Lauren scoffed. “Yeah, try telling that to George. He’s acting like the Phone Nazi about it, insisting this isn’t a true emergency and that he swore to Nadine we wouldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary. God, did you know those two have been dating? Now she has the world’s biggest wuss to do her dirty work for her. You’ve got to do something about both of them, Ben, or there’s going to be a revolt. And I’m going to lead it.”

He smiled at Lauren’s usual over-dramatization of the situation, and couldn’t suppress a little shudder at the image of George and Nadine out on a date. “Call your parents on the satellite phone,” he told her. “And that’s an order. I’ll make sure Nadine doesn’t give you shit about it.”

“Are you sure?” asked Lauren worriedly. “I mean, I won’t talk to them for more than a minute or two. Unless you’d rather call him back and tell him what’s going on?”

“No.” He wouldn’t admit that he had found Robert McKinnon to be more than a little intimidating. “I think one conversation in a day with your father is plenty. Besides, you’re the one he wants to hear from.”

“Okay, I’ll call them. And, ah, thanks,” she added hesitantly. “Sorry if he bothered you. My dad – well, he worries too much at times.”

“I don’t blame him. If you were mine – I mean, my daughter,” he stammered, desperately hoping she hadn’t caught his little slip, “I’d worry, too. So don’t keep Daddy waiting any longer and call home like a good little girl, okay?” He hadn’t been able to resist the jibe, or trying to get a rise out of her.

But all Lauren did was to mutter, “Asshole,” and then abruptly disconnect the call.

He was still grinning from ear to ear as he turned off the phone, especially since he now knew of an especially effective way to keep Lauren in line in the future. Or at least cause to tease her unmercifully.

***

July

Lauren ignored both the stares and the catcalls she received as she sauntered in the direction of her office, wishing that she was back in Big Sur where no one would have blinked an eye to see her walk by dressed like this.

If she hated New York in the winter when it was cold and snowy, then that feeling was only reinforced in the summer months when it was ninety degrees with what felt like two hundred percent humidity.

‘I feel like I’m in a sauna that’s in the middle of the Sahara Desert with a heater going full blast,’ she thought as she neared the building. She’d even switched to iced coffee this morning, since the very thought of drinking anything hot only made her sweat more.

And if she felt a tad underdressed as all of the smartly dressed women in their summer suits and ridiculously high heels passed her by, at least she was cool and not sweating nearly as much as they had to be doing. Fortunately, the dress code at the magazine went way beyond business casual to just casual – and then some. Not that it would have made a whit of difference to her this morning, when it was already eighty degrees at barely nine a.m.

Her cell phone began to ring with Julia’s distinctive tone, and she quickly fished it out of the blue and white striped canvas bag she was carrying. The thought of hauling her bulky, overstuffed messenger bag in this heat had been quickly dismissed, and she’d dumped what she would need for a day at the office into this smaller, lighter tote.

“Hey, baby sister,” she greeted. “And why are you awake so freaking early? No, don’t tell me. You’re either on your way to a six a.m. yoga class, or else Lover Boy woke you up for an early morning snog.”

“Uh, well, both actually,” admitted Julia, and Lauren knew her twin’s cheeks would be flushed a pretty shade of pink right about now. “Nathan just dropped me off at the yoga studio, and my class is going to start in a minute. But I wanted to check in, especially since we hardly got to communicate at all while you were in Nepal.”

“Don’t remind me.” Lauren grimaced. “You should have seen this dump we stayed at. Half the time the power was out, and I swear the internet worked for maybe an hour a day. And don’t even get me started on the plumbing – or lack thereof.”

“At least you’re back in civilization now,” soothed Julia. “How is my second favorite city in the world this morning?”

“Hot as fuck,” replied Lauren crassly. “And if you tell me it’s cool and foggy in San Francisco, I’m going to scream. Loudly.”

“Okay, then I won’t say a word. I, ah, understand Dad spoke with your boss while you were away. You must have been thrilled to learn he contacted Ben the Bastard to check up on you.” Julia’s voice was clearly amused.

“Yeah, just thrilled,” she grumbled. “And knowing him, he’s never going to stop ribbing me about it. At least he hasn’t told the other guys – not yet, at least. And I expect you to never mention it again, Jules. In fact, I’m invoking the Twin Clause for this one.”

“Ooh, this must have really touched a nerve with you,” teased Julia. “You haven’t invoked the Clause for a long time.”

“Unlike you,” retorted Lauren. “I’ve got way too many of your secrets stashed away, Jules. We seriously need to start archiving some of them.”

As young girls, the sisters had created what Lauren had dubbed “the Twin Clause”. Simply put, when one of them confided a deep, dark, twins-only secret to the other, they invoked the clause – which meant that they could never, ever betray what had been confessed unless given specific permission to do so.

“I haven’t told Mom and Dad about Nathan just yet,” admitted Julia. “And they are never to learn that we had a fling in New York last year. There are some things they just don’t need to know.”

“Got your back, baby sis.”

The ill-fated one night stand with Nathan – who had been newly engaged to another woman at the time - had been one of the reasons why Julia had left New York last fall. But it seemed that fate hadn’t been quite finished with the pair of them, because Nathan had wound up being the co-owner of the architectural design firm in San Francisco where Julia had started working this past January. They had fought their undeniable attraction for each other for months, and Julia had been miserable and unhappy every time Lauren had talked to her, never knowing the reason why. And then Lauren, who’d realized from the second she’d met Nathan that he had the hots for her twin big time, had made a few intentionally provocative comments, insinuating that Julia was on the prowl for a new man. That was all it had taken to spur Nathan into action and re-claim the girl he’d fallen in love with months earlier. He’d promptly broken off his engagement, and now he and Julia were as good as living together. Lauren, of course, had claimed full credit for getting them back together, and expected Nathan to treat her to a very expensive dinner the next time she was in San Francisco.

And recalling how miserable her sister had been while pining for a man who was already committed to another woman had only intensified Lauren’s own resolve to keep as far away from Ben as possible. She would never, ever settle for being the other woman, and her surprisingly high moral codes forbade her from even thinking about ways to break up Ben and Elle. Ben Rafferty had had his chance with her five years ago, and had blown it royally. And Lauren rarely if ever believed in giving someone a second chance.

“I know you do,” said Julia. “And I hope you know it’s the same for me. I mean, you’ve always been the stronger one of us, the one who looks out for everyone else. But if you ever need to talk to me about anything, I’m always here for you, Lauren.”

Lauren felt an unwelcome shimmer of tears momentarily cloud her vision, and she was thankful her eyes were hidden by a pair of oversized aviator sunglasses. “Thanks, baby girl. I appreciate it. But everything is cool with me as usual. Now, don’t you have to go do sun salutations, or some wacky stuff like that?”