Chapter 14

“There was all this…stuff staining the sink, and I thought I’d help…” Michelle rolled her eyes and pulled open the refrigerator, which could use a scrub, too, now that Candace looked. Something purple had dripped down the front, and there were dried bits of green—lettuce?—on the bottom that could use wiping.

Uh-oh. She was really upset. But as long as she didn’t start wanting to wash windows, she was sane. If the glass cleaner came out, it was time to call in professional help.

“You ever stop to think that all your efforts here might seem like a criticism of the way I live?”

Temper flared. Candace lobbed the scouring pad into the sink. “You’re welcome.”

Michelle got out the plastic jug of orange juice and let it thud unnecessarily hard on the counter where they ate. Candace took a deep breath. This was not how she wanted their sisterly interaction to start this morning. Or any morning. They couldn’t seem to help setting each other off. Which was most of the reason Candace had moved away to Drakoria.

“Sorry, Michelle. I’m cranky. And you know me, cranky equals cleaning.”

“I knew that. I shouldn’t have taken it personally.” She poured herself juice, sloshing a bit and of course not wiping it up. “What’s going on?”

Candace cleared her throat, and then realized in an odd flashback, that was what their mother had done before she approached a difficult subject. In response, Michelle’s hand carrying the juice glass froze halfway to her mouth.

“Uh, I had a kind of strange talk with Nolan yesterday.”

The orange juice glass lowered. The sleepy green-brown eyes turned cautious. “Yeah?”

“He says you’re not dating.” Candace made sure her voice was gentle, no accusation implied. “That you’re not involved at all.”

Michelle’s glass hit the counter with a sharp crack. She mumbled something.

“What? I said not involved yet.”

“But…I mean…has he shown any interest?” She held her breath, shocked at how desperately she hoped Michelle would say no.

“He’s the kind of guy you always told me I should want. And I do. I finally found a good one.”

Candace nodded carefully. What she was walking on would make eggshells feel like bricks. Michelle hadn’t answered her question directly. If Nolan had shown interest, she’d lose no time throwing that fact in Candace’s face. Which meant when he’d come on to Candace, he was single. She wasn’t going to take that thought any further just yet. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“I did. I told you I’d found the guy I’d like to spend the rest of my life with. That’s the truth.”

Candace felt a twitch of irritation at the hair-splitting. And a traitorous kick of jealousy she was ashamed of. “You didn’t think I’d assume you were together already?”

“I didn’t think you’d come barreling up here to check my story before we’d had the chance to get to know each other.”

“Okay.” Candace gave in, moistened a sponge and wiped up the juice spill in front of her sister, not looking at her in case she was rolling her eyes again. “You said you’d known him a solid month. I thought that meant—”

“I didn’t say solid.”

Candace turned back to the sink, rinsed the sponge, picked up the scouring pad and went to work again on grout turned brown with mold. Otherwise she was going to want to smack her sister. “Okay. You probably didn’t say ‘solid.’ So maybe you didn’t lie and I’m sorry if I accused you. But you certainly misled me. On purpose. How come, Michelle?”

Her sister sighed, but not in exasperation. “Because I was excited about meeting him and jumped the gun…as usual. Because I thought you’d feel better about moving to Langford if you thought I was settled with a good guy, which I finally have a chance to be, with Nolan . Because you worry about me and everyone more than you worry about yourself and I wanted you to take a break, at least on my behalf.”

Candace turned and met her sister’s eyes across the kitchen. “Is that really why?”

She shrugged and grinned lopsidedly. “I care about you, too, you know.”

“Aw, Michelle.” Candace swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“Am I the only reason you’re cleaning? When you start on grout, it usually means something more serious.”

“Oh. That. Well.” How could she tell Michelle Mr. Dream Guy made another pass at her? That Candace had responded? She couldn’t. More to the point, she didn’t need to, because that was over, done with, not going to happen again. “I was confused about you and Nolan. And, yes, worried. You know me.”

“Don’t worry. He is remarkable. Really.” She grinned triumphantly at Candace. “Nolan is a big-shot CEO to be. After his father that is. Major cash in the family.”

Candace stared stupidly. Nolan, the consummate player bum, came from money? “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Michelle grimaced. “I had some adolescent idea that I wanted you to trust me no matter who the guy was.”

“Aw, Michelle…”

“I know. I have to earn the trust. And I will. You’ll see.”

Candace murmured encouragement, feeling uneasy. She hated hearing her sister talk about her as if she were an ogre parent. But maybe she acted like one. She’d certainly felt often enough as if she had to be one. “Is that why neither of you is worried about the ‘between jobs’ thing?”

“Yup. He doesn’t need a job to begin with.” Michelle fished a cottony piece of white bread out of a plastic bag and dropped it into the toaster.

“You should see his house. Only a block from the lake and about a bajillion bedrooms.”

“Ah.” Candace smiled weakly, feeling sick. She’d treated him like a loser down to his last dollar. No, wait, he’d acted like one. Why?

She rinsed the now bright-white sink and dried her hands. The answer was obvious. And painful. Because she’d assumed. Judged. Jumped to conclusions about his character and motivations. And in return for that favor, he’d played her like a banjo. Ouch.

“He was successful, but had health issues, so he chucked it.” Michelle grabbed the barely browned piece of toast from the toaster and smeared it with sweetened peanut butter, leaving the crumb and peanut-butter gobbed knife sticking out of the jar. “He promised himself he’d take six months off to rest, then start on something less driven. I guess his dad and brothers are all workaholics and Nolan felt like he was turning into all of them.”