Anja studied her shoelaces. “Um, no. We decided to just be friends. The store needs my full attention, especially now that Nobby is out sick for a week or two.”

“So you just…shut off your feelings?” Miri made a cutting-off motion with her hand. “How’s that working out for you?”

A sigh escaped Anja. “Not very well. It’ll probably take some time to get over it, but it’s for the best.” Maybe if she told herself that often enough, she’d start to believe it.

“Oh, come on, you don’t believe this pile of bullshit, do you?”

“We’ve got to work together for the store to survive, Miri. If we mess this up…”

“For six more weeks! You’ll be working together for just six more weeks. It’s not like you would be stuck with her until you retire if it doesn’t work out.”

Anja folded her hands behind her neck and massaged her stiff muscles while swaying back and forth twice. “That’s just it. Six weeks. Then she’ll be gone.”

“To Berlin, not on a mission to colonize Mars!” Miri pulled one of Anja’s arms down so she could study her face. “Come on, Anja. She’s hot, she’s intelligent, and she spent an entire afternoon building paper boats with you, indulging your stationery geekiness. Why not give it a try? If I can do it, so can you! What have you got to lose?”

Anja swished her feet through the grass beneath the bench. “My heart.”

Miri softened her grasp on Anja’s arm. “So that’s what this is really about. You’re scared.”

Was that it? Anja slumped against the back of the bench. “Of course I am. I’m not like you, Miri. I don’t take risks. I like to keep my feet firmly on the ground instead of jumping into the unknown.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to go skydiving or to give up your life here and move to Berlin with her. But, sweetie, you can’t lock your heart away and wait for a guarantee that you won’t get hurt.” Miri slid her hand down Anja’s arm and squeezed her fingers. “There are no guarantees. When you climbed that observation tower, you didn’t have any guarantee that you wouldn’t have a panic attack halfway up, and yet you did it anyway.”

Yes, she had braved the observation tower. With Susanne’s help. Hope fluttered in her belly. Maybe if she and Susanne were in it together, she could do this too. “But she hasn’t given me any indication that she wants something beyond those six weeks with me. She wants to go back to Berlin, find a new job, get back to her old life. After we kissed, she immediately apologized and said that getting involved makes no sense.”