She really should put him outside, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not today. “Come on. You can share my bed—just this once, okay?” She’d rather curl around Anja than around a cat, but for now, his company would do.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Anja didn’t sleep much, too keyed up from their make-out session and thoughts about their uncertain future. She tried to tell herself to just enjoy each day and that a lot could happen in six weeks, but that didn’t help calm her racing thoughts.

At five o’clock, she gave up on sleep and crawled out of bed. She showered and dressed and then slipped her laptop and a travel mug of coffee into her backpack.

At least she’d be able to get some work done on the blog before the first customers started coming in, and she could take a look at the stock and what she needed to order now that Nobby was out for a couple of weeks.

Maybe Susanne would come in to work early too. She admitted to herself that was part of the reason why she was getting her bicycle out and heading to the store before dawn. This eagerness to see her was exciting and scary at the same time.

All was still quiet on the cobblestoned street as she chained her bicycle to the stand next to the parking garage. She had half expected—or maybe hoped—to be greeted by a light already on in the store, but Paper Love lay in darkness.

With a sigh, she unlocked the door and went inside.

She busied herself with her usual morning routine and additional tasks Nobby normally took care of. She even managed to finish writing a blog post on her laptop. As opening time approached, she wheeled the carousels with the greeting cards outside and carried the Plexiglas sheet with the paper boats to the Bächle across the street. The sheet was as long as the distance between her fingertips and her elbow, but thankfully, it wasn’t heavy.

Under the pretense of looking around for potential customers, she glanced toward the parking garage where Susanne usually left her BMW.

Still no sign of her.

In the five weeks since she’d been in Freiburg, Susanne had never been late. What if something had happened to her?

Anja shook her head. More likely, Susanne had second thoughts about them and didn’t know how to tell her that she didn’t want to get involved with her after all, and that was why she was staying away.

The thought made her stomach clench into a tight knot. Come on. Have some trust. Since when are you such a pessimist? But the knot in her belly didn’t loosen as she went back into the store.

The first customer came and went. Still no Susanne.