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‘Hey r u free this wknd? I miss u!!!!

Call me. XOXO from ur best girl’

“Who is your best girl, Cody?” she demanded.

“Hmm?”

“The one who misses you and wants you to call her,” Kim prompted ironically.

Cody read the text, and she laughed.

“Aw, busted.” She then explained about her nine-year-old friend. “Anna likes to text to remind me when she decides we’re due for an outing.”

“Right. You just did it,” Kim declared.

“What?”

“Made me fall a bit more in love with you.”

“Ah.” Cody smiled. “Good. So maybe you won’t mind if we spend a bit of time with her this weekend? She loves going to the beach and getting ice cream.”

“Me too,” Kim remarked. “I’d love to meet her.”

“Great. Just prepare yourself for a proper grilling.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m a lawyer, after all. I’m sure I can handle a kid.”

“I’m sure you can.” Cody chuckled again. “Just be warned: she’s a super-smart girl with an insatiable curiosity and absolutely no filter whatsoever.”

“Sounds like fun,” Kim approved, and she meant it.

???

More fun was to be had. Lazy summer parties at Demi’s house, especially, were a long-established tradition. The Lewiston P.D. Chief Administrator’s wife, Carole, worked as a nurse at the local hospital, so guests included not only cops but also other fellow nurses, doctors, and first responders in general. That weekend, a select group of friends were all invited to screen Lia’s finished documentary for the first time. As expected, it was a roaring success. She earned herself a standing ovation, and then a couple of enterprising cops picked her up and threw her fully clothed into the pool. Lia came out laughing, clearly delighted. Quinn looked on in approval.

“We need more supplies,” Demi declared as people spilled out onto the lawn to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Some took adip in the pool – in appropriate swim gear. “Quinn, would you mind getting us beer from the pantry, please?”

“Not at all. I’m on it.”

On her way to the kitchen, she happened to bump into Lia coming down the stairs after changing into dry clothes. With a beaming smile, her wife grabbed her around the neck and pulled her aside to deliver a heated kiss.

“Hey, I’m on a mission here,” Quinn protested.

“Can’t help it,” Lia chuckled. “I’m still a little too revved up about the fact that everyone loved my film!”

“You weren’t really nervous about that, were you?”

“Well…” Lia laughed, attractively sheepish. “Not too much, but a little bit, yeah, for sure. No matter what, there’s always that little pinch of nerves when I put something new out there, you know?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Like, what if I am totally deluded thinking that my work is good, and everybody hates it?”

“Well. Even if I didn’t love you with every last drop of my blood, Lia, I would still think this new documentary is fantastic,” Quinn declared.

chapter 23

“I mean it,” she added. “Seeing bits and pieces along the way as you were working on it did not take anything away from the final product. You managed to capture the essence of what it’s like to be on the front line, so to speak, in the medical world. The urgency when a life is hanging in the balance, the sheer sense of duty, the fun and comfort of working together as a committed team… Success and loss, the highs and lows. It’s brilliant work, Lia.”