Chapter 16

Fern pounded her pencil eraser into the open notebook. “Eight people?” She glanced up at Tanyalee, her eyebrows scrunched together. “How the hell’re we supposed to find eight people in this town who can bowl?”

“Please do not curse in the bakery, Fern.” Tanyalee continued to trifold the newly printed Candy Pants menus, using a straight edge for guidance, because nothing would say “tacky” like an uneven fold on opening day. “Besides, we only need six people in addition to the two of us, and I hear Gladys is a very good bowler.”

“Hallelujah! We’ve got an eighty-year-old in high heels, a twelve-year-old orphan, and Hillbilly Barbie. Are we gonna kick ass, or what?”

Tanyalee set aside the ruler, tidied up her stack of menus, and gave Fern an opportunity to apologize. She waited patiently.

“Sorry for the hillbilly thing.”

“Thankyousoverymuch.”

Tanyalee pressed her fingertips into the bridge of her nose and tried to hear herself think. It was downright deafening in the unfinished restaurant that afternoon. Power drills buzzed. Electricians shouted at each other. Aluminum ladders banged around as the painters finished touching up the crown molding in the dining area. Opening day was that Saturday, and Tanyalee had been working full-time for the last week. She had to admit that she’d felt a part of something special helping Candy to make her dream a reality. Someday she hoped she would do the same for herself.

“Well, now, Fern, as far as the bowling team goes, maybe we need to think out of the box.”

Fern dropped her pencil in defeat. “Outa the box, under the box … I still don’t see how the hell we’re going to find people for a stupid bowl-a-thon that’s only a week away!” Fern stopped and tipped her head. “Hey, how about your sister and her husband?”

A rush of panic went through Tanyalee’s body, hot and quick. It must have shown on her face because Fern squinted at her.

“You okay?”

“What a silly question! Of course I am. Unfortunately, I do not believe Cheri and J.J. are experienced bowlers.”

How could she tell Fern that she wouldn’t even know if she had a sister until the end of that evening? She was to meet Cheri at six P.M. at the lake house for a glass of tea and a chat. J.J. would be working late so they would have some privacy, Cheri had said. Tanyalee knew what that statement really meant: J.J. would stay as far away as humanly possible while Tanyalee was around.

Fern leaned closer and peered at her. “You look like you just got a hold of some bad mayonnaise or something.”

Tanyalee managed to laugh. Condiments surely were not to blame, since she’d been so anxious that she’d barely eaten in two days. “How about Mrs. Stockslager? Is Bitsy already on a team?”

Fern sighed. “She can’t be on a team because she’s in charge of the whole event. That would be picking favorites.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“How about your hottie DEA agent boyfriend?”

Tanyalee’s mouth fell open. “I do not have a boyfriend!”

Fern rolled her eyes. “Then who’s been calling you nonstop for the whole week? I swear, at this point I think you either need to have the dude arrested or tell him to get lost and put him out of his misery. Just sayin’.”

“Fern Bisbee!” Tanyalee stood from the café table and gathered her supplies, trying to pull herself together. Fern had exaggerated. Dante called her almost every afternoon, yet on the rare occasions he left a message it was always the same: “Hope you’re doing well. I’m thinking of you.” Tanyalee supposed he was being sweet and supportive—while making sure she knew he was waiting—but no matter how much of a gentleman Dante Cabrera was, she was not ready to face him.

“Let’s go back to the office and see what else Candy needs.” Tanyalee motioned for Fern to gather her things and join her. “She might want us to post some more flyers around town.”

In the hallway between the kitchen and office area, Fern touched her arm. “Honestly, I don’t care a lick if that man’s your boyfriend. Just find out if he can bowl.”

*   *   *

Tanyalee drove up the gravel drive the same way she’d done thousands of times. As she rounded the bend, she was met by a familiar sight—a pink-and-orange-streaked sunset mirrored in the calm mountain lake.

Everything about the setting, from the faint outline of the Great Smoky Mountains to the jagged tree line to the gentle curve of the lakeshore, was as familiar to her as the back of her own hand. The cry of the loons and the song of the crickets were the lullabies of her life. More than any place on earth, Newberry Lake was her home.

For her first five years, Tanyalee had lived at the lake house with her mama, daddy, and sister. She spent entire summers here as a child and teenager, under the watchful eye of Aunt Viv and Granddaddy Garland. And for a painful six months, she lived here with J.J., as his wife. She winced at the thought of it—everything about that union had been as wrong as wrong could be.

Tonight, Tanyalee had come to make it right. It would not be pleasant for her or for her sister, and she could not hide behind flowery words or dull the sting for Cheri. Tanyalee’s behavior had been shameful and ugly and had gone on for their entire lives. But like she told Granddaddy, it had to be said out loud to become real.

As she turned off the Cadillac’s engine, it occurred to her that she wasn’t the slightest bit nervous. A calm had filled her chest and belly, as if she knew the moment had come for her to live up to her Newberry name. As Granddaddy had said, Newberry women were strong, resourceful, and determined. She and Cheri were the last of the line—two of a kind—and she owed her sister nothing less.

Immediately, she saw Cheri on the front porch, sitting cross-legged in one of the old wooden rocking chairs. She waved to Tanyalee, who waved back. Tanyalee heard the sound of her own heartbeat as she walked toward the house.

“Hey, Cheri,” she said, coming up the steps. “Thank you for—”

“Of course, Tanyalee! You don’t have to thank—”

“But you didn’t have to agree—”

“I wanted to.”

The sisters stared blankly at each other. Tanyalee felt herself smile as the sad truth sank in. Not only did the two of them not know how to talk to one another, they didn’t even know one another. They would be starting from scratch.

Tanyalee had to admit that Cheri had always been a pretty girl, with all that rich red hair and those warm brown eyes. But tonight she saw a calm, womanly beauty in her sister. Cheri’s face was relaxed and her skin glowed. When she smiled, there was a smoothness around her eyes and mouth.

Love and marriage had surely been good to her big sister.

Tanyalee took a steadying breath. “I’m glad to see you so happy, Cheri.”

Her sister lowered her feet to the wooden porch slats. “Would you like some sweet tea?”

“Yes, please.”

“Then come on into the kitchen with me.”

Tanyalee followed Cheri through the screen door and the open, heavy oak door behind it, stepping across the threshold into a strange world. She knew every inch of that ninety-year-old bungalow, inside and out, yet tonight she barely recognized it! Cheri and J.J. had managed to turn a tumbledown stone shack into a comfortable, welcoming home.

It looked nothing like the miserable dump in which she and J.J. had been trapped, with its splintered floors, drafty windows, and leaking plumbing. Tanyalee had to bite down on her bottom lip to stop from sighing.

Tentatively, she stepped into the living room, glancing around as politely as she could manage. Everything was bathed in a golden light from two lodge lamps likely as old as the house itself. Every inch of wood, from the floors to the woodwork to the built-ins, gleamed from polishing. The walls of the living and dining rooms had been freshly painted in a mossy green color, and while the kitchen appliances had been updated, the room retained its cheerful simplicity.

Beadboard pine cabinets rose almost to the ceiling. The old porcelain farm sink had been reglazed and now sparkled. A jug of flowers sat in the middle of the old oak kitchen table and a bowl of fresh fruit rested on the counter. And there, slipped into the handle of the oven door, was one of the blue-and-white-checked dishtowels Tanyalee had given Cheri as a wedding gift. Just as she had hoped, they were a perfect match to the kitchen curtains.

Tanyalee stood quietly with her handbag clutched in both hands, watching her sister pour iced tea from a pitcher into two glass jars filled with ice. Suddenly, she knew. She knew why being here had such an effect on her. It was like returning to the home she’d shared with her mama and daddy. It was as if she’d stepped back in time.

As Cheri turned around to offer her a jar, her face contorted with sympathy. “Oh, Tanyalee. Are you okay?”

“What? Gracious! Why would you ask me that?” Tanyalee absently touched her cheek, feeling hot tears. Of course she had not intended to step inside the house and immediately start blubbering! That was in no way a reflection of the resourcefulness and/or determination to be found in a Newberry woman’s blood. Oh, Lord-ee what a horrible way to begin …

“Let’s go back out onto the porch. It’s a lovely night.”

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Tanyalee couldn’t get out of that place fast enough, and took a huge gulp of evening air to clear her head. She had cried, of all things. When she saw how beautiful and warm Cheri and J.J. had made their home, she stood there and cried because everything about the place hinted at their love and devotion for each other and reflected the love her own parents had once had for her.

Those tears had come from loss and shame. That little family from the past was gone forever, and she’d lashed out at Cheri and J.J. simply because they made each other happy.

She had caused so much damage.

“Here. Have a seat.” Cheri nodded toward a rocker and handed Tanyalee her drink. When she took a long sip, it brought cool relief to her tight throat.

“I do apologize for my outburst,” Tanyalee managed.

Cheri plopped in her chair and turned slightly toward Tanyalee. She shook her head. “There’s no need to apologize.”

Just then, their eyes locked. There was no sound save for the crickets and loons. No one breathed until, a few seconds into the standoff, they burst into laughter. In unison.

And oh, how Tanyalee laughed!

“No need to apologize?” She managed to ask this between breaths, trying to get enough air to fuel her laughter.

Cheri laughed just as hard. At one point she was doubled over in the rocking chair. “I didn’t really just say that, did I?”

“Oh, my God!” Tanyalee had to put her glass jar on the porch floor because she was afraid she’d drop it. “Cheri, I have so many things to apologize to you for that I could be here till dawn if you let me.”

“I know. I told J.J. to sleep on his office sofa tonight because I had no idea how long this would take.”

Tanyalee felt her eyes widen. “You did?”

Cheri nodded, the laughter fading. “It’s good you’re here. I’m happy we’re finally talking.”

“I feel the same.”

Neither of them was laughing now, and the silence felt heavy and uncomfortable. Tanyalee knew she needed to start, but her thoughts were spinning and her brain was buzzing and not a single word was making it to her tongue.

Cheri saw her struggling, and stepped in. “I want you to know I admire your courage, Tanyalee. This can’t be easy.”

She shook her head sharply. “No, Cheri. I am not here fishing for compliments nor am I brave—I am here because I want to do what’s right. I want to release the two of us from all this hate and jealousy, and the only way to do it is to lay it all out in front of us, pick through it all, and decide what to do with each piece.”

She watched her sister close her eyes and lean back into the rocker with a sigh. “All right. Let’s do it, then.”

Tanyalee felt energized, and scooted to the edge of the rocker. “Now, my first question is, how should we organize this? Chronologically, starting from my birth? Or should I start with my most recent offense and move backward? Or would you rather I begin with the most heinous transgression and work my way to the smallest, or vice versa?”

Cheri opened one eye so she could peer at Tanyalee. “It doesn’t matter. Really.”

“All right.” Tanyalee used the toe of her sandal to push off and release the rocker, allowing the back-and-forth motion to give a rhythm to her thoughts. “I apologize for trying to expose you to the whole town, what with your real estate failure and all down in Tampa. That was just plain wrong.”

She nodded, eyes closed again. “I accept your apology.”

Tanyalee perked up. Maybe this would go relatively smoothly, after all. “Now I want to move on to Mama and Daddy.”

“Oh.” Cheri’s voice sounded small. “That’s important, I suppose.”

“Oh, yes it is! I want to tell you how much I regret what I said to you a couple months back, when you came to Wim’s real estate office to confront me about J.J. and I changed the subject to Mama and Daddy. I was a coward.”

Cheri didn’t speak.

“I blamed you for their deaths, which was untrue and unfair. I lashed out at you so I wouldn’t have to discuss the truth about what I did to you and J.J. I figured blaming you for our parents dying was the most cutting thing I could ever say to you.”

Cheri nodded slowly. “You were right.”

“And even if they’d died by accident like we always thought, you were not at fault for how they wanted to get away for a weekend. You were just an innocent seven-year-old girl, and yes, you and I fought all the time and it drove our parents crazy, but we are not responsible for their deaths.”

There was no sound except for the crickets.

“And now … now that we finally know what really happened to them—that Wim’s father killed them to stop Daddy from printing a story linking him to blackmail and murder—it makes my blaming you that much more awful.” Tanyalee looked down at her hands resting lifelessly in her lap. “I am terribly sorry for being so cruel to you, Cheri. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

Cheri let her chin drop to her chest and remained still for a long moment. As the seconds ticked by, Tanyalee felt her stomach twist into knots. Maybe Cheri was unable to forgive her. Maybe she was simply unwilling. She would have every right. But as Dr. Leslie often said, Tanyalee’s only job was to make amends to those she had harmed. She couldn’t control whether they would accept her apology.

Finally, Cheri responded in a barely audible whisper. “You poured salt into a wound that had never healed.” When she raised her eyes to Tanyalee, they were filled with intense sadness. “The evening of their funeral, I overheard Aunt Viv say that Mama and Daddy were dead because of me. She said they rented that beach house on Nags Head because they were so stressed out by our constant arguing. She said as the oldest kid I should have done more to make peace in the house.” Cheri paused, shaking her head. “I carried around a lot of guilt, and think you knew that.”

Tanyalee flinched. She reminded herself that there was only one way out of this huge mess, and it was through the truth, no matter how raw and ugly it was. “You’re right. I knew. I heard Viv say the same thing through the years and I never corrected her because I liked the idea that you were at fault. That way I could be Aunt Viv’s favorite, the innocent one, the victim. And then I went and did my best to turn Aunt Viv and Granddaddy Garland against you in the years you were in college and living in Florida. I threw you under the bus, Cheri. And, and I am deeply sorry for doing that.”

Cheri’s breath was coming fast. Tanyalee had no idea what she would do because, honestly, if Tanyalee were in Cheri’s place she would probably jump up, slap the snot out of her poor excuse for a sister, and order her to never set foot on this property again.

Cheri leveled her gaze at Tanyalee. “You always had a mean streak in you, even before Mama and Daddy died.”

“That is correct.” What else could she say in response to Cheri’s matter-of-fact statement? Tanyalee really had been as mean as a striped snake. “Now, I’m not making excuses, because there are none, but these days I have a better understanding of why I was like that. It was fear. I was always afraid there wasn’t enough love for the both of us, that you would get more attention, more time with Mama and Daddy. It only got worse after they died and we moved in with Aunt Viv. I was terrified.”

Cheri nodded. “We were two lost little girls, Tanyalee. 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 I was everywhere I needed to be to attract his attention. He wasn’t interested, but that made me even more determined. I simply wore him down.”

Cheri’s eyes went wide.

“I was nearly twenty-two at the time. God knows I’d perfected my methods by then.”

Her sister’s eyes went even wider.

“I will be completely honest with you, Cheri. I did it for two reasons, the main one being that I knew he was still madly in love with you and probably always would be and I couldn’t stomach the idea of that. But the second reason was … well, I don’t have to tell you how gorgeous J.J. is. I wanted him because I knew we would look good together.”

Cheri swallowed hard and glanced away.

“I told J.J. I was on the pill. I lied to him, timed the seduction to my cycle, and I got pregnant, just the way I’d planned. I knew he felt guilty for giving in to me. I could see it in his eyes. And when I found out he went to Tampa to try to reconnect with you after six long years apart, I couldn’t allow the two of you to ruin my plans.”

Tanyalee saw Cheri’s bottom lip tremble. If her sister cried, then Tanyalee would, too, and she wasn’t finished saying what needed to be said. “Please don’t cry, Cheri.”

Her sister shook her head and looked down at her hands. Tanyalee continued.

“I waited till J.J. informed Aunt Viv that he’d arrived in Tampa safely, then let some time pass, hoping he’d go right to see you. Then I called to tell him I was pregnant. Again, I was looking for maximum effect.”

When Cheri glanced up at the porch light, the oddest sound came from her throat—kind of like a strangled laugh. “You’ve got good aim, Tanyalee. I put his phone on speaker and I heard everything at the same time he did. Did you know that?”

Tanyalee felt slightly dizzy and severely sick to her stomach. “Oh, God, Cheri, no. I had no idea.” She wanted to stop. She wanted to run back to the car and never look back. She wanted to throw up. But she’d come this far and could not shy away now, even though the worst was yet it come.

“He insisted on an in-vitro paternity test,” she continued. “It showed he was the father and soon after that he proposed to me, though I don’t know if Granddaddy told him he had no choice or if J.J. did it out of a sense of honor. Then, well, you came to the wedding, of course, so you know about what happened next.”

“I surely do.”

“I lost the baby not long after the wedding. Do you remember how I implied it was your fault I had a miscarriage? I said that the same day I said you were to blame for Mama and Daddy’s—”

“Yeah. I remember.” Cheri got up from the rocker, crossed directly in front of Tanyalee, and headed down the porch steps. Tanyalee did not try to stop her, knowing that Cheri could do whatever she had to in order to get through this. She watched her sister walk off across the lawn toward the dock, her white T-shirt glowing in the twilight.

Tanyalee stayed on the porch. Her sister reached the end of the dock, hugged herself, and cried. Cheri’s shoulders shook for many minutes, and every once in a while Tanyalee heard her sister’s sad song join in with the crickets and loons. How awful did it feel, she wondered, to know your only sister had done everything in her power to ruin your life? How could a person ever recover from that kind of betrayal?

Eventually, Cheri wiped her eyes and turned toward the house, her face stony in the dim light. Tanyalee took that as a sign that Cheri was ready to hear the last bit.

She raced to the end of the dock, gently placing her hand inside her sister’s. Cheri didn’t pull away. It was the first time they’d touched in months, since the day Cheri had tried to hug her, right here at the lake house, not long after she’d returned to take over for Granddaddy at the Bugle. Now, Tanyalee was shocked by the feel of Cheri’s warm hand, so small and defenseless in her own.

Just then it hit her. She’d been soaking in envy and resentment for so long that she’d forgotten the truth of who Cheri was—her own flesh and blood, her family, the one person who’d known her better and longer than any other human being on earth.

Cheri was her sister, and her hands were the exact size and shape of her own. They were Mama’s hands.

“I lied to you about the divorce, too,” Tanyalee said, feeling her knees weaken. She told herself she was almost finished, that she could push through the last minutes. “J.J. never cheated on me, Cheri. He never mistreated me or lied to me or spent a dime of my money. I told you all that because I wanted you to think he was awful and write him off.”

Cheri nodded gently. “Well, you did a real fine job with that.” She pulled her hand away, and Tanyalee didn’t try to stop her.

“And all that nonsense about the miscarriage … just more lies meant to hurt you. I told you I was stressed out because I knew you and J.J. were carrying on behind my back. I made up all that garbage, of course. It was no one’s fault that I lost the baby. And then I did something so shameful … so horrible…”

Tanyalee suddenly couldn’t get enough air. Her legs felt like they were about to fold. Cheri touched her elbow and guided her over to one of the Adirondack chairs, sitting down next to her. “Go on,” she said. “Finish.”

“The baby…” Tanyalee couldn’t hold back the tears a second longer. She’d tried, but this last bit was so disgraceful she could barely spit out the words let alone do it dry-eyed. Dr. Leslie was the only other person she’d ever admitted this to, and afterward, it took days for Tanyalee to be able to look her therapist in the eye.

“After I lost the baby, I seduced some man I barely knew, took him to the Tip-Top Motel, and tried to get pregnant again, hoping that J.J. would never find out. But the doctor’s office left a message on the answering machine about my follow-up appointment, and that’s how he learned what had happened. He came looking for me and found me at the motel … oh, God … and—”

Why, Tanyalee?” Cheri had leaned closer, peering up into her downcast eyes.

“Because J.J. wouldn’t touch me after we were married! I had to go to someone else to—”

“That’s not what I’m asking.” Cheri’s voice was clipped and angry. “I want to know why you let it get so twisted and ugly and why you let all the lies go on for so long. Why didn’t you just tell J.J. the truth and let him go? Why didn’t you simply tell me what had really happened?”

Tanyalee looked up into her sister’s face, shadowed by nightfall. It was probably for the best, she realized. The dark made it easier to get to the heart of dark things. “I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the truth,” she answered. “I’d backed myself into a corner, yes, but the most important thing to me—still—was that you would never want to see J.J. or this town again.”

Cheri pulled back and straightened in the chair, wrapping her arms around her chest as if suddenly cold. She shook her head and sighed deeply. “What a freakin’ tragedy.” She glared at her. “If you’d put all that effort into something positive, you could have changed the world, Tanyalee. You’d be president of the United States by now.”

The sisters sat together at the end of the dock lost in their own thoughts, the minutes ticking by. Tanyalee fully expected the evening to be over, that she would leave and never be welcomed into her sister’s world again.

“So, exactly what do you want from me?” Their gazes locked. Neither moved.

“You’ve already given me everything I needed,” Tanyalee said with genuine gratitude. “You’ve given me the time and place to make amends to you, and doing so will help me start over, live a life without lying, manipulation, and jealousy. Just sitting here and listening to me has been the most generous gift you could ever give me.”

Cheri’s brows squeezed together. “Is that your goal, then?”

“Ab-so-lutely.”

A pair of high beams flashed up the drive, blinding them. The sound of tires crunching on gravel was deafening until the pickup truck slid to an abrupt stop at the edge of the lake.

“J.J?” Cheri stood up, resting her hands on her hips as her husband jumped from the truck and came charging down the dock. “What in the world—”

“Are you all right, Cheri? Where’s your phone?” J.J. ran his hands up and down Cheri’s arms. He flashed a look of sheer hatred toward Tanyalee, who pressed back into the Adirondack chair.

“I’m absolutely fine and my phone’s in the house. I told you Tanyalee would be—”

“I’ve been calling you for hours and you didn’t pick up. I thought…” He glanced toward Tanyalee again. “I worried something might have happened.”

“Oh, Lord-ee,” Tanyalee muttered. She saw J.J.’s body go rigid. Suddenly it was uncomfortably quiet, and though she hadn’t planned to do this tonight, Tanyalee stood up and looked her brother-in-law and ex-husband right in the eye. “J.J., I have spent the evening making amends to Cheri for everything I’ve ever done to hurt her. Now that you’re here, I’d like to—”

“Spare me.” J.J.’s bitter laugh carried across the water and startled the loons. They screeched, flapped, and splashed toward the opposite bank. “Look, Tanyalee, I’m gonna be real direct with you. I don’t trust a word that comes out of your mouth—never have and never will. You did a lot of shitty things, and hey, that’s your burden to carry. I’m carrying around my own, and I take full responsibility for my part in what happened, though I’m still furious for being so damn stupid. But here’s the most important thing—I love Cheri, and I will stand by my wife, no matter what. If you’ve made your peace with her, fine. I won’t get in the way. But—”

Cheri touched his arm.

“I need to say this, darlin’. You gotta let me get this out.”

Tanyalee was determined to maintain eye contact with J.J. even as he punished her with words meant to draw blood. Why not? She supposed J.J. deserved his moment of revenge.

He leaned in closer to her. “I’m not seeing any rainbows and unicorns here, Tanyalee, just a Grand Canyon–sized pit of mistakes and pain that can’t be patched up in one night. So don’t expect a lot from me. No courteous small talk. No ‘how are yous?’ Not a speck of forgiveness. You got that?”

Cheri’s eyes flashed toward Tanyalee. It may have been a trick of the night, but she thought for sure her sister had just offered her a nod of support.

“I understand just fine.” Tanyalee smiled politely. “Now if you will excuse me, I’ll let the two of you enjoy your evening.”

She hurried down the dock, anguish and relief twisting in her gut as she choked back tears. And then—oh! Of all things! Tanyalee realized she’d left her Dooney & Bourke on the front porch and had to go back to get it. Immediately after, she ran toward the car and the promise of escape.

She just wanted to go home.

“Tanyalee, wait.” Cheri rushed up to her side and touched her elbow. “I have something I need to say, too. It won’t take long.”

Tanyalee leaned against the side of the Cadillac, suddenly exhausted beyond belief. Behind Cheri she could see J.J. lazily making his way down the dock toward the lawn, hands in his pockets, eyes focused like lasers on Tanyalee.

Cheri’s voice was soft. “It takes two sides to sustain a war, and I am sorry for my part in all of this. I forgive you, Tanyalee. Please forgive me.”

She let go with a strangled sob, too shocked and thrilled to say actual words. All she could do was reach out for her sister’s hands and squeeze. Hard. And they hung on to each other like that, without pretense. Her sister forgave her! How could a person be so openhearted? So kind? It was unthinkable!

They continued to grip each other’s hands for several moments, both of them crying, neither ready to let go.

Eventually, Cheri pulled one of her hands away so that she could stroke Tanyalee’s hair, and she did so with tenderness. It was an overwhelmingly familiar sensation—for good reason, Tanyalee figured. Cheri has our mama’s hands.

“Someday soon, you know what I’d like us to do together?”

Tanyalee shook her head, still holding on to her sister. “No, what?”

“Let’s go see Mama and Daddy. Pay our respects and tell them we’ve finally stopped fighting. I think they’d like to hear that.”

Tanyalee looked into her sister’s eyes with wonderment. “We’ve never once gone there together, have we?”

Cheri shook her head. “Not since the day of the funeral. We’ve got a lot to tell them.”

Tanyalee sniffled. “Should we start at the beginning and approach it chronologically? Or should we work our way backward?”

Cheri just smiled.

“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” Tanyalee smiled, too. “As long as we tell the story together.”