Susan Mallery - Sweet Trilogy

Now Claire was confused. “Deserved what?”

“Drew. Maybe I deserved what happened.”

“Sex with your sister’s husband as punishment?” Nicole was right, Claire thought, getting annoyed. Jesse didn’t take responsibility for anything.

Nicole had every right to feel hurt. She’d raised Jesse, been there for her, had loved her and cared for her. In return, her sister had violated her trust in her own home.

“I want to take it back,” Jesse admitted. “Seriously, if I could go back to that night, I’d walk away. I never wanted to hurt Nicole or anyone else.”

Jesse looked painfully young as she spoke. And wounded. Claire was unimpressed.

“Where are you staying?” she asked, deciding to change the subject rather than fight.

“I was with a friend. Now I have a place in the University district. You can get rent really cheap in the summer, when most of the students are leaving.”

“Are you working?”

Jesse shifted in her seat. “Um, I’m doing some Internet stuff. Nothing big. I have to earn a living, right? I’m allowed to do that.”

“No one’s saying you don’t,” Claire said, not clear on what Jesse’s temper was about. “What were you doing before this all happened?”

“Taking business classes at a community college. Working in the bakery. It’s half mine. Did she tell you that? My half is in a trust fund until I’m twenty-five. I want her to buy me out but she won’t. Why do what I want? She’s such a bitch.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t been with Drew, she would be more willing to listen.”

“Oh, sure. Take her side.”

Claire stared at her. “Do you understand that you did something incredibly wrong? How much you hurt Nicole?”

“What about how she hurt me?” Jesse pushed away her lunch. “You don’t care, either. I’m not all to blame here. It’s like the bakery. Nicole is the only one who gets to be right. Only she gets to be in charge. I had some ideas for these brownies based on the chocolate cake recipe. I’d been playing with different ingredients. Nicole wasn’t all that interested, but I knew if I found the right way to make them, she would be blown away. I wanted to make something of my own. Something special.”

“You could still be working on that.”

Jesse shook her head. “It takes money to buy ingredients.”

“Do you need money? Are you broke?”

“I’m okay.”

Claire reached for her handbag. “I don’t have a checkbook. I pay for everything with my credit cards, but I have some cash. Do you want it? I can get more if you need it.”

Jesse stared at her for a long time. “Why would you give me money?”

“Because you need it.” Because Jesse was her sister and despite everything, Claire wanted her to be okay.

“There’s something wrong with you.”

Claire had known that for a while. She’d just hoped it wasn’t visible to everyone else. “Not the point. Yes or no on the cash.”

“No for now. I may have to change my mind.”

“Just let me know.”

“I will.” They seemed to have reached a temporary truce. Jesse picked up her burger again. “Are you getting along any better with Nicole?”

“I was until I asked about dating Wyatt.”

Jesse nearly choked. “How did that go?”

“Not well. But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to stand up to her and date who I want to date.”

Jesse looked surprised. “Good luck with that.”

“It’s not as if they’re dating.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She doesn’t want him, but she doesn’t want anyone else to have him. That’s not fair.”

“I agree.”

“So it’s not really a problem.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Jesse asked, reaching for her burger again.

“Both. How am I doing?”

“I’m totally with you. Sorry I’m going to miss the show.”

Claire had a feeling she wasn’t talking about the date, but instead her telling Nicole about the date.

“I don’t know what to wear,” she said. “Out with Wyatt. I don’t, um, really date a lot.”

“Where are you guys going? Did he say?”

Claire shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“Probably dinner out. Maybe a movie. Wear something nice but not too dressy. Seattle isn’t New York. Maybe some really nice jeans with a silk blouse and a blazer. You want to look hot but not slutty. Interested without being desperate.”

“How are dressy jeans different from regular jeans?”

Jesse sighed. “You’re hopeless.”

“I know.”

AFTER CLAIRE DROVE back to the house, she sat in the car giving herself a pep talk.

“I am strong,” she told her reflection in the rearview mirror. “I am empowered. I am an adult. I am a good person. I appreciate myself. I’m going to go in there and tell Nicole what’s going on. I am strong and brave and I will not be intimidated by anyone. Especially her.”

She sucked in a breath, then marched into the house. She found Nicole standing in the kitchen.

“Good,” she said forcefully. “I want to talk to you.”

Nicole only raised her eyebrows.

Claire refused to be intimidated. “Look. I respect who you are and all of your relationships. I know Wyatt is your friend. I’m not trying to change that.”

“You couldn’t.”

Claire felt a little of her strength fading away, but she kept her mind focused. “That’s not what I meant. The thing is you’re not interested in dating him and I am. I don’t know what your problem is. If you think I’m not good enough for him or what, but you’re just going to have to get over it.”

“You’re going out,” Nicole said, sounding tired.

“Yes, we are. He asked and I accepted. You can fight and pout and protest, but you can’t change what’s going to happen. Besides, it would be wrong of you to suggest otherwise.”

Nicole stared at her. “Anything else?”

“Yes. Several things. I’m sorry for what happened to you. I’m sorry that Drew slept with Jesse. I’m sorry your own sister betrayed you. I’m sorry you got stuck working in the bakery and you think you were cheated out of your life. I’m sorry you lost your mom. But I lost out, too.”

Nicole started to speak, but Claire held up her hand.

“I’m not done. It happened to me, too. And you’ve never once considered that. You’ve totally blown me off and dismissed any feelings I might have had. I’ve spent the past ten years trying to connect with you. You’ve ignored my phone calls, my letters, everything. Yet when Jesse called, I dropped everything to be here with you.”

“According to what I hear, there wasn’t much to drop.”

Claire ignored that. “There was enough and that’s not the point. You’re my sister and I wanted to be here for you. It wouldn’t have mattered what I’d had on my schedule. I still would have shown up, because you needed me. Because you matter to me.”

Claire fought a sudden wave of emotion. “When we were five, you went to a birthday party and I couldn’t go because I had to practice. I cried and cried, but my teacher didn’t care. You got the chicken pox and they tried to keep me away from you because they didn’t want me getting sick, either. But I just wanted to be with you. I crawled into bed with you that night and I got sick, too. Because you’re my sister.”

“You already said that,” Nicole murmured.

“You don’t seem to remember it very much. So here’s the thing. I’m not going away this time. We’re going to figure out how to have a relationship and I’m not leaving until we do. It would help if you acted human once in a while and showed a little gratitude. You could even be friendly. But whatever you decide, you need to get off my ass because you weren’t the only one who didn’t get to make a lot of choices about her life.”