but Candace was much more confused than she was. “Were you or weren’t you at the bonfire awhile ago?”

“That’s me.” Candace ran her finger around the glass. She was starting to go numb, but not nearly numb enough. When Marlena set down Blondie-boob-basher’s drink, Candace motioned for her to pour some more.

“Are you sure there, honey? You’d better pace yourself or you’re going to make me take your keys.” But Marlena poured it anyway.

“I’ll call for a ride.” Candace sighed. “Or sober up before I go.”

“If not, I’ll have to call a ride for you.” Marlena winked at her. Candace rolled her eyes. That’s just what she needed, Ronnie and Officer Joe coming to get her, asking all kinds of questions undoubtedly.

“I’m Molly.” The blonde stuck her hand out for Candace to shake.

Oh good God
. Candace sighed. “Of course you are.” Candace shook her hand and just stared at the shot in front of her.

“Trouble in paradise?” Molly’s eyebrows rose.

Candace sighed. “You could say that.”

“I remember fighting with Tad. I also remember the makeup sex … that was the best part of our relationship.” Molly exhaled wistfully.

“The best part of your relationship was this? Was fighting?” Candace looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “I’d rather just have sex and skip the fighting altogether.”

Molly actually laughed at that. “If Tad was good at anything it was that.” Molly held her glass up for Candace to clink her shot glass against. Candace thought it was an awfully strange thing to cheers to, but she did it anyway and tipped her shot back.

“Tad’s pretty much good at everything. Except for…” Candace looked over at Molly. “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this kind of stuff. About Tad stuff—like sex with Tad.”

“No, probably not.” Molly laughed. “So you know who I am, then?”

Candace nodded. “Sure do.”

“So he still talks about me?” Molly asked hopefully.

Candace squinted at her because she was at that stage of drunk where squinting was required to see only one of something. “Really?” Candace was even beginning to slur a little. “We’re really going to do that?”

Molly shrugged. “Or we could just talk about sex with Tad.”

Candace nodded. “I think that’s much safer. Although I will say—no, not so much. Tad’s friend Max was the one who brought you up. Sorry.”

Molly laughed. “It’s all right. It’s been a long time.”

“But the sex—” Candace smiled. “Not so long that you’ve forgotten that.”

“I think I’ll probably remember that for the rest of my life.” Molly grinned.

“I second that,” said a curvier blonde who occupied the stool on the other side of Candace. “We’re talking about Tad, right?”

Candace and Molly both nodded, surprised to find a third person to this pity party.

“Yeah,” the curvier blonde said on a sigh. “He was good, real good.”

“I’m going to need one more here, Marlena,” Candace called out quite loudly and raised her shot glass, keeping one eye open. “You know what it is?” Candace said on a hiccup. “That smile.”

“Those abs.” Molly nodded.

“Those buns,” the curvy blonde said and pantomimed pinching his cheeks. She was wearing a Greta’s Diner name tag. It read: Carly.

“Hear, hear.” Candace raised her empty shot glass. “You know what else?” Candace cooed. “He’s so attentive. He’s so thorough.”

Both Molly and Carly moaned in appreciation.

“It’s too bad that he can be such a jealous ass,” Candace said, confused by the look of utter disbelief shared between the two girls on either side of her.

“But, God, the things he says to you while you’re having sex … they melt me,” Candace admitted.

“You mean like ‘oh yeah, right there, don’t stop’?’” Carly asked jokingly.

“Or ‘since you’re down there’?” Molly laughed.

“No, like, ‘I love how you smell’ or ‘you’re perfect.’” Candace looked between her two new drunken friends.

“Oh no, honey. I thought we were talking about Tad Dundee.” Carly shook her head.

“Yeah, me too.” Molly laughed.

Candace frowned at them, feeling too drunk to understand what they meant. She sat on that stool and drank until Marlena really cut her off. Carly had met up with her boyfriend, and Molly had gone off with her friends. It was just her and her now perpetually empty shot glass.

“I see you’ve been sitting here alone for awhile.” Keith sidled up onto the bar stool beside her.

“I’ve been cut off.” Candace tipped her head at Marlena, who only laughed at the dirty looks Candace was throwing her way.

“Having a party?” Keith asked with a sweet grin.

“A pity party.” Candace groaned on a low laugh.

“Are you about finished?” Keith asked. “Because I’m heading out, and I can take you home if you want.”

Candace sighed and nodded. “Thanks.” She was drunk, and then she stood up and she was really drunk. Keith helped her outside with an arm wrapped snugly around her waist. The cool night air felt good on her warm face. “Where’s your car?”

“This is mine.” Keith pointed to the black-and-green Hayabusa right before them. Her stomach somersaulted. She wasn’t getting on the back of that. No way. She was too drunk for that.

Tad’s truck rumbled up, his tire rolling right up onto the curb. Keith had swung his leg over and handed her his helmet. He scooted as far forward as he could. Candace took the helmet and looked back behind her at Tad’s truck.

He got out looking scary mad. “What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” she parroted.

“Marlena called me. She said you needed a ride.” Tad looked tired, and Candace realized she didn’t know what time it was. She held a hand over one of her eyes so she could try to see if he was more tired, mad, or worse yet, disappointed. He was killing her. Gail was killing her.

“I’ve got a ride.” Candace slurred her words.

Tad looked between her and Keith, and she tried to catch the myriad of emotions playing over his face, but she was too worried her woozy legs were going to give out on her to focus.

“Don’t get on that,” Tad warned her.

“Okay, Dad.” Candace tried rolling her eyes but only succeeded in making herself dizzy.

“Jesus Christ, how much have you had?” Tad asked her, pushing a hand through his hair.

“Listen.” Candace poked him in the chest. “You. Are. Not. My. Boss.” He grabbed her finger to stop her from poking him one more time. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”

“I am.”

“Then quit telling me what to do. Quit bossing me around. Quit yelling at me.” Candace slurred her words again. “I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions and you need to trust me enough to do that.”