Thirty-Eight Days (29 page)

A
ll Clara could see in front of her was a tall backstabbing blonde with whore-filed nails and hoochie-mama-heeled boots, typical essentials for any man-stealer. Instead of the usual tight dresses Clara was used to seeing Elizabeth in, she wore a pair of blue skinny jeans and a red tank top.

“What do you want?” Clara said with a grunt.

Elizabeth frowned at Clara’s grunt and placed a hand on her hip. “I liked that smile on your face. Can't help but think that I took that away from you,” Elizabeth said as she approached the counter.

"That’s because you did. Now what do you want?" Clara’s patience was wearing thin. She was sure they had settled everything last night.

"I used to be Elle to you." The sad tone was clear in her voice. If she was appealing to Clara’s emotional side, then Elizabeth was wasting her time.

"You used to be a lot of things to me…” Clara walked away from Elizabeth and to the tables next to the window. She grabbed the legs of a chair, flipped it, and placed it on the ground. The metal scrapped along the floorboards as Clara tucked the chair in, and she cringed at the sound. She turned to face Elizabeth. “You know… before you slept with my boyfriend.”

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

Clara raised her hand to stop Elizabeth. “You know what, I feel like we’re about to have the same conversation as last night and I’m over it. I told you I never wanted to see you again, and what do you do, you show up at my workplace!”

“You know I don’t leave things unfinished,” Elizabeth explained as she walked over to the table and started to assist Clara with the chairs.

“Should you really be lifting chairs?” Clara wondered as she stared at Elizabeth’s stomach.

“You seem concerned.” Elizabeth laughed lightly as she placed a hand over her belly.

“I'm concerned about the baby,” Clara corrected as she moved away from Elizabeth and to the next table.

“Just give me five minutes, and then I’ll be out of your life for good. I promise.”

Clara turned and sighed. “You have five minutes,” Clara announced as the sound of the doorbell rang loudly through the bakery.

“I swear, I haven’t seen anything so badass in my li—” Stevie said as she and Annie walked through the bakery doors. They both stopped at the sight of Elizabeth. Clara watched as Stevie glared at Elizabeth and then looked over at her.

“What is
that
doing here?” Stevie groaned out.

“Stevie,” Elizabeth said. The fear in her tone was obvious; so was the quiver of her lip. Elizabeth truly feared Stevie, and that made Clara smile.

“If I wanted to see a home wrecker first thing this morning, I would have personally knocked on your door. But I didn’t, and I don’t think Clara would have, either. Was she not clear enough last night?” Stevie sassed as she took a few steps toward Elizabeth. They were eye to eye, and this was a showdown Clara knew Stevie was hoping for.

“So these are
your best friends now, Clara?” Elizabeth acknowledged, not taking her eyes away from Stevie. Stevie looked menacing, and Clara was glad they were friends.

“Yes, we are. In fact, Clara couldn’t ask for better friends. We love her and respect her. We wouldn’t sleep with her boyfriend or any guy she’s interested in. Right, Stevie?” Annie stepped in, and there was an approving nod from Stevie.

“Okay. That’s enough.” Clara said, trying to defuse the hostile situation she found herself in.

“Annie and Stevie, why don’t you help Josie with the cupcakes? I agreed to five minutes with Elizabeth, so I am going to honour it.”

“The bitch doesn’t deserve a moment in your presence, let alone five minutes!” Stevie complained.

Clara shot Annie a look. Annie, taking the hint, led Stevie into the kitchen by the elbow. Walking over to the table near the window, Clara took a seat and Elizabeth followed.

“So talk. I’m kind of busy,” Clara stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry for what I did. I should have handled it better, and I didn’t. I was selfish and inconsiderate. I realise I need to fix that if I’m going to be a single mother,” Elizabeth said as she twiddled her fingers. Clara knew Elizabeth only ever did it when she was anxious.

Single mother?

“After last night I broke up with Darren. Seeing him beg for your forgiveness made me realise that he didn’t really love me. He just liked that I was easy and he could have sex with me whenever he wanted. I realised too late, and should have known when he didn’t tell you after I begged him to. I need to think of what’s best for the baby, and Darren isn’t it,” Elizabeth said, giving Clara a faint smile.

“I’m sorry to hear,” Clara offered, not really sure what to say.

“Where’s the ‘I was right’ speech I expected?”

“I’m not like that.”

“He’s really changed you,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“Yeah, Darren cheating on me really changed every—”

“No, I mean that guy from last night. He’s changed you,” Elizabeth corrected.

Clara frowned at her statement. “You mean Noel?”

“That’s the guy! I have a feeling there’s a story there, but I’m in no position to ask for details. He’s changed you, and the way you look at him tells me you really care about him. When you calmed him down, I just knew it was more. Actually, you
both had the same look in your eyes. I was really surprised when you punched Darren. He had to go to the hospital to get stitches on his nose from your hit. I made a mistake, and I know that now. I lost an amazing friend because of my selfishness. I’m happy for you, Clara. That smile on your face and that sparkle in your eye, I can see the love you have for him.” Elizabeth smiled.

Clara froze at the “L” word.

Do I love Nolan Parker?

The sound of metal scratching wood pierced her ears and brought her back to reality. Her head hurt from her thoughts and Clara clenched her fists.

“Damn it!” she hissed in frustration. The throbbing in her right hand seared her. She had completely forgotten about her bruised knuckles.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to deflect any topic of Noel.

“Well, I wish you every happiness with Noel. I’m glad you found the love
you
deserve.”

Clara flinched.

There was that word again.

“I wish you well with your pregnancy,” Clara genuinely said after a moment of silence. Elizabeth gave Clara a smile before turning for the door.

“Jarred and I are back together!” Annie squealed.

“Isn’t it great news?” Stevie chimed in. Clara looked at her quizzically. Stevie would normally pull a disgusted face or a sarcastic remark.

“It is, Stevie?”

“Of course it’s great news, Lawrence. It means I can stop listening to Jarred moan about it. I swear his mother and I have bonded over his annoyance. And you know, I haven’t liked a single hair on that woman! Now we're best of friends. We literally had a glass of wine to celebrate because now Annie and Jarred can annoy the shit out of each other!” Stevie explained as she patted Annie’s back.

Happiness ran through Clara’s body as the pain in her hand numbed. She was truly happy that Jarred and Annie were back together. Clara shook her head as she remembered Elizabeth’s words. She couldn’t possibly love Noel. She enjoyed kissing him and having his body touch hers, but that was pure attraction speaking, she was sure of it.

“Umm, Clara, you blanked out again. Stevie told me to leave you like that, but you seem to be thinking about something pretty intense. Want to talk about it?” Annie asked. The frown looked out of place on her pretty face.

“Sorry, the pain in my hand is getting to me,” Clara lied. She watched as Annie and Stevie exchanged looks; they weren’t buying it.

“So, Noel
and
Liam? You’ve been quite busy, Clara,” Stevie questioned as she finished a sip of her caramel latte.

“Team Noel!” Annie shrieked in support. Clara and Stevie looked at each other from across the table.

“You haven’t even met Liam!” Clara scolded. Annie shrugged with a large grin on her face.

"This isn't
Twilight
, Annie. Pull your head out of your ass! We have to support Clara. Team Noel and Team Liam is not a go. I should slap you for even referencing
Twilight
in the light of day. Clara is
our
friend!" Stevie snapped.

“I’m sorry, Clara. It’s just after last night… Noel punching Darren and after
…
” Annie said before Stevie nudged her. Clara tensed. She was under their inspection.

“What Annie is saying is, we totally saw you making out with Noel! Against a tree, and it was very intense.” Stevie cocked an eyebrow.

Clara’s cheeks burned. “You both saw?” Clara’s jaw dropped.

“I knew it was a matter of time!” Stevie beamed. Clara rolled her eyes at her.

Clara started to flush at the memories of last night: every kiss, every touch, every laugh, and every shot of pleasure. She shook her head. It was an attraction. It was as simple as that. But Clara knew that she’d miss his lips on hers if he left; she wanted to explore every inch of him, and maybe that’s why she wanted more. It was more than just his kisses that would make her miss him. She wanted Noel on a different level—an emotional one. Clara sighed.

“Do you think I’m being stupid? I mean, I told him I’d give him a chance, and I want to. But is it that easy for me to forgive him? Before my birthday everything was going great but… I just don’t know. Maybe I’m thinking too much into this.” Clara stared at her cup. Maybe it was a mistake for them to be anything more.

“Clara, the thing about boys is that they don’t think, they act. If he’s really serious about wanting to be with you, he’ll act on it. He will serenade you with everything he has for your forgiveness. And last night, Noel taking Darren out like that, it kind of shows his interest in you. You just need to make a choice whether that act last night was worthy of
your
forgiveness. The choice is up to you,” Stevie explained before peeling the paper off her cupcake. Sighing, Clara rested her chin in the palm of her hand and looked out the window at the quiet street.

Was last night’s act really worthy of my forgiveness?

“
R
eady to lift the heavy bastard?” Rob asked behind him. Noel put his hands on his hips and sucked in the air his lungs so desperately needed. He felt the pain of every breath he took; his legs and his arms burned. He forgot what it was like to row ten kilometres down the Yarra.

“Yeah, I’m good on this end,” Noel called out as he approached the double scull rowing boat. Removing both oars, he placed them on the bank of the river and stood up to see Rob do the same before they tipped the boat over.

Both squatting, they lifted the boat above their heads and rested it on their shoulders, taking the oars in their hands. Slowly, careful not to drop it, they walked to the boathouse.

“Just drop it off near the roller doors. I’ll get one of the junior rowers to put it away,” Rob instructed as they crouched down and placed the boat on the ground. Breathing out, Noel stretched his muscles to prevent the stiffness, though it’d be pointless. Rob instructed one of the younger rowers to put the boat away before he returned to Noel.