happened.
Nicole pulled out of the garage and started down the street. Claire followed her all the way to the bakery and was relieved when they arrived.
One crisis averted and who knows how many hovering in their future.
Nicole parked and ignored Claire who pulled up next to her. They walked into the rear of the bakery, with Claire trailing behind. That gave her the perfect view of all the employees rushing over to hug Nicole.
“It’s been too long,” Maggie said. “I’ve missed you. Is it okay that you’re up and here so soon? You’ll take it easy, right?”
“You look good,” Sid told her. “I’m glad you’re back. It’s not the same without you.”
Phil gave her a big hug, then stepped back looking worried. “Was that too much? Did I hurt you?”
Nicole grinned at them. “It’s wonderful. I’ve missed you guys. It’s been awful, trapped at the house. I thought I’d go crazy.”
Claire felt herself getting mad, which was easier to deal with than the hurt inside. She’d been there to help take care of Nicole. Didn’t that count? Was her company so boring that it hadn’t been able to make up for the scintillating chitchat about cupcakes and bagels?
They all talked for a few minutes, with Claire feeling as if she was standing on the outside, looking in at a place where she didn’t belong.
Nicole glanced at her. “You can go now.”
Something bubbled up inside Claire. Something hot and angry, that made her willing to be stubborn and difficult.
“I don’t think so,” she said calmly. “We’re going to get this settled, once and for all.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We can talk in my office.”
“We can talk right here,” Claire told her.
Everyone scattered.
“Is humiliating me your goal?” Nicole asked. “Because you’re doing a hell of a job.”
“You know exactly what my goal is, however much you try to avoid it. I want us to be sisters again.”
Nicole’s gaze narrowed. “Sisters don’t betray each other.”
“Sure they do. Sisters do everything everyone else does. It’s the nature of close relationships.”
“You’re an expert now?”
“More than I was. You’re pissed off because I bailed Jesse out of jail without talking to you first. Fine. You didn’t talk to me about putting her in jail in the first place.”
“It wasn’t your business.”
“She’s my sister.”
“She stole from me.”
“You’re still punishing her for Drew. You couldn’t do anything about that, so you’re looking for another way to get back at her.”
“Why the hell not?” Nicole demanded. “Should I be happy about what they did together? Should it fill me with pride? She screwed up everything.”
Claire got it. She finally got what was going on with Nicole.
“You’re the victim,” she said slowly, filling in the details as she talked. “I can’t believe it. You’re so tough on the surface, but underneath, you’re blaming everyone else for what’s going wrong. It’s true you were left with all kinds of crap here, but you did an amazing job. You took care of everything. But that’s not enough. I don’t know if you can’t accept your part, or if you’re not getting enough support or what.”
“Stop it!” Nicole yelled. “Don’t you dare think you can get inside my head. I don’t need any amateur psychology from a poor little princess who doesn’t know how to function in the real world.”
“At least I’m trying to make things better. I’m not running around, blaming everyone else.”
“No, you’re sneaking around, hiding from your manager because you’re not willing to face her like a grown- up.”
That shot hurt, Claire thought, but refused to acknowledge the zing.
“I did run,” she admitted, “but I also faced her. I keep showing up with you, time after time. You keep trying to get rid of me. Who’s the one with the problem? Want to blame me for that? Or maybe Drew. I think a lot of this is his fault. It sure can’t be yours.”
Nicole glared at her for several heartbeats, then turned. “I don’t need this or you. Get out. Just go away. I don’t want to see you again.”
She started to walk past Claire. Claire wasn’t going to let her just end the conversation. She grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”
Nicole tried to pull free. Claire wasn’t going to let go. They each moved toward the large vat of dough. A second too late, Claire saw the puddle of what looked like oil on the cement floor.
They stepped in it at the same time and both went sliding. Claire released her sister, but it was too late. They went down, hard on the floor.
Claire crashed into the cement butt first. The jolt of impact made her teeth ache. She sat there for a second before rolling onto her knees, then starting to stand.
As she did, she turned her head. Nicole lay on her side. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.
NICOLE REFUSED to open her eyes. She didn’t want to know where she was, even though it was impossible to ignore the medics working on her. Words like
Reluctantly she opened her eyes and saw two guys bent over her.
“You’re back,” one of them said. “Do you know where you are?”
Wished that she didn’t. “On the floor in my bakery. I know the day of the week and who’s president, if you need that information.”
“You didn’t hit your head, then.”
“Not on purpose.”
There were two agonizing points of pain. Her incision and her knee.
“She had surgery a few weeks ago,” Claire said from somewhere out of Nicole’s range of vision. “She shouldn’t have been here at all. It’s all my fault.”
There were tears in her voice, and anguish.
“We were arguing. She tried to walk away and I wouldn’t let her. She slipped on the oil.”
“Relax,” one of the medics told her. “Your sister will be fine. The incision didn’t tear, at least not on the outside. They’ll check her out internally at the hospital. Her knee’s pretty messed up, but that’s not fatal.”
He looked back at Nicole. “Ready to take a ride?”
“Not really.”
“I was only asking to be polite.”
They got her on a gurney. As she moved, pain shot through her leg. It was sharp enough to take her breath away. An IV dripped into her arm. She felt as if she’d been run over.
Once they were moving toward the ambulance, Claire rushed over and took her hand.
For once, she looked as bad as Nicole felt. She was crying and not in a pretty way. Her eyes were red, her mouth swollen.
“I’m sorry,” she said over and over again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want anything bad to happen. I just hate that you’re mad at me. I love you. You’re my sister. I don’t want you to die.”
It was all a little dramatic, but kind of nice, in an over-the-top way. Nicole couldn’t remember the last time anyone had fussed over her. No, wait. She could. When she’d come home from the hospital and Claire had been waiting to take care of her. Claire, who led with her heart and not her head. Claire, who was holding her hand as if she was never going to let go.
“I’m not going to die,” Nicole told her. “And I don’t hate you. You just really piss me off, sometimes.”
“I know. You’re not easy yourself.”
“Not being easy is my best quality.”
They loaded her into the ambulance. Claire waved. “I’ll drive right behind them. I’ll be with you no matter what.”
Words that should have made Nicole want to run to the hills, but oddly, they didn’t. They actually made her feel
