“Couldn’t sleep?” Chase asked. She wasn’t in uniform now but wore a dark T-shirt with no logo tucked into tapered jeans and, of course, boots.

“It’s too early, and too quiet,” Lily said. “Not really quiet. I can hear things making noises. Chipmunks or something.”

“Squirrels probably, raccoons maybe.”

“They’re not afraid to come around? The wildlife?” Lily swallowed, her throat dry. The moonlight shimmered on Chase’s face. She was beautiful too. More than that—magnetic. The pull stirred an unfamiliar longing in Lily’s chest.

“A lot of them keep their distance,” Chase said, “but the scavengers, the smart ones, they know if they’re lucky they’ll find a loose trash bin lid or bit of luggage to get into.”

“Um, I left my window open.”

“They’re probably not gonna scale the walls.”

Feeling foolish, Lily laughed. “Right.”

“Want to take a walk?”

The pull grew stronger, and Lily tensed.

Engage. Deflect. Ignore.

“Is it safe?” Lily asked.

“Depends on what kinds of things scare you,” Chase said softly.

Lily’s breath caught. What indeed. She answered without thinking. “Facing the unknown.”

“People or things?”

“Situations I can’t control, disasters I can’t fix—God, what am I saying.” Lily took a step back from the edge of the porch, as if something out there in the silvery night had torn open a door to places inside her she didn’t want to explore. “Let’s forget I said that.”

“Why?”

“I must sound terribly controlling.”

“You sound like a doctor to me—or a law enforcement officer or any number of people who try to help in a crisis.” Chase grunted. “And it sucks when you can’t.”

“Yes, it does,” Lily said softly, oddly relieved to hear her struggles summed up with such simple truth. “In this case, I was actually talking about…creatures.”

“You’re close to camp, so you’re not likely to run into anything that won’t run from you. You should have a flashlight, though.”

“I don’t have one.”

Chase patted her side. “But you’re in luck.”

Lily saw the head of a slim flashlight sticking out of Chase’s front pocket.

Chase laughed, a deep warm sound that nevertheless caused Lily’s skin to tingle. “Something to get with the boots tomorrow.”

Lily sighed and rubbed her arms to dispel the distracting sensation. “I think I’m going to need a longer list.”

Chase grinned. “Could be.”

“I’d like to see the lake,” Lily said impulsively. “I can see little bits of it from my window, and it looks so serene—so magnificent—in the moonlight.”

Chase nodded. “It is. Come on, we’ll go see.”

And just like that, Lily followed her down the stairs into the night, guided by the thin beam of light on the ground and Chase’s solid presence by her side. Engaged, and not even questioning what that might mean. So unlike her, and yet, somewhere inside, feeling exactly right.

Chapter Five

“Are you sure about this?” Lily asked. “I mean, I know you’re sure we won’t run into Bigfoot—oh, that’s in the Rockies, isn’t it—but can you see all right?”