“No.” Claire made eye contact with her assistant and mouthed “meeting.”
“Oh yes.” Jamie smiled. “I’m sorry, but you have a meeting with one of the Creative Teams in five minutes, Claire.”
Claire glanced at her watch, feigning surprise. “I’d almost forgotten. Thank you, Jamie.”
Jamie nodded, cast Claire an apologetic glance and ducked out of the room. So much for her tea. Claire turned back to Logan.
“I’m sorry but we’ll just have to discuss this later.”
Logan’s gaze narrowed. “Which Creative Team? I thought you already had a meeting this morning.”
Claire searched her brain, trying to recall which teams she had concentrating on which projects. “Amy and Leo.”
Logan flashed her a flawless smile that told her he didn’t believe a word she was saying. “I’ll accompany you. If you don’t mind,” he added, calling her bluff.
But Claire wasn’t about to retreat now. “Of course not.” She smiled with a lack of concern and rose from her chair.
Claire ruminated the entire way home that night. Logan hadn’t been able to corner her and get her alone for the rest of the workday. Of course, she’d skipped out half an hour early, just to avoid him in case he decided to come looking for her again. Fortunately, Amy and Leo had taken the impromptu meeting in stride and had been surprisingly well prepared. If Logan suspected Claire had lied to him, he hadn’t approached her about it.
But she knew it wouldn’t last long. Her delaying tactics only held off the inevitable. She would have to sit down with Logan Monroe and accept the fact that he was the father of her child. She could only hope that he would prove her wrong and be an incredible father invested in peaceful co-parenting rather than opting for his standard steamroller effect.
Claire sighed and pulled into Sophie’s driveway, stunned to see her brother-in-law Trevor’s car parked there already. In a blur, she parked and rushed to the house, completely disregarding both her purse and her miserable state of personal affairs.
Her sister was home.
The front door opened before Claire could reach the knob, and Sophie dashed out, grinning like the blissfully in love, just-off-her-honeymoon woman she was.
“Soph.” Claire swept her sister into an ecstatic hug. “I missed you so much. You weren’t due in for another three days. What’s wrong? Nothing happened, did it?”
“No.” Sophie laughed, hugging Claire fiercely. “We just missed home and thought we’d surprise everyone.”
“I’m so glad you’re here.” Claire realized she was gushing, but decided she didn’t care as she pulled back to get a better look at her sister now that their initial hugging frenzy was out of the way. “You look so great, Soph.” Sophie’s dark hair was pulled from her face, with a few stray tendrils curling against her radiant cheeks. She truly looked beautiful and happier than Claire had ever seen her. Claire’s gaze moved to the obvious belly visible beneath the pink strapless dress Sophie wore. “And huge.”
Coincidentally, Claire and Sophie nearly shared due dates, but Sophie’s tummy had grown considerably more than Claire’s in her absence.
Sophie giggled. “Blame it on Trevor and the French pastries he made me eat.”
“Speaking of Trevor, where is he?” She’d been so excited to see her sister that Claire had nearly forgotten about her brother-in-law.
“Right here,” came his dry response.
Claire looked up to find him right behind Sophie. She extricated herself from Sophie’s hug and moved to embrace the forgotten Trevor.
“Sorry,” she told him. “I didn’t see you.”
“I know, I know, it’s a sister thing,” he said, giving her a squeeze. “How are you doing, Claire?”
She stepped away with a smile. “Fine,” she lied, not wanting to depress them with the sad story that was her life. They were still all happy, starry-eyed, and glowing with Parisjoie de vivre.
“So.” She put her arm around Sophie. “Why don’t we go inside and you guys can tell me all about your trip. I can’t wait to see pictures.”
“They’re on Trevor’s laptop,” Sophie said, allowing Claire to lead her back inside.
“Your sister wore out the camera,” Trevor said with a grin. “I thought we’d have to get it surgically removed from her hands.”
Sophie laughed lightly and put her arm around her new husband’s waist. “You never should have taught me how to use it.”
Claire felt a smile tugging at her lips anew. It felt so good to see her sister so happy after so long. When Sophie had lost her first husband and daughter in a tragic car accident, she’d been devastated. For over two years, she retreated within herself to a place of misery and despair, but miraculously, Trevor had appeared in her life. He’d given Sophie the chance to heal and find herself again. Now the two were desperately in love and Sophie was realizing her dream of becoming a successful artist. Things had truly turned around for both of them.
