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Nicole hung up, then looked at Claire "We have a proble of salt and wondered what other da clerks called in sick There’s no one to work the front counter Normally I would fill in or ask Jesse, but neither of those are possible You’re going to have to do it"

"What? What do you mean?"

Nicole rolled her eyes "What was unclear? Work the counter Take oods Don’t panic There’s no actual ister does that for you Just take their e Even you can do that"

Claire didn’t want to She really didn’t want to The potential to screw up seee But Nicole needed her

"Okay," she said "I’ll do it"

"Fine Stay away froed and was heading to her car She walked outside only to find Jesse leaning against her rental

"Hey, big sister How’s it going?""How’s it going? How’s it going? That’s all you have to say to ht?" She was both happy to see her sister and so angry she could spit "You set me up You lied to me Nicole doesn’t want me here She hatescare of things?"

"Nicole and I are having some issues"

"Guess what? I don’t care about that How could you lie to me?"

Jesse, tall and thin, pretty, with hair down to her waist, straightened "I didn’t lie Nicole did have surgery and she does need you"

"But she hatesand everyone she knows hates rinned "She tells soreat stories about you"

"Great fro Probably not you" Jesse sighed "She needs help I know she thinks I don’t care about her, but I do I didn’t knoho else to call You’re here and that’s what roaned "It isn’t what , but still "Every moment is uncomfortable And who is Wyatt? He hates s about me?"

"Not all, but so time His stepbrother, Drew, o I don’t know if they’re going to get back together"

Jesse crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke Claire felt the undercurrents but didn’t knohat they ," Claire murmured

"Did you expect her to?"

"Of course I would have coht"

Claire glared at her "Don’t you dare take any attitude with me, Jesse Most of this is your fault"

"I’o be famous"

There was a bitterness in her sister’s words Claire frowned "Is that what you think happened? That I sio off and be fa They decided forin Seattle and the next she was on a plane to New York "They took ed, they wouldn’t let y," Jesse said "Is the fa too much fun?"

"It’s not like that"

But she didn’t bother explaining No one wanted to know the truth Not the past or the present No one wanted to hear about the hours spent practicing, the late nights and earlyschedule No one cared that after a while, all the hotels rooms looked the same and that the only way she could tell what city she was in was by looking at the newspaper on her breakfast tray That while she’d visited so places in the world, she’d never seen them There wasn’t time

"I’ more"

"You were the princess" Jesse’s mouth twisted "Fussed over, pampered Wanted Probably still are It wasn’t like that here At least not for ed "It doesn’tit did ht?"

Jesse stiffened "I don’t want to talk about that"

"You’d better It’s the reason you lied to ed me all the way out here to deal with some mess you couldn’t So what happened?"

"I…" Jesse drew in a breath Her expression turned defiant "Nicole caught me in bed with her husband She wasn’t happy"

Claire opened her mouth, then closed it Shock flooded her "You slept with your sister’s husband? You had sex with hi? "She’s faree with you about that She disowned me"

Jesse sounded so calm about all of this As if what she’d done didn’t matter Claire wanted to shake her "Do you bla I wasn’t doing a lot of things but no one wants to hear that"

Claire glared at her "You need a better excuse than that Sex doesn’t just happen You didn’t stu sex It requires a plan, a relationship of so hi each other I told you It just…It’s not…" Jesse straightened and walked back toward her car "I don’t want to talk about this with you"

"Ask me if I care" No wonder Nicole was upset and crabby Her own sister and her husband "Are you in love with him?"

"Oh, please Give me a little credit Besides, I have a boyfriend"

"But you slept with Drew?" None of this made sense to Claire "Why?"

"I didn’t sleep with him"

"What? Nicole walked in before you consummated the deal and thattime "I know you won’t believe me Nicole didn’t, either I don’t knohy it happened Why it had to happen Maybe because I’ve been a screwup s worse"

"That’s not good enough"

Jesse looked at her for a long time, then opened her car door "Pretty funny That’s what Nicole said"

WYATT BUTTONED the back of his daughter’s blouse, then reached for the brush She signed as he worked, but he pretended not to see A he wanted to hear