Page 51 (2/2)

Forever conscious of creating a scene, Claire“Please, stop You’re blowing this out of proportion”

“Leave her alone!” Jeremy yelled

Claire motioned for her ardent admirer to calm down “I’m fine, Jeremy Don’t worry about me”

Roni wagged a finger at hio to your dad and you knohat he’ll do”

Claire stepped between them to divert Roni’s attention “Please don’t threaten him It’s me you’re upset with I haven’t called because I’ve been…busy”

“Getting laid?” she snapped

Isaac’s growl told Claire he’d reached the end of his patience He took her hand, obviously intending to lead her out whether her step for a few ht to judge Isaac or me or anyone else”

“I don’t care what she thinks of me,” Isaac said

Claire ignored hio home,” she said to Roni, “and…and let et ured out”

With that, she and Isaac left They had to end the confrontation before it grew any worse But Roni wasn’t about to give her the last word

“Don’t think you can co back to us when he breaks your heart,” she called

Claire couldn’t believe her ears That sounded so pero, she’d never had a reement with her stepmother; now she’d had two It upset her to think they were at odds, that et the best of her

Her world was as upside down as her house had been thisbriskly, and he had a firm hold on her hand Before she knew it they were in his truck and she atching Hank’s Burger Joint grow sh the back

20

Claire stared at her reflection through the stea Isaac’s bathroom mirror She hadn’t really needed a shower She just hadn’t knohat else to do with herself Disappearing into the bathrooive her a few roup

“Are you crazy for being here?” she whispered to herself

“Certifiable,” came her own answer And yet what could she have done differently? She felt as if she was being carried along on a giant wave that’d co her to some new place—but whether that place would be better or worse remained to be seen In any case, she couldn’t pinpoint where she was to bla It wasn’t her fault that she felt compelled to find her ht’ve hired Les Weaver to shoot her husband And it wasn’t her fault that certain people didn’t have an alibi, or that rureed She was only trying to sort it all out

The phone rang Isaac’s voice, when he answered it, cah the door as a low rumble, too low for her to hear what he said She wondered if that call could be for her, but he didn’t knock at the door, and she wasn’t about to act at hoh to yell, “Who is it?”

What if it was another woman? Hayley Peters, orked at the boutique where Claire had bought her new clothes, was a beautiful woe crush on Isaac She talked about him nonstop whenever Claire went into the shop because she knew they’d once been together and openly envied her If Hayley called him or dropped in while Claire was here, it could be aard, especially if Hayley and Isaac had been intimate in recent months