“Maybe she can look out for herself.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve had this conversation before, Rachel.”
“Wait... you have?” Claire jerked upright, the pain in her feet forgotten for a moment. “You’ve been talking about me?”
Andrew hesitated, and Rachel waited, saying nothing, but she looked guilty. They both did. “I just wanted to make sure you were looked after,” he finally said.
So he’d asked Rachel to be her nursemaid? No wonder Rachel thought Andrew treated her like a baby. “Damn it, Andrew,” she said, and then, because she didn’t trust herself not to burst into tears, which would prove both their points, she got up and walked a little distance away, towards a creek that wastumbling down the hillside. She stood there, staring at the clear, cold water streaming over the stony ground, feeling like a child who had just stomped off because someone had taken her toys. Rachel was right. She was helpless. And she still didn’t know how to change.
“Claire.” Andrew came up behind her, managing to sound both conciliatory and reproving. Only he could manage that tone, along with their mother. “I’m sorry if it seemed as if I was interfering.”
“Seemed?”
“All right, I have been interfering. But I’ve told you before, we’re all worried about you.”
“And I’ve told you before, you don’t need to be.”
“Really? Because when your sister ends up in rehab for a month due to a drinking problem, it’s understandable to be a bit worried.”
She closed her eyes, humiliation seeping from every pore. Andrew had spoken loudly enough for both Lily and Rachel to hear. “I don’t think I actually have a drinking problem, Andrew,” she said, her voice squeezed out from her constricted throat.
“Oh, Claire.” He sounded so weary, so disappointed. “Don’t.”
“I’m not in denial.” She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “I know it seems like I am. I know everyone listens to Hugh rather than me because, well, he’s Hugh and when has anyone listened to me? But it’s true, Andrew. I drank too much. Once. Once.” Actually, twice. But she’d been feeling stressed and miserable, and maybe she did have a problem, or even several. But she didn’t think she was an alcoholic. “I wasn’t sneaking vodka into my orange juice or blacking out or anything like that—”
“Having a drinking problem doesn’t necessarily mean you black out. Or sneak alcohol or any of the stereotypical signs. You know that, Claire. It can manifest itself in—”
“Oh, stop. Please, just stop. I heard it all at Lansdowne Hills for four whole weeks. I don’t need it from you.”
“Maybe you do, considering—”
“I said to stop!” she said, and then, because she couldn’t think of anything else to do, she went back to where Rachel and Lily were sitting in rigid silence, yanked on her shoes, and started back down the trail, her feet throbbing with every step.
“Claire,” Andrew called. “Where are you going?”
“Home,” Claire yelled over her shoulder, and kept walking.
Chapter fifteen
Rachel
Rachel watched Claire stomp down the trail with a mixture of bemusement and pride. Claire’s feet had to be killing her. Then she glanced back at Andrew, who was standing there, mouth hanging open, arms akimbo. It was particularly satisfying to see him looking like he didn’t know what had hit him. As satisfying as knowing it was Claire who had.
After a few seconds Andrew closed his mouth, shook his head, and then walked back towards Rachel and Lily. “We should go after her.”
“Why?” Rachel asked. Andrew gave her an incredulous look.
“Because she’s in no state—”
“She seemed fine to me. A little pissed off, maybe.” Rachel hadn’t heard the whole conversation, but the words “drinking problem” had practically bounced off the mountains. Rachel glanced at Lily. “Lil, you want to keep going?”
“Well...” Lily glanced between Rachel and Andrew, clearly trying to decipher the undercurrents flowing between them. Her feet were probably hurting too, just as Rachel’s were. “All right. Sure.”
“Good.” Rachel clambered up to standing, trying not to wince. She was doing this for Claire’s sake, even if she’d never realize it. “Onwards. It’s time to conquer my first fell.”
“You’ll never get to the top in trainers,” Andrew stated, and Rachel gave him a long, level look.
“Try me,” she said, and they started walking.
