Chase stared. “I’m not babysitting. No way.”

“Of course not.”

“Damn it, Sarah—”

“I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think.” Sarah squeezed her shoulder. “I’ve got some last-minute scheduling to do. The keys to the loft are behind my desk in the office on the keyboard.”

“Right.”

The door behind Chase opened, and Nat passed her going down the steps.

“It’s up to you how you want to balance your time,” she said, stopping beside Chase. “Just make sure everything here is covered, and the rest is up to you.”

“That’s something, I guess.”

“For what it’s worth,” Nat said, “none of us are very happy about it.”

Chase watched Nat’s Jeep disappear down the mountain and caught a hint of citrus and spice. Lily stepped up beside her. Chase’s attention snapped to her, and her anger dissipated.

“I didn’t really follow all of that,” Lily said, “but I did gather that being assigned to the camp is not high on your list of coveted positions.”

“It’s a soft job for the most part,” Chase said. “Organizing the outdoor activities, supervising the away excursions, instructing the campers on wilderness survival. It’s not a bad gig if you’ve spent twenty years on patrol, and that’s why I’m not interested in it.”

“This is too tame for you,” Lily said. “You like being on patrol.”

Surprised, Chase nodded. “I do.”

Lily nodded. “Why?”

Chase answered without thinking. “I like the solitude. I like…never mind. I’m sure you’d find it boring.”

“On the contrary. I’m curious. I don’t have a very good idea of what it’s like for you. Working alone like that every day.”

“It’s peaceful, and beautiful. And challenging. Always something different happening.”

“Always something different happening,” Lily murmured. “You know, I think we are completely opposite. Because the thing I’m really looking forward to this summer is the routine. No surprises.”

Chase leaned her shoulder against the porch post and studied her. For the first time, in the slanting sunlight, she realized that Lily Davenport looked tired. Not tired from lack of sleep, although maybe there was some of that, but weary. Literally worn thin. The urge to brush the shadows away constricted her chest, and she pulled in air. “Why?”

Lily didn’t expect the question and struggled for a few seconds to answer. “I’m an ER doc. I chose the specialty because I loved how different every minute of the day was. Different cases, different challenges, different tests of just how much I knew. I loved the fast pace, I could teach as well as treat, and I could beat the odds—most days at least. And then”—she rubbed her eyes, as if that would erase the images—“well. The pandemic changed everything almost overnight. Different challenges every day still, but not any that I could solve. Hundreds, then thousands, of patients we didn’t expect and didn’t know how to treat. Supplies we couldn’t replenish, space we didn’t have for those who needed it. Every day brought a new problem I couldn’t solve.”