“I don’t think so,” she said calmly. “We’re going to get this settled, once and for all.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Whatever. We can talk in my office.”

“We can talk right here,” Claire told her.

Everyone scattered.

“Is humiliating me your goal?” Nicole asked. “Because you’re doing a hell of a job.”

“You know exactly what my goal is, however much you try to avoid it. I want us to be sisters again.”

Nicole’s gaze narrowed. “Sisters don’t betray each other.”

“Sure they do. Sisters do everything everyone else does. It’s the nature of close relationships.”

“You’re an expert now?”

“More than I was. You’re pissed off because I bailed Jesse out of jail without talking to you first. Fine. You didn’t talk to me about putting her in jail in the first place.”

“It wasn’t your business.”

“She’s my sister.”

“She stole from me.”

“You’re still punishing her for Drew. You couldn’t do anything about that, so you’re looking for another way to get back at her.”

“Why the hell not?” Nicole demanded. “Should I be happy about what they did together? Should it fill me with pride? She screwed up everything.”

Claire got it. She finally got what was going on with Nicole.

“You’re the victim,” she said slowly, filling in the details as she talked. “I can’t believe it. You’re so tough on the surface, but underneath, you’re blaming everyone else for what’s going wrong. It’s true you were left with all kinds of crap here, but you did an amazing job. You took care of everything. But that’s not enough. I don’t know if you can’t accept your part, or if you’re not getting enough support or what.”

“Stop it!” Nicole yelled. “Don’t you dare think you can get inside my head. I don’t need any amateur psychology from a poor little princess who doesn’t know how to function in the real world.”

“At least I’m trying to make things better. I’m not running around, blaming everyone else.”

“No, you’re sneaking around, hiding from your manager because you’re not willing to face her like a grown-up.”

That shot hurt, Claire thought, but refused to acknowledge the zing.

“I did run,” she admitted, “but I also faced her. I keep showing up with you, time after time. You keep trying to get rid of me. Who’s the one with the problem? Want to blame me for that? Or maybe Drew. I think a lot of this is his fault. It sure can’t be yours.”

Nicole glared at her for several heartbeats, then turned. “I don’t need this or you. Get out. Just go away. I don’t want to see you again.”

She started to walk past Claire. Claire wasn’t going to let her just end the conversation. She grabbed her arm. “Not so fast.”

Nicole tried to pull free. Claire wasn’t going to let go. They each moved toward the large vat of dough. A second too late, Claire saw the puddle of what looked like oil on the cement floor.

They stepped in it at the same time and both went sliding. Claire released her sister, but it was too late. They went down, hard on the floor.

Claire crashed into the cement butt first. The jolt of impact made her teeth ache. She sat there for a second before rolling onto her knees, then starting to stand.

As she did, she turned her head. Nicole lay on her side. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.

NICOLE REFUSED to open her eyes. She didn’t want to know where she was, even though it was impossible to ignore the medics working on her. Words like transport and hospital made her wince.

Reluctantly she opened her eyes and saw two guys bent over her.

“You’re back,” one of them said. “Do you know where you are?”

Wished that she didn’t. “On the floor in my bakery. I know the day of the week and who’s president, if you need that information.”

“You didn’t hit your head, then.”

“Not on purpose.”

There were two agonizing points of pain. Her incision and her knee.

“She had surgery a few weeks ago,” Claire said from somewhere out of Nicole’s range of vision. “She shouldn’t have been here at all. It’s all my fault.”

There were tears in her voice, and anguish.

“We were arguing. She tried to walk away and I wouldn’t let her. She slipped on the oil.”

“Relax,” one of the medics told her. “Your sister will be fine. The incision didn’t tear, at least not on the outside. They’ll check her out internally at the hospital. Her knee’s pretty messed up, but that’s not fatal.”

He looked back at Nicole. “Ready to take a ride?”

“Not really.”

“I was only asking to be polite.”

They got her on a gurney. As she moved, pain shot through her leg. It was sharp enough to take her breath away. An IV dripped into her arm. She felt as if she’d been run over.

Once they were moving toward the ambulance, Claire rushed over and took her hand.

For once, she looked as bad as Nicole felt. She was crying and not in a pretty way. Her eyes were red, her mouth swollen.

“I’m sorry,” she said over and over again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want anything bad to happen. I just hate that you’re mad at me. I love you. You’re my sister. I don’t want you to die.”

It was all a little dramatic, but kind of nice, in an over-the-top way. Nicole couldn’t remember the last time anyone had fussed over her. No, wait. She could. When she’d come home from the hospital and Claire had been waiting to take care of her. Claire, who led with her heart and not her head. Claire, who was holding her hand as if she was never going to let go.

“I’m not going to die,” Nicole told her. “And I don’t hate you. You just really piss me off, sometimes.”

“I know. You’re not easy yourself.”

“Not being easy is my best quality.”

They loaded her into the ambulance. Claire waved. “I’ll drive right behind them. I’ll be with you no matter what.”

Words that should have made Nicole want to run to the hills, but oddly, they didn’t. They actually made her feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside. Which made her wonder what those medics had put in her IV.

WYATT PUT HIS ARM around Claire. “Nicole is going to be fine.”

“You keep saying that,” Claire said with a sniff. “No offense, but I want to hear that from a paid professional. Then I’ll believe it.”

“She was awake and talking.” He was worried about Nicole, as well, but Claire seemed on the verge of losing it.

“What if she’s bleeding internally?”

“What if she’s not?”

Claire leaned against him. “Sure, use logic when I’m in a weakened condition. That’s hardly fair.”

He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her close. “I do what I can.”

She felt good in his arms. Under other circumstances, he would have been thinking about that and maybe getting her back into bed. But these weren’t other circumstances and they had to talk about what happened.

“I can’t believe they’re going to have to operate on her knee and that she’s going to have another recovery,” Claire said into his shirt. “It’s so unfair. It should have been me.”

“You both fell. She got her knee busted up. It was an accident.”

“I know. I just wish-” she sighed “-that we weren’t fighting.”

He really wanted to be supportive. That’s what a decent guy would do. Support during this crisis. He wouldn’t be thinking about his own stuff and wanting to discuss it.

Even so, he found himself saying, “We have to talk about what happened.”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with concern. “What are you talking about?”

“Us. Being together.”

“Oh. I’m fine with that.”

She was so damn calm. “I’m not. You should have told me you were a virgin.”

She smiled. “Oh, Wyatt, don’t worry. It was great. I was too embarrassed to tell you. I probably should have mentioned it, but I didn’t and everything worked out. You were very gentle.” She drew her eyebrows together. “Is that what you’re getting at or do you mean something else? Are you saying you wouldn’t have made love with me if you’d known?”

They were alone in the waiting room, but privacy didn’t make the conversation easier. “I don’t know.”

She leaned back. “Then I made the right decision.”

“By taking away my choice?”

“I don’t know if I should laugh or hit you with a chair,” she told him. “You’re saying I violated your rights or something?”

This is why men and women should never have emotional conversations, he thought grimly. “There are consequences that should have been anticipated.”

Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Which is my point. You’re not experienced.”

“You weren’t complaining before.”

Now he was getting pissed. “I’m not making a statement about your performance,” he growled. “I’m talking about birth control. You aren’t on any, are you?”

He waited for her expression to change to shocked regret. Instead her eyes widened and then she smiled as if he’d just handed her the cure for global warming.

“I could be pregnant?” she breathed. “We could have a baby? I never thought about that. Is it possible? I don’t think my luck is that good.”

He couldn’t believe it. She was happy at the prospect?

She flung herself at him and laughed. “Oh, Wyatt, wouldn’t that be amazing? A baby. I’ve always wanted children. Could it really happen my first time? I guess it could. Wow.”

He grabbed her and shoved her away. “What’s wrong with you?” he demanded. “This isn’t good news.”

Her smile faded. “Why not?”

How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

“It’s a baby,” she said. “That would be a miracle. Of course there are logistics, but we’ll deal. This is amazing.”

He was beyond pissed. Shouldn’t she be upset and frantic? “You’re not getting it. This isn’t good news.”