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Betty shrugged but didn’t say anything. Her
sister looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine
and Bobbi was willing to bet that every piece of her ensemble was a
freebie from the many shoots Betty had done in the past.

The knee high espresso colored riding boots,
paired with white denim (tucked into the boots of course), white
turtleneck, and chunky white & caramel scarf, was a great look
but it somehow didn’t belong in the old arena. Around here things
were casual. Like
way
casual and Bobbi was more than fine
with that.

It made things so much easier in the morning.
Bobbi had thrown on a pair of jeans and her favorite boots, slid
her hands into a smart blouse and she was ready to go. She had to
admit, it felt kind of good to go to work in clothes that were
comfortable. She wasn’t going to miss the skirts and nylons or
heels anymore.

Betty’s hair was straightened, her makeup
dramatic, as usual—the girl looked plastic but Bobbi wasn’t sure it
if it was because of the way her makeup was done, or the fact that
she seemed to have misplaced her heart and soul somewhere along the
road. It was as if Betty was blank…there was no fire inside her
anymore and Bobbi was starting to get fed up with her sister’s
apathy.

“Did you get Dad to Doctor Newley?” Bobbi
asked. Travis Barker’s appointment was for noon and though Gramps
always took him when Bobbi couldn’t, his knee was so bad from
arthritis that it was hard for him to drive. Betty had volunteered
to take them.

She nodded. “Yep. I was told to come back in
an hour so I thought I’d…” she shrugged. “I don’t know what I
thought. I just stopped by is all, for a visit.”

“We could do lunch? Billie is almost done
with her training session.”

Her sister’s face hardened and this time it
was easy for Bobbi to read her loud and clear. “What is it with you
and Billie?” Bobbi asked abruptly, pushing her chair back as she
settled on the edge and gazed across the room at her sister.

Betty shoved off from the door and flopped
onto the ratty sofa next to it. Her expression was hard. As hard as
her attitude.

Bobbi ran her hands through her hair and took
a moment, her head hurting from all the stuff crammed inside it.
Shane stuff. New job stuff. Money stuff. Dinner with Shane and his
family stuff.

The usual, and the not so usual.

Did she really want to open up this can of
worms with her sister?

Betty sighed. A dramatic sort of thing that
did nothing but make Bobbi raise her eyebrows and shake her
head.

“What?” Betty said belligerently.

Bobbi got up out of her chair, walked around
the desk and leaned against it, dangling one foot as she watched
her sister. “Your bitchiness increases five hundred percent
whenever Billie’s around. You’re mean and nasty and though I’m
pretty sure Billie thinks you’re awful because you’re either on
drugs or trying to get off drugs, she’s wrong.”

“Is she?”

‘Damn right she is. You’ve become quite the
little actress.” Bobbi nodded. “Sure you drink too much, but as far
as I can tell you haven’t done anything stronger than a bottle of
Jack.” She paused, noting the color that pinched Betty’s pale
cheeks.

“What the hell do you know?” Betty asked,
slipping further into the sofa.

Bobbi snorted. “Seriously? I’ve been there,
remember? Besides, you can’t afford drugs or booze or any other of
those vices you used to enjoy so much. So are you going to tell me
what this Billie thing is?”

Betty made a face. “Why the hell are you so
concerned about Billie anyway? It’s not like she ever gave two
shits about us. Even though we’re triplets, it was always you and
me. Bobbi and Betty. Billie was off doing her own thing. She’s
always done her own thing.” Betty’s face hardened. “And don’t give
me some bullshit answer about the power of time and healing and
blah, blah, blah, either. Back in October, the two of you weren’t
exactly besties, so what the hell changed?”

Damn, the can of worms was spilling all over
the place.

Bobbi glanced out the window once more and
caught sight of her sister flying by, on the heels of several
hockey players as she put them through their paces.

“Look, I’ll be the first one to admit that I
wasn’t exactly Billie’s biggest fan. If anything, I was more of a
bitch to her when she came home than you’re being right now. I
resented the hell out of her career and the fact that she made it
out of this town.” She ran fingers across her forehead and sighed.
“
Both
of you did and for the longest time I felt like the
screw up. The Barker with no dreams or ambition. The Barker who was
left behind. The Barker who
had
to stay behind because there
was no one else to look after Dad. But you know what?”

At Betty’s insolent shrug, Bobbi leaned
forward. She thought of Shane’s confession Sunday night. His
acceptance of his mistakes. The pain of his past and what it meant
to finally face it.

“All of those reasons are nothing more than
excuses I used to cover up the fact that I wasn’t strong enough to
go after what I wanted. It wasn’t because I didn’t have a chance to
leave this town that I stayed. It wasn’t because of Dad or Gramps
or even Shane. It was because I wasn’t strong enough to leave.”

“God, you could give Pastor Richards a run
for his money,” Betty said dryly. “Seriously, you could replace him
at sermon and no one would know.” But her eyes were bright and her
lips were pinched. She was listening.

“Look, we both ended up
where
we ended
up because of the choices we made. And until we learn to
own
our past and deal with the consequences of those choices, neither
one of us will ever be happy.” Bobbi’s eyes bored into Betty.
“
You
will never be happy.”

“Wow, Bobbi, you’re just full of tidings and
good joy, aren’t you?”

“I’m just keeping it real.”

“Sing it sister.” Betty smiled and thrust her
chin out, but there was no warmth or joy in her eyes, and sarcasm
dripped from her words.

“Betty, I’m just telling you the truth.
Figure out what the hell is wrong with you now, before it’s too
late. Before you’re too broken. Billie did. She might not be
playing professional hockey anymore but she sure as hell adapted
and she’s in a good place.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not Billie.”

“No, you’re not and neither am I. It took me
a long time to get over my jealousy.” At Betty’s frown, Bobbi
nodded. “Jealousy is exactly what I felt. Jealousy and resentment.
It fueled everything in my life and I didn’t realize how much that
negativity was affecting me until I snapped.”

“So the wedding-that-didn’t-happen was your
snap?” Betty was being sarcastic and Bobbi ignored her.

“I can’t even begin to describe the weight I
carried every day. Weight that I put on myself because I was trying
to live up to some fake image of some fake person who I thought had
everything. A person who was successful. A person who was
successful in everyone else’s eyes. But in the end none of that
matters. None of it
should
matter.”

Her voice trailed off for a moment. “In the
end the only thing that matters is that we need love to survive in
this world. We need to love and be loved.”

Something warm trickled inside Bobbi. She
loved. She loved a lot. She had never stopped loving Shane.
Never.

“Some of us aren’t capable of that.” Betty
looked surprised that she’d spoken out loud. She cleared her throat
and looked away.

“What happened to you, Betts?” For one
moment, the plastic shield her sister had constructed melted and
something moved within the depths of her eyes. Something painful.
Something ugly.

It was gone just as quick and Betty, always
good at deflecting, rested her elbows on her thighs and leaned
forward. “Have you told him yet?”

She knew what Betty was talking about. “No,”
Bobbi whispered.

All those years ago, Betty had been the one
to take care of her when her world was falling apart. When her
heart felt as if it had been ripped to shreds. When she was hurting
so badly she couldn’t get out of bed for days.

Betty had been the one who had found her
curled up on the floor in the bathroom, bleeding, crying
hysterically, wounded and alone.

Betty had been the one to comfort and soothe
her when she had lost her baby. The baby she hadn’t realized she
wanted until it was too late.

The baby Shane thought she’d aborted.

Her heart twisted and she balled her hands
into fists as the wave of emotion inside her threatened to
unravel.

The baby she had told him wasn’t his.

“Bobbi, are you alright? You don’t look so
good.”

Before she could say a word the door opened
and Shane strode into the room, eyes on Bobbi, and so damn sexy her
heart twisted some more. He didn’t stop until he pushed his way
between her legs, slid his hands around her waist and opened her
mouth with his own.

His kiss was tender and warm and exactly what
she needed. His lips skated across hers and they spoke without
words, pushing aside the pain in her heart. He kissed her long and
with exquisite finesse and when they finally came up for air, Shane
rested his forehead on hers and grinned. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she managed hoarsely. There was too
much emotion inside of her and all of it was caught at the back of
her throat.

“I just had to do that. I hope you don’t
mind”

She shook her head because she still couldn’t
speak.

“Jesus Christ, if I’d have known I was going
to be treated to a nooner I would have charged my phone and taken
video. I could make a fortune selling that shit.”

Shane turned around, his arm still around
Bobbi.

“We can wait if you want to run home,” he
said silkily.

Bobbi pushed him and hopped off the desk,
straightening her shirt a little as she did so. Her lip gloss was
gone, no doubt inside Shane’s mouth and because she’d been running
her hands through her hair all morning, she imagined it looked a
mess too.

The heaviness of her conversation with her
sister was still there, but Bobbi pushed it aside. She couldn’t
deal with that right now.

Betty was on her feet as well. “I’m going to
head back and wait for Dad with Gramps.”

Bobbi glanced at her watch. “Are you sure?
Billie’s going to be—”

“Billie’s going to be what?” The third Barker
strolled through the door, long hair pulled off her face in a
ponytail. She crossed the room and grabbed a green Gatorade out of
the fridge, unscrewed the cap and took a good long drink.

She wiped her mouth, grinned at Shane and
turned to her sisters.

“I thought we could all do lunch,” Bobbi said
hesitantly.

Billie’s smile widened. “That sounds awesome.
I’m starved. Let’s go to The Grill.”

“You guys go,” Betty said, a touch of frost
in her voice as she sidled past Shane and was out the door before
anyone could stop her.

“Wow,” Billie said with a slight tremor.
“What does a girl have to do to get on her good side?”

“Billie, she doesn’t mean it. You know how
dramatic she is.” Bobbi leaned into Shane and loved the way his
arms held her. Like she was his. The thought left her warm and
fuzzy and more than a little scared.

“Yeah, well, her drama is getting old. What
the hell did I ever do to her anyway?” Billie tossed the now empty
Gatorade into the trash bin and stretched. “She’s only here because
she has nowhere else to go. Betty only cares about herself and as
soon as she figures out a way to leave she will. Truthfully, I
won’t be standing in her way. I’ll be holding the door open and
slamming it shut behind her.”

“
Okay
, that would be my cue to leave.”
Shane kissed Bobbi on the mouth but before he could leave her hands
crept into his hair, holding him in place.

His eyes were dark, shiny, and with his lids
half hooded he looked sexy as hell. “Why are you here,” she
breathed against his mouth.

He nipped her top lip and bent forward,
nuzzling her beneath her ear as he pulled her into a hug. “I had to
drop by the lawyer’s office and thought I’d surprise you.”

“You did,” she murmured. “And if Betty hadn’t
of been here—”

“Guys,” Billie interrupted. “
I’m still
here
.”

Shane stepped back and she let him go,
reluctantly. Her fingers trailed across his chest, her eyes
lingered on his. He was so male. So hard and yummy that she wished
they were at his place, in his bed, doing all sorts of naughty
things.

Nooner
.

Hell, yeah. That sounded more than good right
now. A slight blush flushed her cheeks as an image of them the
night before—

“I know what you’re thinking about,” Shane
said roughly, his voice a low rumble in her ear as he bent forward
once more.

Their morning had been like that. Full of
long looks, longer touches, and an even longer goodbye. She’d spent
the entire night with Shane and waking up in his arms was pretty
much what she figured Heaven was like. It had felt so right, it
hurt.

“Really,” she answered throatily.

“I’m guessing it involves one of my ties,
that special lotion you brought home and those silver balls on a
chain?” His breath was warm on her face and God help her, but she
was wet. And horny. And aching for him.

“You know,” he continued. “The ones that
we—”

“Jesus, Shane. It’s not cool to have talking
sex in front of me. Logan’s been gone on business since Monday so
this…”

They both turned to Billie, who was gesturing
madly with her hands.

“This isn’t fair.” Billie frowned darkly, her
eyes swinging from Bobbi and then back to Shane. “Aren’t you
supposed to be looking after the shop anyway?”

“Calm down, Barker. Janelle’s there and
everything is fine.”