I Want Candy Read Online Free PDF Page A

it. He did, and Candy took his big hand in both of hers and squeezed tight. She couldn’t stop the wave of emotion suddenly crashing through her chest and belly.
    “I am so sorry about Junie,” Candy said, her lip trembling.
    He shrugged and said nothing, but he kept his hand in hers as he kept an eye on the road.
    In silence, Candy contemplated Turner’s offer to help her with anything she needed. He couldn’t live up to that promise, of course, since what she needed most was to magically turn back the hands of time to early that morning, so she could remember to flip on the damn headlights.
    It would have made everything so much simpler.

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
    Red, yellow, and orange flames flickered from the fire pit and sent sparks into the night air. Turner stretched out in the lawn chair and let the pleasure of the moment sink deep into his bones. He’d enjoyed a fine meal with his oldest friends. Tom Petty tunes wafted from the iPod dock on the porch. And suddenly, he found himself caressed by waves of female laughter so sweet it made his skin tingle. That was a sound he didn’t get to hear much these days. It was a sound he sorely missed.
    There were countless things about Junie that Turner longed for, but the loss of her laugh had been particularly painful. Sometimes it seemed a hole had been punched through the world with the absence of that sound. The ring of Junie Pickett’s laughter was what first drew his attention from across the college dining hall, a joyous sound that was clear and rhythmic. It sure didn’t hurt that when he tracked down its source he found a sweet, open face the color of mocha, a head of shiny black curls, and a curvy, petite body. And later, he would discover all the things about Junie that lived under the surface—her capacity for love, her ability to forgive, and her fierce dedication to teaching.
    It had always amazed Turner how much Junie loved her rowdy middle-schoolers—the most awkward and unlovable stage any human being could go through, in his opinion. Those kids were drowning in hormones, their bodies and brains growing too fast for them to keep up. But in the three years she was given to teach, Turner knew Junie made a difference in the lives of those young people, especially those living in the worst kind of poverty. She’d finagled food donations from the local grocery stores and sent her kids home with boxes of canned goods. She managed to conjure up clothing and shoes. And she often drove out to the homes of her students to “sit a spell” with the parents, just to tell them she was there if they needed anything.
    Junie’s love of children meant she looked forward to having her own someday. Of course, they’d both been beyond thrilled to find out she was pregnant, and that’s why Junie headed to Chicago the very day after school let out for the summer. She wanted to share the news with her family in person.
    Turner leaned his head back and gazed at the starry night sky above him, taking in a breath of lake air and wood smoke. For over four years now, Turner had carried the sickening truth on his shoulders. The weight pushed down on him every morning when he woke up, every day while he worked, and every night when he tried to sleep. He was supposed to have gone with Junie to Chicago, but canceled at the last minute because of work. He would have been behind the wheel that day. He could’ve handled whatever caused Junie to lose control and plummet into the ravine. He should have been there.
    For more than four years now he’d known that if he’d chosen family over his job—just that once—Junie would still be alive, and his world would still be intact.
    He would still have a family. He would still have a world.
    A raucous wave of female laughter dragged Turner back to the moment. He looked up to see J.J. shaking his head and chuckling, obviously enjoying the tale the two women were recounting from their glory days in Tampa. Turner hadn’t been paying much