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"I want a happy ending"

"So with ice crea Claire’s whole body clenched as she hoped it was Wyatt Maybe a beam had fallen on him at one of his jobs and the head injury had et it," she said as she left the kitchen and walked into the great room

She didn’t find Wyatt on the doorstep Instead Lisa, her roomed as ever, she looked tired And old

"Claire," she said with a tentative s to find you at hoo, Claire would have told her no They had nothing to say to each other Now, she wasn’t so sure The sense of longing swept over her again, the need to play, to perfors different, to not be the frightened, obedient client she’d been before She wasn’t who she had been when she’d arrived in Seattle But as she now?

"Sure, we can talk"

Lisa followed her into the house, then closed the door "You’re looking well"

"I feel good"

"Are you--" Lisa pressed her lips together "Never hed "Yes I’ve played a little, but I’ classes, either"

She ular sessions with her music, when it was just her and her coach and the perfection she could create

"You probably want to yell at me now," she said, prepared to hear it all and deal with it like an equal, not a subordinate

Lisa only nodded slowly "I didn’t think you were playing much You’re on vacation" She sed "Is it just a vacation? Are you co"

Claire waited, trying not to feel nervous She was an adult, she re," Lisa told her, clutching her handbag in front of her "You were so young e started working together I treated you like a child, because you were But you grew up and I didn’t notice because it was easier forto tell me you weren’t happy and I didn’t listen I never wanted you to be unhappy I never wanted you to feel trapped I’ whatever you thought was right to get a perfor"

"Only because you’re so gifted Claire, no one can do what you do I worried you couldn’t see that I was afraid you didn’t respect your gift"

"It’s ift to respect or not"

"I know I see that now I just hate to think of you wasting away, not playing"

"Not earning the money"

"That, too You areanyht to know This isClaire had never considered

She led the way to the sofa Nicole was nowhere to be seen, and probably hiding out in the kitchen with a pint of ice crea than anything she’d seen lately on television, Claire thought, trying to find the hu upset wouldn’t help anyone Better to stay cal, as well," she said, looking at Lisa "I should have been more clear about how unhappy I was Instead I used the panic attacks to get what I wanted Eventually they began to control me I wanted to be treated like an adult, but I didn’t act like one I was a kid faking a sto of , but it had to be done "I shouldn’t have just disappeared and left you hanging," she continued "That wasn’t fair to either of us I’"

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, then looked away They’d never had the sort of relationship thatcomfortable and Claire didn’t kno toto do?" Lisa asked

She realized then she’d been avoiding the truth for a long ti to come back to New York and return to ainst the sofa "Thank God"

Claire s to be a lot of changes"

"Whatever you say Seriously, you’re in charge"

"Unlikely," Claire told her, knowing Lisa was good at her job, but also stubborn "We’ll have to find a way to co all over the world for weeks at a ti to have to eventually avoid air travel The pregnancy wouldn’t allow it Although she didn’t knohen that restriction would start

"You can write your own schedule There’s also studio work"

Claire nodded "I’ll want to spend a lot of tiht buy a place here"

"You can play here or in San Francisco and Los Angeles Even Phoenix Also Japan, but only when you want to go overseas" Lisa leaned toward her "We can make this work, Claire I want us to be partners"

They would never be close friends, but she would like thereatest respect for you," Claire told her "The change is going to be hard on both of us We have years of patterns we have to break"

"I can change"

Claire knew she could, as well She already had

CHAPTER TWENTY

AFTER LISA LEFT, Nicole ca" It wasn’t a question

Claire didn’t knohat to say "I’anNicole shook her head, then handed over a pint of ice crea"

"I don’t agree with that, but it’s where I have to face my demons"

"You have mutant hands," Nicole teased "You’ll beat those de doesn’t ht tears "I et sick of me"

"Maybe, but I can handle it" Nicole handed her a spoon "How does it feel to be in charge of Lisa?"

"I don’t know Scary, but in a good way It only took rown-up"

Theyinto their ice cream Claire wondered hoas possible to be both excited and sad about her future She felt the need to start practicing right away, to knohatShe was also thrilled about the baby But there was also the pain of leaving Seattle and her sisters, not toof her sisters…