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Sarah said. Avoiding the subject, the most important subject that was on their minds, appealed to her. Sarah admitted to herself that she was more likely to pretend there was no big problem than Aurelie was.
    Aurelie, with Hoover ambling behind, came into the living room. “Are you okay? I mean, apart from the obvious, are you okay?” She fell into a chair and hooked both of her legs over one striped damask arm.
    â€œYou don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”
    Aurelie didn’t look at her. “That’s a lie. Just like it’d be a lie if I said I was fine. Neither of us is okay and this is likely to get worse.”
    Sarah listened hard for a moment, hoping to hear Nick’s car.
    â€œSis,” Aurelie said, “we’re in major trouble, aren’t we?”
    â€œNot for the first time.” Sarah waited for Aurelie to lift her face and make eye contact. “We’ve been in tight spots before. True, this could turn out to be the tightest, but we all have to hang together.”
    â€œWe can’t be together all the time. What if Colin finds us? What if he already has? He could be out there waiting to get one of us alone, then pick us off one by one.”
    Sarah couldn’t swallow. “Don’t say those things. Colin wouldn’t have any way of knowing where we are.”
    â€œHe could,” Aurelie said. “He could have known almost all along but while we weren’t a threat—because he was safe and didn’t want to draw attention to himself anyway—he let it go.”
    â€œI wish Nick would get here,” Sarah said. She collected herself. If she and Nick ever got together, that would be a hard adjustment for Aurelie to make. She’d have to tell her about the change when it happened—if it happened.
    It had to happen, Sarah thought. She couldn’t bear wanting but not having him for much longer.
    Hoover gave a single rumbling bark, reminiscent of a low-pitched foghorn, and flopped down on Sarah’s pride and joy: an antique Chinese silk rug that sparkled when light settled on the pale outlines of leaves.
    â€œHe’s drooling,” she said. She loved animals but there were limits.
    Aurelie glared at her. “He’s had a bad day. He ate a pot of chrysanthemums outside the shop. We stopped on the way back but he still didn’t make it completely out of the Hummer before he threw up.”
    â€œThat’s too bad,” Sarah said. She would not grin . The day was winding up with a pale purple flourish. If she hadn’t dealt with the heat since morning she might be fooled by the soft drama of it all and think it was balmy outside. “Delia had some business in New Orleans. She should be back anytime. There’s a message to both of us from her to go to the house.”
    â€œWe won’t go until Nick gets here,” Aurelie said. “I don’t want to worry Delia. It’s not fair to her after all she’s done.”
    Sarah spread her fingertips on the windowsill and leaned even closer to open the jalousies. “They should both be along any moment.”
    â€œI’m worried about Nick,” Aurelie said.
    So was Sarah. She narrowed her eyes. Her stomach rolled—again. “He’s making decisions based on our feelings—I’m sure of it. I know him too well. If he didn’t feel responsible for us, he’d go to California. His mother’s…Mary’s there and he’d want to take care of her.”
    â€œBury her,” Aurelie said. “Of course he would.”
    Sarah looked over her shoulder at Aurelie. “I love you because you care about us all so much. You understand us. And you put yourself last.”
    â€œYou give me too much credit. I put us all first would be more accurate. You’re solid, so is Nick. How much luckier could we get than to know we can go to him anytime we need to?”
    Comments like that showed the