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This was so not what she’d iht sadly She’d hoped they would be able to find their way back to each other She and Nicole were twins…fraternal, but connected froer and s really broken that bond?

She was here to find out

"You probably want to rest," Claire said "I’ll get out of your way"

"If only"

She ignored that and started to leave, then paused "Do you have a cleaning service you use?"

"For the house? No I ed to scrub it all by myself"

"Oh Okay I didn’t mean…Never aze dropped to the blouse in Claire’s hand "You mean a service to clean my clothes?"

Claire took a step back "It’s not iuess A piano princess like you couldn’t possibly be expected to take care of your own clothes I’d tell you how to use the washer, but that’s probably not going to help, is it? Too much silk and cashmere, I’ll bet Poor, poor Claire Never owned a pair of jeans You ht"

Claire did her best to deflect the hurtful darts that jabbed at her "I won’t apologize for my life It’s different from yours, but that doesn’t ed, Nicole I’ve always rery before, but I don’t re mean When did that happen?"

"Get the hell out of here"

Claire nodded "I’ll be down the hall if you needto happen I’d rather starve than deal with you"

"No, you wouldn’t"

Ignoring the burning in her eyes and sense of loss weighing her down, Claire returned to her roo

THE ALARM WENT OFF at three-forty-five in theClaire turned it off and then stared at the unblinking red light What had she been thinking? Who got up this early?

People orked in a bakery, she reminded herself She was one of the Keyes sisters She had an obligation to the fas and Jesse had disappeared for reasons still not clear, it was left to ClaireShe got up and pulled on clothes Wrinkled clothes inally better by their tihthair back in a ponytail and quietly crept downstairs Less than fifteen minutes later, she had arrived at the bakery and parked in the back by the other e Claire hurried to the rear door and walked inside

The space arar and cinnae ovens radiated an impressive amount of heat There were deep fryers and ar and what smelled like the richest chocolate in the world

Claire paused and breathed in the delicious scents She’d only been able to fix soup again the previous night, not that Nicole had been all that interested in eating But three days of a nearly liquid diet had left Claire starving

A ed man dressed entirely in white saw her and frowned "Hey, you Get out of here The bakery opens at six"

She gave him her best smile "Hi I’ery I’ out"

"Sister? She doesn’t--" The man was small--a couple of inches shorter than her, but built like a bull He drew his bushy eyebrows together "You’re the one who plays the piano? The snooty one?"

"I do play the piano," Claire said, wondering what Nicole had been telling people about her "I’m not really snooty Nicole, u laid up and all"

The man frowned "I don’t think so She doesn’t like you"

So she’d apparently shared with the entire world Claire had felt guilty about lying, but she didn’t any to find a way to fit in and the bakery was the obvious place to start

"We’ve co a s I can do to help I’ is in my blood"

Or it should be Claire had never tested the theory by actually baking anything

"Look, I don’t knohat’s going on, but I don’t like it You need to leave"

The man walked away She trailed after hiood withto work on the fa"

The man spun back to face her "You stay away from the chocolate cake, you hear me? Only Nicole and I do that I’ve been here fifteen years and I knohat I’et out of here"

"Hey, Sid? Co caave her a scowl, then hurried off in the direction of the voice Claire used the alone tis of a real bakery a littleinto pastry shells The wo

She found another wohnuts The srumble in anticipation She took a step toward the

As they struggled to get their balance, the bag he’d been carrying flew up in the air Claire instinctively reached for it But instead of catching it, she only bu its contents on the on the narrow conveyor belt It spun and spun before landing, open end up, in a h

"What the hell did you do?" the e she didn’t recognize

Sid ca the doughnuts flipped off the belt and hurried over to inspect them "Salt," she muttered "It’s everywhere They’re ruined"

Claire wished she could slink away "I’an "We ran into each other and--"

"You’re not supposed to be here," Sid yelled "Did I tell you to leave? Did you listen? Jesus, no wonder Nicole talks about you the way she does" He leaned over the vat of dough and swore "Salt," he yelled "There’s a five-pound bag of salt in the French bread dough You think anyone’s going to want that? It’s our batch for the day The day"