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Claire grinned at him "Seriously? That’s it?" She walked over and stared down into the space "It’s huge I could have brought e Are there more buttons?"
She was thrilled on a level the key fob didn’t deserve "You don’t get out much, do you?"
The smile widened "Even less than you think"
"Door lock, door unlock, panic button"
"That is so cool"
She was like a kid with a new toy She had to be jerking him around
"Thank you," she told him "Seriously, I felt like such an idiot at the car rental place, standing there not knohat to do" She wrinkled her nose "If only driving were this easy Do people have to go so fast on the freeway?"
He had no idea what to think of her Based on Nicole’s infrequent comments about her sister, he knew not to trust her But while she was as useless as Nicole had claimed, she wasn’t nearly as cold and distant
Not his problem, he reminded himself
He handed the keys back to Claire She reached out and took theers on her palm, a brush of skin Inconsequential Except for the sudden burst of fire
Godda back his hand and stuffing it in his jacket pocket No way Not her Dear God, anyone but her
Claire was babbling on, probably thanking hi why, of all the woht, sexual heat with her
THE CALM-VOICED WOMAN in the GPS system led Claire to the house where she’d spent the first six years of her life She found a parking space on the narrow street in front It was by a driveway, so all she had to do was pull forward to claim it There was no way she would ever be able to parallel park
She turned off the engine, got out of the car and locked it, using the fob Feeling foolishly proud of herself, she walked around to the back of the house and found the spare key where Jesse had said it would be She unlocked the rear door and stepped into the houseShe hadn’t been inside it for years Nearly twelve, she thought, reht spent under this roof after her h she was a stranger and Nicole glaring with obvious loathing Not that Nicole had settled on co silently At sixteen she’d been very co her mind
"You killed her," she screamed "You took her away and then you killed her I’ll never forgive you I hate you I hate you"
Lisa, Claire’s er, had taken her away then They’d checked into a suite at the Four Seasons where they’d stayed until after the funeral Frotime in Paris, Lisa had said The beauty of the city would heal her
It hadn’t Only time had closed the wounds, but the scars were still there Springti and whenever she heard the song, she thought about herthat she hated her
Claire shook off the memories and moved into the kitchen It looked different, er somehow Apparently Nicole had renovated the place, or at least parts of it She continued through the downstairs and found several ser space There was a big living rooainst one wall that concealed a flat-screen TV and other electronics The dining room looked the same The small bedroom on this floor had been converted into a study or den
The place was dark and cool She found the therht, but didn’tMaybe because the problem wasn’t the house It was her and the o away
The last time she’d come to Seattle had been for their father’s funeral She’d received a terse phone call froe of the sofa, saying her father had died He’d given the date, ti up
Claire had been in shock She hadn’t even known he was sick No one had told her
She knehat they thought--that she couldn’t be bothered with her own family That she didn’t care What she’d tried to explain so many times was that she was the one who had been sent away They’d been allowed to stay here, where it was safe, where they were loved But Nicole had never seen it that way She’d always been so angry
Claire rubbed her hands against the soft fabric on the couch None of this was fa here Not that she was leaving Nicole and Jesse were the only fanored her phone calls and letters over the years, but she was here now and she wasn’t leaving until she soh to them Until they made peace
Claire stood and went up the stairs There were three bedrooms on the top floor She paused by the master suite Based on the color scheuess that Nicole slept there now At the other end of the hall were the two re bedroouest room with a too-tidy bed and neutral colors, while the last was done in purple, with posters on the walls and a co one corner
Claire walked into that room and looked around The space smelled of vanilla
"What have you done?" she asked aloud "Jesse, did you set ive me?"
She desperately wanted to believe her sister, but found herself doubting Wyatt had been very convincing in his dislike of her
The unfairness of it, a stranger judging her, nored the sensation Soet this all fixed
She returned downstairs and walked toward the front door On the way, she saw a narrow staircase leading to the basement She kneas down there
Every cell in her body screao look--yet she found herself walking toward the opening, then slowly, so slowly,down
The stairs opened into a basement But what should have been an open space was closed off with a wall and a single door Nicole hadn’t destroyed it, Claire thought, not sure what to make of that Did it mean there was hope, or had the project simply been too much trouble?
Claire hesitated, her hand on the doorknob Did she really want to go in?