“No. There’s virtually no crime around here, so you can relax. And I don’t have air-conditioning either, sorry. There are only about three weeks in the year when we need it. It’s typical that you happen to be here during those three weeks, so I put a fan out. That’s the best I can do.” Milly walked to the door, and Nicole felt a sudden desperate need not to be left alone.

She didn’t care about air-conditioning. What she wanted was company. Friendship. She’d often felt isolated in her life, but never like this. She wanted to talk. She wanted to put everything right between them. She wasn’t willing or ready to accept that she’d killed what they had.

“Milly—”

“I hope you manage to sleep.” Milly paused with her hand on the door. “If you need anything, call me.”

Nicole knew that what she was offering was a glass of water, or an extra pillow. Not comfort. Not a hug.

Milly was shutting her down, which didn’t surprise her because Milly always avoided difficult conversations and this definitely met that description.

She waited while Milly closed the door between them.

The gesture felt symbolic.

Exhausted, Nicole followed Milly’s directions to the bathroom, scrubbed off her makeup, took a quick shower to remove the last of the persona she’d adopted to travel here safely and slipped on the T-shirt Milly had thoughtfully left out for her.

Then she headed back to the bedroom. She searched for a lock on the door, but there wasn’t one, so she dragged a chair up to it and wedged it under the handle. Then she closed the window. She didn’t care if it was stifling. She wasn’t sleeping with the window open.

After a last check of the room, she slid between the fresh-smelling sheets and closed her eyes.

She had no expectation of sleeping, but she must have slept because when she woke the first fingers of light were sliding through the blinds.

For a few blissful seconds she couldn’t remember where she was or why she was here, and then it all came back to her.

She sat up and checked the time. It was only four thirty. She’d been asleep for a few hours, no more. Still, that was more sleep than she’d had in a while.

She lay down and closed her eyes again but her mind, temporarily emptied during sleep, immediately refilled with the realities of her life. She knew she wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon.

She felt numb and exhausted and had no idea how to put her life back together again.

But at least for now she was safe, and she had Milly to thank for that.

Was Milly regretting her generosity?