The place finally looked lived in.
It looked likeours.
I locked the back door, checked it once, then looked over and caught her watching me with that expression she used when she was deciding whether to tease me, or let me have my peace.
“You know, everyone coming to my birthday dinner would probably understand if a murderer somehow fought through your extremely thorough security measures,” she said.
“I don’t like to leave variables unchecked.”
“You don’t like to leave anything unchecked.”
“That’s also true.”
Her lips curved. She stepped closer and fixed my scarf where it had shifted under my coat collar, fingers quick and certain. She had gotten comfortable touching me in small, thoughtless ways over the last few months—straightening my shirt or tugging me by the sleeve. I especially liked it when she trailed her hand over my back when she passed. Every time it happened, something in me still lit up.
It hadn’t worn off.
Nothing about her had worn off.
“We really didn’t need a party,” she said.
I took her hand and opened the porch door for her. “We did.”
“We didn’t.”
“We absolutely did.”
She stepped out onto the front porch with me and pulled the door shut. The late afternoon had gone gold around the edges. The trees ringing Pine Hollow were half turned now. Leaves covered the ground in layers of copper, rust, and yellow. The lake beyond the main lodge was dark. Nearby, somebody had a woodstove going. The cold had sharpened over the last week, enough that Zoey had started stealing my heavier sweaters and saying they weretemporarilyborrowed.
Ahead of us, the path to the main building cut through the trees in a line I could walk blindfolded.
I tightened my hand around hers as we started down the path.
“You’re suspiciously cheerful,” she said.
“It’s your birthday.”
“That doesn’t explain why you look like you won the lottery.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you look pleased with yourself.”
“Iampleased with myself.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Because you forced a birthday gathering on a woman who specifically said she didn’t require one?”
“I didn’t force anything. I organized.”
“Somehow, that makes it more sinister.”
I grinned.
“There it is,” she said. “That face. You’re unbearable.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead, just because she was right there and I wanted to.
“No,” I said. “I’m right.”
