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Refreshed and renewed, Lila pulled on a clean pair of yoga pants and a tank as she wrapped her hair up in a towel to help it dry. The knock on her door surprised her. Glancing at her clock, she realized it was far later than she’d expected. Finding Ann on the other side, she grinned and invited her inside.

Ann kissed Lila lightly before putting her jacket away as usual. Lila removed the towel from her hair and ran it through the still quite wet strands before hanging it up in the bathroom.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize the time. I must have gotten lost in doing yoga.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ann replied, flopping onto the couch. “I’m a bit earlier than I thought I would be. Couldn’t wait to get out of work.”

“What happened?”

Ann shot Lila a dark look. “Lost a patient today. I hate losing patients. She was so young too. Just had a kid in the last year, and a four-year-old at home.”

“What’d she die from?”

“The flu.” Ann pressed her lips tightly together. “And still there are so many people out there who don’t think it’s dangerous. She had no pre-existing conditions either. Just one of the statistics now.”

“She’s not a statistic for her family, or for you.” Lila gave Ann a soft look. “I love how you care so much for your patients.”

“I try too. Not much point in being a nurse if I don’t.”

“Not all medical personnel see it that way.”

Ann chuckled wryly. “That’s true. Some doctors…their ego is bigger than their asses.”

Laughing, Lila agreed. She’d seen her fair share of those through the years. They didn’t tend to last very long around here. The small-town feel meant they never quite fit in. Ann rubbed her hand up and down Lila’s thigh. It was a habit Lila noticed she had when she was nervous, something about the physical connection to Lila meant she felt more comfortable bringing up uncomfortable topics.

Their relationship had been taking some odd turns lately, first with Ann opening up more about her partner and then with Lila taking on another committed partner. The tension she’d felt between them had been light, however, and she hadn’t thought much of it until this moment.

“Everything okay outside of that?” Lila asked.

“What are you doing next weekend?”

“I have a date Saturday, but that’s it.”

“Is it one you can cancel with enough warning?”

“I suppose I could.” Lila narrowed her gaze. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought we could have that makeup weekend atIndigo. I checked, and the entire place is open. I don’t think Eli gets much business during the winter months anyway. Not as much to do on a ranch for guests would be my guess.”

“Makes sense. Is your partner okay with you leaving so soon? I want to make sure she’s not going to be struggling with you gone again.”

“Oh, well, that couldn’t be helped last time. Something unexpected happened. She’s doing much better lately, though. Thank you for asking after her. I know she’d appreciate it.”

Lila nodded. “Five days isn’t a lot of time to plan a getaway.”

“I know. I just…I don’t want to wait much longer. Would it be something you were up for?”

“Yeah, I would be. I really enjoyed the one night we had together.”

“Me too.” Ann gave her a sheepish look. “But we might not get the whole night together this time.”

Lila narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

That nervous tic Ann had was back. The pause in the conversation intensified what she was about to say, and Lila wasn’t sure she could wait much longer for an answer. She wanted to know what was going on, what bomb Ann was about to drop.

“I want her to come.”

“Want who to come?” Lila narrowed her gaze, her stomach twisting as she was pretty sure where the conversation was going, and it was something she had never done before nor wanted to do.