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CHAPTER ONE

CLAIRE KEYES jury call fro the pile of dirty clothes in therooer, Claire thought, relieved "Jesse who?"

"Your sister"

Claire kicked aside a blouse and sank onto the sofa "Jesse?" she breathed "It’s really you?"

"Uh-huh Surprise"

Surprise didn’t begin to describe it Claire hadn’t seen her baby sister in years Not since their father’s funeral when she’d tried to connect with all the family she had left only to be told that she wasn’t welcome, would never be welcome and that if she was hit by a bus, neither Jesse nor Nicole, Claire’s fraternal tould bother to call for help

Claire still re so stunned by the verbal attack that she’d actually stopped breathing She’d felt as if she’d been beaten up and left on the side of the road Jesse and Nicole were her family How could they reject her like that?

Not knohat else to do, she’d left town and never returned That had been seven years ago

"So," Jesse said with a cheer that see to clear it, then glanced at the h in her living room, open suitcases by the piano, a stack of er ready to skin her alive if that would get her to do what she wanted

"I’reat," she lied "And you?"

"Too fabulous for words But here’s the thing Nicole isn’t"

Claire tightened her grip on the phone "What’s wrong with her?"

"Nothing…yet She’s going to have surgery Her gallbladder There’s so weird about the placement or whatever I can’t reery with the tiny incisions The lapi-so the clock She was due at her lesson in thirtyher open like a waterer recovery time With the bakery and all, that’s a probles are…co and Nicole wondered if you would like to cos She would really appreciate it"

Hoo home Back to the house she barely ree in her dreaht you and Nicole hatedto hope but almost afraid to

"We were upset before It was an e in touch with you for a while now Nicole would have, u well and she was afraid you’d say no She’s not in a place to handle that right now"

Claire stood "I would never say no Of course I’ll come home I really want to You’re et here?"

Claire looked around at the disaster that was her life and thought about the angry calls froer There was also the master class she was supposed to attend and the few she had to teach at the end of the week

"Tomorrow," she said firmly "I can be there tomorrow"

"JUST SHOOT ME NOW," Nicole Keyes said as she wiped down the kitchen counters "I un Do it I’ll write a note saying it’s not your fault"

"Sorry No guns at lumly, then tossed the dishcloth back into the sink

"The tiery," she o back to work for six weeks Six The bakery isn’t going to run itself And don’t you dare say anything aboutJesse I mean it, Wyatt"

Her soon-to-be-ex-brother-in-law held up both hands "Not a word froht she frightened him but because she knew he understood that while soallbladder, most of it was about her sister Jesse’s betrayal

"I hate this I hateon me this way What have I ever done to it?"

Wyatt pushed out a chair at the table "Sit Getting upset isn’t going to help"

"You don’t actually know that"

"I can guess"

She plopped into the chair because it was easier than fighting Soht left in her

"What a done You reht?"

Ahter Nicole looked after her a few afternoons a week

Wyatt leaned forward and put his hand on her forear I’ll look in on the bakery every couple of days You’ve got good people working for you They love you and are loyal Everything will be fine You’ll be ho"

She knew he ery There was also the issue of her soon-to-be-ex-husband

Instead of thinking about that bastard Drew, she stared at Wyatt’s hand on her ar hands--scarred and callused He was a , funny

She raised her gaze to his dark eyes "Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with you?" she asked

He smiled "Back at you, kid"

They would have been so perfect together…if only there had been a hint of chemistry

"We should have tried harder," she ether"

"Just think about it for a minute," he told her "Tellabout hag sx with Wyatt kind of set her teeth on edge, and not in a good way He was too much like a brother If only his stepbrother, Drew, had caused the same reaction Unfortunately with him, there had been fireworks The kind that burned

She pulled back and studied Wyatt "Enough aboutof coffee "No, thanks"

"Areat woht for a et back to you on that?"