Crazy For You by Sandra Edwards Page A

said softly.
    “How do you know that?” He didn’t know which
surprised him more—the fact that she knew, or the quiet in her
tone.
    Roxanne shook her head. “I don’t know. Intuition or
something.”
    “It’s my job.” He felt the need to say. “It’s what I
do.”
    “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
    “We’ll be gone till about April.” Anxiety made a
brief appearance and he cleared it out of his throat. “I was hoping
you’d come with me.”
    “Really?” She flung him a skeptical look.
    Frank tilted his head and shrugged. “I guess I
assumed that you’d want to go.” He hadn’t considered the fact that
she might not, and he found that notion extremely unsettling.
Wanting to go and not going because of Candy were two entirely
different things. Roxanne had to want to go with him,
because if she didn’t it would ruin everything.
    “Oh, I do,” she said quickly. “Of course, I’ll go
with you.”
    Frank pressed his lips to hers, caressing her mouth
more than kissing it. His fears, apparently unfounded, blew away
with the wind.
    Rich perched himself on the corner of Candy’s bed,
unable to relax. The longer she stayed in the corner near the
bathroom door, the more his confidence deserted him. “Well, Roxie
is going with Frank.” He put forth the only argument he could think
of. “So, why can’t you go with me?”
    “Number one—” She crossed her arms in front of her
and leaned against the wall. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. And
secondly, I don’t have the money to go traipsing all over the
country.” Slowly, she let her eyes travel to and settle on him.
“And I’m not going to ask Roxanne to pay my way either.”
    He pushed himself into a standing position and
glanced around the room. When his attention settled back on her
once again, he said, “Okay.”
    As if there was nothing left to say, he shrugged his
shoulders in mock resignation, then turned and headed for the
door.
    The door slammed shut, and she jumped. “Damn
it.”
    Roxanne preparing to leave with Frank was Candy’s
cue that it was time to get herself a job. For convenience’s sake
she accepted a waitressing position at a local restaurant that was
close to home. If she was lucky the tips would be good too.
    “So...” Roxanne lounged casually against the wall
that opened to the stairs. “When do you start your new job?”
    Candy twisted around on the couch and draped her arm
over the back. “I told them I could start next week.”
    “Sure you don’t want to go with us?” Roxanne pushed
off the wall and moved to the couch, dropping down beside
Candy.
    “It’s not a good idea.” Candy turned back around and
tucked her feet up under her. “It’ll give Rich the wrong
impression.”
    “Maybe you’ve got the wrong impression.”
    “I’m going to be fine.”
    “Listen...” Roxanne snatched her purse off the
coffee table and dug around inside it. “Do me a favor?” she said,
handing Candy a bankbook.
    Candy fanned through the wallet-size ledger.
Twenty-five grand. Was she serious? “I don’t want your money,
Roxanne.” She handed back the bankbook.
    “Look, I just want you to go out and buy a car.”
Roxanne refused to take the ledger back. “A nice little sports
job,” she said. “One you’d enjoy driving around.”
    “I don’t need you to buy me a car.”
    “How are you going to get around while I’m
gone?”
    “I’ll walk. Or I’ll take a cab. I’ll manage.”
    “Your brother would never forgive me.”
    Roxanne knew her weak spots. It wouldn’t do Candy
any good to argue with her. Once she made up her mind, she wouldn’t
stop until she got her way.
    Candy let out a defeated sigh. “I’m putting the car
in your name.”
    “Whatever.” Roxanne shrugged. It didn’t matter to
her, so long as she got her way.
    ***

Chapter 7
    I t took Roxanne less than
two weeks to get tired of the bar scene. She’d mostly gotten fed up
watching Rich and Glen screw around. Especially