Later that day, Franzi put down her cutlery, dabbed her lips with the red napkin the restaurant had provided, and leaned across the table. “What’s up with you, Sis? You haven’t said more than three words since we got here.”

Susanne looked up from where she had cut her salmon-spinach-and-potato gratin into little squares. “Nothing. Just focusing on my food.”

“Uh-huh. Are you angry because I kind of ignored you most of today?” Franzi covered her face with both hands and peeked through her fingers. “God, I’m the worst sister ever. I come here to spend time with you, and then I abandon you for Miri. It’s just that she’s fun and really great to talk to. I feel as if we’ve known each other for ages. But, of course, that’s no reason to just—”

“I’m not mad at you.” If anything, she was mad at herself for nearly kissing Anja.

Franzi lowered her hands to the table. “You’re not?”

“You know me. Is this,” Susanne pointed at herself, “my angry face?”

Her sister studied her carefully. “No.” She squinted and leaned even closer until Susanne squirmed. “This is your I’m-pining-over-a-woman face.”

“Nonsense!”

“The lady doth protest too much, me thinks. Wait!” Franzi shoved her half-eaten plate of Swiss raclette cheese away as if she’d lost her appetite. “Now I get it! That’s why you’re not mad at me for abandoning you today. Because you got to spend time alone with Anja. You like her.”

Susanne shrugged as casually as possible. “Not at first, but…yeah, she’s all right, I guess.”

Franzi shook her head. “No, I meant you like like her. As more than just a colleague.”

“You’re imagining things. You’re the one who gets crushes on people at the drop of a hat, not me.” But the conviction she’d aimed for wasn’t there.

“Oh, cut the bullshit, Susi. Remember, you’re talking to me—your womb mate. What’s going on between the two of you?”

Susanne sighed and pierced one of the gratin squares on her plate with her fork. “Nothing. She’s an employee.”

“Uncle Nobby’s employee, not yours.”

“Which still makes us colleagues, and you know I don’t mix business with pleasure. It always gets messy.”

“But you are interested in her?” Franzi asked.

“I’ll be gone in less than eight weeks.”

“So that’s a yes. I knew it.”

Susanne put her fork down with a clank. “That’s a big, fat no. Besides, I wasn’t even thinking about her right now.” It was the truth…if you left out the fact that she now wanted to save Paper Love for Anja as much as she wanted to save it for her uncle.

“What were you brooding about, then?”

Susanne sighed. “Money.”