I Want Candy Read Free

shot a quick glance at Cheri and felt herself frown. She hadn’t told her friend what had happened with Turner earlier that morning. She thought it was best to keep the details to herself. Besides, what exactly would she say? Oh, by the way, I tried to dry-hump Halliday from the open car window! Doesn’t that just beat all?
    “You okay?” Cheri squeezed her shoulder.
    “Oh, sure. I’m great.”
    “You’ll find a job soon. Or you’ll come up with one of your fabulous start-up ideas and you’ll make enough money to get set up in a cute apartment in town. It won’t be long. You’ll see.”
    “Of course,” Candy said.
    “Maybe you could even start that bakery you used to dream about. Bigler would be perfect for something like that—God knows we could use it!”
    Candy faked a smile while thinking about how best to respond to that bit of insanity. First off, she’d have to be careful not to sound too down on Bigler, since Cheri was here to stay, but the idea of starting a brick-and-mortar business in this town made her downright queasy. And secondly—a bakery? What the hell? Candy cleared her throat. “Well, you know I don’t plan to be here long-term,” she said sweetly.
    “Oh, I know.” Cheri sighed. “I was just being selfish.”
    “And you realize the last time I mentioned the bakery thing I was still wearing a B cup.”
    Cheri giggled. “I know, but I figured now that you were back you’d think about it again. I mean, it’s almost like you threw away that dream the second you left for college.”
    “Almost,” Candy said, nodding.
    “I’m just saying that I know things are going to turn around for you. They always do.”
    Cheri was being outrageously optimistic, of course. It was true that Candy had always managed to come up with a business idea that got her on her feet again, but this time it was different—she was beaten down as far as she’d ever been beaten in her life. Her entrepreneurial juices didn’t flow well while being hounded by bill collectors. Go figure.
    Even finding a menial job was proving to be impossible in the current economy. The entire country was in a major recession, but Bigler had gotten the life choked out of it. With her business degree and résumé, Candy had positioned herself right out of a small-town job market. She’d already been told she was overqualified for every job she’d applied for in Bigler—assistant manager at the Piggly Wiggly, a bank teller position, waitressing, even a shift on the production line at the tannery. In desperation, she’d responded to an ad for a nanny position. But, like everyone else, they told her they feared she’d only quit the moment she found something better.
    Better? Right now, anything was better than what she had, which was sixteen dollars, about three days’ worth of mascara, and a car about to die a hideous—and noisy—death.
    That wasn’t counting Sophie, of course. It was far too early to even think about selling Sophie. The bracelet was her last defense against utter ruin, her ace in the hole, and her good-luck talisman. When the Florida housing market came crashing down, Candy refused to part with the twenty-two thousand dollars’ worth of platinum, sapphires, and pavé-cut diamonds. Even Cheri didn’t know she still had the bracelet.
    That’s because when it came time to sell everything for pennies on the dollar, Candy just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She’d purchased that bracelet for herself right after making her first million-dollar real estate deal—just strolled right on into Hayman Jewelers, tapped her finger on the glass case, and whipped out a roll of cash. And now, six years later, Sophie was the only remaining link to a lifestyle Candy was determined to have again. One day soon, when the time was right and the big idea was big enough, Sophie would finance Candy’s ticket back.
    As casually as possible, she touched the inside of her left thigh to make sure Sophie was in her customary