Page 100 of Liar's Point

Kate shot Nicole a look and then strode across the living room. She checked the peephole and glanced over her shoulder.

“Oh my God.”

“Who is it?” Nicole asked.

Her sister opened the door, but Nicole couldn’t see who was there because the entire doorway was taken up by a ginormous flower arrangement.

“How pretty! Thank you so much!” Kate accepted the delivery and used her hip to close the door. “Okay, these are gorgeous.” The towering bouquet blocked Kate’s face as she returned to the kitchen and set the vase on the counter.

“What?” Kate glanced up. “Why do you look like it’s a ticking bomb?” She plucked the little white envelope from the arrangement and held it out. “Open it.”

Nicole took the envelope and stared down at it for a moment. This felt like a David gesture. Her mother loved flowers, but she would have bought them at the grocery store. And there wasn’t a single other person in Nicole’s life who would even think of such a thing.

She tore open the envelope.

Hope you feel better soon.—D

“David?” Kate asked.

Nicole nodded. She tucked the card back into the envelope as guilt washed over her. “Shit,” she muttered.

“What? They’re stunning!”

“They look really expensive.”

Kate waved her off. “So what? He can afford it. Anyway, he left you stranded at the ER. What a jerk move! Not to mention that’s the second time he’s bailed on you for work.”

The third. But who was counting?

“He can’t help it if he got a callout,” Nicole said.

“What? Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not. But I feel so guilty. I don’t know what got into me.”

Kate smiled. “Besides the narcotics?”

“That’s no excuse.”

She rolled her eyes. “Calm down. It’s not like you slept with someone... right?”

“We kissed. I told you.”

“Well, then chalk it up to the meds and give yourself a break. You’d just been through a trauma.”

Nicole stared at the multicolored mix of roses, tulips, and hydrangeas. If only it had been a wilty-looking bunch of pink carnations left over from Valentine’s.

“I need to talk to him,” Nicole said. “This thing isn’t working. Obviously.”

Kate sighed. “You’re a mess, Nik. I swear. Your love life is just...”

She bristled. “What?”

“Interesting. That’s the word I was looking for.”

Nicole combed her hand through her messy hair. She probably looked as terrible as she felt this morning.

“You okay?” Kate asked.

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