Clare Shaw watched as Sara stormed out of her brother's office. Sara wasn't happy about whatever Nick said to her. Nick was blind when it came to Miles - with good reason, but he was beyond all rationality. Poor Sara had been caught up in the cross-hairs.
Julie had been inventing something between Nick and Sara, but Nick was too much of an ass to attract anyone. He loved Melissa and was hurting, but he needed a change of attitude or he would be the one in trouble with personnel.
She loved her brother. She and Nicky were less than two years apart and were forever the little ones. Tim was practically grown when they were born, so it was like growing up with three parents. For years, Nick had been her best friend. As typical siblings, they were competitive and brutally honest when necessary. Clare had always been jealous of Nick because things came so easy for him. She studied for hours to get high grades and he didn't have to crack a book. He was the star of the baseball team and she was the dancer always placed in the back row.
Clare had never been more brutally honest with him than when he decided to marry Melissa. She knew he loved her, but Mel was never meant to be a wife and mother. Her priority was her career, and Clare hated watching her brother play second fiddle. Clare knew firsthand how hard it was to have a career with motherhood. It required compromise, and in her view Nick was the only one who ever compromised.
Clare thought of her Michael. Was she treating him the way Melissa treated Nick?
He has supported her career and their family by being home with the boys. He worked, but he could make his own hours. With his own early good fortune and a wife who was a doctor, Michael was more than content to be a kept man. He was the calm to her storm.
Clare drove home angry at her brother for upsetting Sara, but Michael would be there to calm her down. Tim would never forgive Nick if he caused Sara to quit.
A/N This chapter told some of Clare and Michael's story. Now their whole story is in Out of The Blue. Find it on my profile.