Page 83 of Happily Never After

Screw it, she was going upstairs. She was sure to have another half dozen emails from Brad. The wooden stairs creakedas she tiptoed up them. She reached the office and opened her laptop. Only three emails from Brad, one from the insurance company asking for clarification on an inventory item, and one from Mindy setting up interviews for their candidates.

Claire dove into her work, answering emails, updating quotes, and streamlining the Proposal Day schedule for the millionth time. An hour later, sixteen different sticky notes had been added to the “follow up” column of her wall. She was in the middle of writing a seventeenth when the doorbell rang.

She jumped away from her desk like it had turned into a snake. Who could it be? Mindy was back in Pennsylvania. Bri was shooting in the desert. Charlie was at one of Ryan’s video game tournaments in San Francisco. She tucked Winston into her arms like a football and backed against the wall.

“I got it. Stay with the dogs,” Luke ordered from downstairs.

Claire pulled her phone out and connected to their video doorbell. It was hard to tell because the figure wore a baseball cap and baggy clothes, but it looked like a woman. If it was Olivia again, she was going to track down a torch and pitchfork.

“Hey, Bri,” Luke said at the front door. “Everything okay?” He stepped back to let her inside.

Claire shut the app and ran down the steps into the foyer. “Hey!” She pulled her half sister into a hug. “I thought you were filming this weekend.”

Brianna shook her head. She looked sullen and glum, not like the technicolor beam of pure sunlight she usually was. “There were dust storms in the desert. It was a bust.”

“What’s wrong?” Claire’s danger senses were tingling.

“I just didn’t want to be alone tonight. Do you think I could stay with you guys?”

“Of course you can,” Luke said. “What happened?”

She pulled a Tupperware container out of her boho handbag and handed it to Claire. “Thank you. I made croissants.”

Brianna was an emotional baker. This couldn’t be good.

“I got a note and some more flowers.” She reached into the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

“Cancel the film or you’ll be sorry,” Claire read.

“It was shoved underneath my front door. After what happened to your mom and you, I didn’t feel safe being alone.”

“You still don’t have a bodyguard?” Luke asked.

Brianna shook her head. “I did some second interviews, but there’s so many creeps out there. And before you ask, no, I don’t need help. You have enough going on.”

“I’m so sorry.” Claire drew her sister in for another hug and led her to the living room.

“I’m going to open a bottle of wine,” Luke announced and left the room.

“I’m sorry for bothering you. I know you have your own shit going on. I just feel so…helpless.” Brianna flopped onto the couch. Rosie jumped into her lap and licked her earlobes.

Claire’s brain leapt into problem-solving mode. Brianna could move in with her and Luke, they’d turn the dining room into a bedroom, run background checks on the prospective body guards. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. All of this was likely to be a major imposition to Luke. She was no longer a single woman forging her own path in this world. They were a team, and she needed to clear it with him first.

“I’ll be right back.”

In the kitchen, Luke drove a corkscrew into a bottle of red.

Claire pulled glasses from the cabinet and sidled up next to him. “I almost impulsively did something, but I thought I should ask you first.”

He raised his eyes. “This is new.”

“I know. I’m trying.” She lowered her voice. “What would you think about Brianna moving in with us? At least until she gets a bodyguard? It’s too dangerous for her to be alone.”

The cork slid out with apop. Luke poured wine into three glasses. His brows knit together in concentration. “Let’s do it.”

“Really?” She had already made a mental list of half a dozen sexual favors to offer.

“Yes. She’s family.”

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