The woman smiled and shoved it in her wallet. She put the cupcakes in the bottom compartment of the stroller. The baby screeched and the mother didn't even flinch. Liv, on the other hand, had to stop herself from putting her hands over her ears.

"Thank you. Have a wonderful day," Liv said.

With the front door opening, the air swirled and Liv caught another whiff of burning. She sniffed harder. It was a different smell. Deeper.

She entered the kitchen and stopped dead when she saw smoke had filled the room. It wafted from under the door that led to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

But even more surprising was the image of Nancy visible through the smoke. Liv was hallucinating. It had to be a hallucination. How on earth would Nancy get...? Liv glanced to the open back door. She hadn't closed it after she aired out the room.

Panic set it. She went over to the bas.e.m.e.nt door and lightly touched the doork.n.o.b. It was warm to the touch but not scorching. She opened the door and froze. Flames as high as the bas.e.m.e.nt ceiling charged their way up the stairs. Smoke billowed out into the kitchen, forcing her to cover her mouth and eyes.

"Olivia, we must get out of here." Nancy pulled at her, her voice a tiny whisper below the rush of panic taking over her body. "Olivia?"

This was another dream. Another nightmare.

She was yanked backward, her feet fumbling for balance. The bas.e.m.e.nt door became smaller and less visible through the thick smoke.

Someone coughed behind her. Nancy.

Liv gasped for breath when they stumbled out into the alley. Fresh air filled her lungs, calming her, turning the horrific scene into perspective.

"Yes, I'd like to report a fire."

She turned to see Nancy on her cell phone.

"Yes, it's contained in the bas.e.m.e.nt right now, but it's progressing quickly."

As Nancy gave the 911 operator the details, she crumbled to the ground against the brick wall. Thank G.o.d that woman had already left with her child. Thank G.o.d there were no other customers in the building.

A rush of air blasted from the back door of the bakery. Orange flames danced at the top of the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs. Her ovens. Her mixer. The stupid, leaky sink. In minutes, flames were going to take them all.

"Olivia?" Nancy stood in front of her. "We need to go around to the front of the building. The fire department is on its way."

She nodded. What she really meant to do was hurl expletives and shake the truth out of her friend. She hadn't forgotten Corey's confession. Nancy had been the one out to get her, and she had the audacity to show up. Or rather, sneak in the back door of her bakery as if everything was normal. But she was right-they had to get out of there. On wobbly legs, Liv followed Nancy to the front of the building.

They crossed the street, and when they reached the curb, Nancy tried to link her arm with Liv's but she ripped it away. "I caught you in the kitchen. You snuck into my bakery. Did you start this fire?"

Nancy gasped and raised her hand to her chest. It was then that Liv noticed her purse in Nancy's hand. When did she have time to grab it? "Olivia. I did not start this fire. I..."

"What were you doing in my kitchen?" She lunged forward and ripped her purse from her hands.

The faint sound of sirens breached the air between them.

"You didn't start the fire?"

Nancy shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.

"But you screwed me over with my bank loan. Changed the letters on my advertis.e.m.e.nt, and who the h.e.l.l else knows what?"

Nancy let her head fall forward, a stream of tears sliding down her cheeks. "I did those things," she whispered. She lifted her head and stood strong, "But I did not start this fire."

The first fire truck arrived. There were so many things she wanted to say to Nancy. So many questions she wanted to ask. But the sight of her bakery burning to the ground was a more pressing matter.

She'd deal with Nancy later.

The dark brick building, scorched and hollowed, was total devastation to Liv's eyes. She wasn't normally a crier, but today...today she was.

She had watched the dark smoke spiral up into the sky, taking with it her dreams. Firemen diligently worked to contain the situation. The rush of the water from the hoses kept a constant hum in the air, somehow calming, numbing the reality of it all. But now that the fire was almost out, she trembled. She hugged her arms around her body. Her only source of comfort.

She was utterly alone. She hadn't called anyone. Not Austin or Patti, not her family.

"Ms. Crawford?" A dark-haired man approached with a little black notebook in his hand. He flipped to a blank page. He was the fire investigator, or so she remembered from his brief introduction. "Do you have any idea how the fire could have started?"

She shrugged. "Maybe the electrical wiring. Or..." She paused. It was sickening to even think that Nancy could have something to do with this.

"Ms. Crawford, do you think there are other circ.u.mstances at play here?"

She shook her head. "I..." she whispered. "I don't know."

For law enforcement, the man had kind eyes and nodded in understanding.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"There's really no need for you to be here. Go home. We'll get everything under control." He closed up his notebook. She had been officially dismissed. "I'll be in touch tomorrow for another debrief." The investigator handed her his card then stuck the notebook in the inside pocket of his jacket. "If you have any questions or think of anything else, give me a call."

"Thank you."

Liv wanted to collapse. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. She battled with herself. It was her nature to fight, but the sight of her dream going up in flames tore away at her determination.

"I can't believe this is happening," she said to no one as she paced along the sidewalk, the freak-out she was expecting finally showing up. "First, I get rejected for the bank loan, then that inspector breathing down my back, and the ruined ad and leaky sink and-"

"Everything's going to be okay, Olivia." Liv tensed at the sound of Nancy's voice. She had obviously returned home to change her clothing. Liv still wore her dirty and blackened ap.r.o.n under the blanket that had been wrapped around her shoulders.

She laughed, but it came out as a half cry. She was a whirlwind of emotion at this point. "And how do you know everything's going to be okay?" She stood tall, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you going to interfere again? Right all the wrongs you started in the first place?"

Nancy gave a small smile. Acknowledging that she indeed had a hand in Liv's demise. "Insurance will take care of everything."

Liv had hundreds of things to say. Maybe even thousands...but she'd barely comprehended the ramifications of Nancy's actions. And if she was honest with herself, she hoped that somehow Corey was wrong. But Nancy had just admitted what Liv did not want to hear.

"You should go home and get some rest," Nancy said. "You should call Austin or Patti. You need someone to-"

"I'll be fine."

No matter how strong and independent Liv claimed to be, having someone to hold her hand through the bad times was something she never knew she wanted. Until now.

"Oh, don't look like that," Nancy spat. Their eyes connected. The sympathy that was there a minute ago had disappeared and was replaced with disgust. "Business is full of setbacks and losses. You're going to have to get used to it."

Nancy had done a good job at hiding her malicious behavior behind kind words, but Liv saw the truth. She demanded the truth.

"Corey told me everything. It was a very interesting call."

Immediately, the color drained from Nancy's face and she fidgeted. The hum of the water and hoses came back into focus. Liv waited in silence. She wasn't going to be the one to speak first.

With a sob, Nancy exploded. "I don't know what happened." Nancy brought her hands up to her face and wiped her eyes. "One day I was speaking with the inspector, the next I was using my charm and the fact that I've known the man for years to get him to be a stickler. Then it got out of control. I visited the bank manager and persuaded him to deny your loan."

Her charm? Nancy was all charm. Too bad Liv realized all too late that she used her charm for all the wrong reasons.

"I looked up to you. You were my mentor." She wanted to run up to her and shake her, let her know what it felt like to have everything you've worked for crumble right in front of your eyes. But maybe she did. Maybe the idea of Liv going out on her own was the equivalent to Nancy's world crumbling around her. "I honestly believed that you had my best interests at heart. How could you do this?"

This was more than a betrayal. Nancy had broken her heart. Looked like when it came to breaking Liv's heart, three times was a charm.

"Did you expect me to sit by and watch you steal my business?" Indifference turned to anger. Nancy's eyes, that had cried tears of remorse not less than a minute ago, shot daggers. "It was all so easy for you. It took me years to develop my skills. Years of slaving away under someone else's watch before I was ready to go out on my own."

"And that means that I shouldn't?" Liv couldn't stop the angry words that spewed out. "That gives you the right to sabotage me?"

"You'd be nothing without me," Nancy yelled, her voice cracking. No doubt from holding back tears and rage. This woman standing before her was not the woman Liv had met so many years ago. The Nancy she knew was having a serious break from reality.

"How was I supposed to know that when I put up that sign for help six years ago I'd be hiring a baking prodigy?"

"It's not about stealing business. There's enough business for everyone." Liv didn't understand. She tried to put herself in Nancy's shoes, tried to imagine what her reaction would be if she had taken a young baker under her wing and they finally flew out on their own. Pride. She would feel pride and satisfaction at a job well done.

Funny how that theory didn't apply when Nancy had put together her plan of sabotage. Liv pushed her hair off her face and gathered it in the back. She breathed out, steady breaths, her heart pumping her blood way too fast. "You never liked me, did you?"

"Olivia, it's not that I don't like you. You're a lovely girl, but..."

"You've been jealous. All this time, you used me. All this time-"

"There you go again. Feeling sorry for yourself." Nancy crossed her arms over her chest.

For the first time since Nancy joined Liv on that sidewalk, she could see the desperate, delusional woman that had been hiding in front of her since day one. And just like she had with every other aspect of her life, it was time for Liv to take the reins and show Nancy just how sorry she felt. And it wasn't for herself.

"You're weak," Liv snarled. The smirk on Nancy's face disappeared with every word. "You're insecure. I've carried you for a long time. I didn't realize that until just now. Without me, your business is going to suffer."

Nancy recoiled. This was Liv's own form of revenge. Leaving Nancy with the fear that, at any time, she could steal away the customers she spent years acc.u.mulating. Nancy would forever be waiting for the bottom to drop out of her business, and Liv would watch from the sidelines, wondering how long it would take her to crack.

"Good-bye, Nancy." Liv gathered her wits, but before she stepped away, she turned and leveled Nancy with a harsh stare. "May the best woman win."

Liv headed home in the fresh winter air and took a deep, calming breath. It was amazing how she could lose so much in so little time. It was mistake after mistake, problem after problem. She had presented a confident front when she left Nancy alone on the street with her mouth practically on the floor, but all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep away her pain.

She took one last look at the building, at her dreams that had settled as ash on the sidewalk, and made the walk back to her condo, unsure of where she was going from here.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

When she stepped off the elevator, Liv was shocked to find Brett at his front door. She had hoped to sneak inside and hide. One look and he knew something was wrong.

"Liv?" He was dressed in jeans and a tank top. The very same outfit he had been wearing when Patti fell in love with him. Or so she had once mentioned. His multiple tattoos flexed and shimmied when he moved. "What happened to you?"

She must have looked as bad as she felt. She had no jacket-there was no time to grab it when she fled the building. Instead, she had a fire blanket to keep her from getting a chill.

"Just another day at a cupcake bakery. No big deal." She wanted to fall against him. She needed some kind of human contact as tears stung at her eyes.

But Brett wasn't the person she wanted to talk to. She needed Patti.

"Where's your woman?"

"She had an evening cla.s.s."

Right. It was Friday.

"Liv, what the h.e.l.l happened? Were you...in a fire?"

She was too tired to explain. She hadn't told anyone about meeting her father, or how Jake had lied to her, or even about Nancy and her betrayal. And now this. There was too much to tell and she didn't know where to begin.

She turned and walked to her front door. "I'm going to bed."

"Not so fast." Before she had the chance to lock him out, he pushed past her and into her condo.

"Suit yourself." She let the blanket drop to the floor. "You can just follow me to my bedroom, then, while I sleep away my sorrows." The smell of her s.p.a.ce comforted her. Sweet icing and coconut. She used to have a bakery that smelled like that.

"Don't be so dramatic," he said from the front door. He followed, his footsteps heavy against the carpet.

"Dramatic?" She had every right to be dramatic. "My business burned. It burned, and I have nothing left. Not to mention the fact that my mentor tried to sell me down the river and my boyfriend-I actually had a boyfriend-betrayed me and was in alliance with the one man who I've hated almost my entire life. I think I've earned dramatic."

She stood with her hands on her hips, her body shaking from the change in temperature. But with the look on Brett's face, she realized she had taken out on him her own frustrations. He didn't deserve that. And he didn't deserve to be the one to listen to her worries.

The look of shock on Brett's face quickly turned to sympathy. She knew she had just thrown him a curveball the size of a mountain. But he took it in stride. "Tell me what happened."

In the couple of years Liv had known Brett, they had always gotten along. They laughed and joked together, but never had they had a heart to heart. He shot her a challenging look, as if daring her to spill her guts. Everything was too fresh, the hurt too deep. She didn't want to talk.

She turned and stalked off into her bedroom, hoping Brett would find it awkward enough not to follow. But he plopped his b.u.t.t on the edge of the bed right beside her.

She let out a groan, but resigned to the fact that he wasn't going anywhere.

"What do you mean your business burned?"

"There was a fire. Everything's gone." With that confession, she began to cry. The tears that had threatened to fall earlier finally surfaced.

He cursed under his breath. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" He reached out and touched her shoulder.