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“Teach me,” Claire had said as she surveyed all the bowls
on the counter. “Please, Hannah. Tell me what you’re doing.”
She’d wanted a distraction. Anything to forget the tears in her
mom’s voice.
Hannah had taught her. That night and so many others.
She’d created a lifelong passion that Claire had let burn out
because of something that was beyond her control.
She’d let this be taken from her. The one thing she’d always
fallen back on. It was something that always gave her joy and
she’d let that passion be stomped out. She should have fought
back. She shouldn’t have let it happen.
Robert hadn’t just taken that restaurant from her. She’d
given it. She’d admitted defeat and she’d crawled into hiding,
retreating to the family business. She’d given up. Yes, it was
bad timing. Yes, he’d done something terrible. But she was the
one who capitulated. Hadn’t Haley asked her as much? Why
she didn’t fight?
“Holy hell, I know things are bad, but they must be really
bad if you’re cooking.”
Claire just about sent a big metal mixing bowl flying off the
counter at the voice behind her. She turned, her floury hands
making a mess just the way she’d seen Haley and Jean that
first afternoon. Her heart clenched and her pulse raced, and her
soul cried out in agony.
Jenny sauntered in. She was wearing jeans and a black long-
sleeved shirt, plus her regular combat boots. It was absurdly
late, or absurdly early, however a person looked at it, but she
looked like she was ready to go to work. Because Claire was
up, she was up.
Claire was about to tell Jenny to go back to bed and not
