The line went silent while Susanne took several deep breaths. Was she?

“Come on, admit it. Miri told me she caught the two of you in the middle of a hot make-out session, during business hours no less!”

“It wasn’t a make-out session. I was just kissing her hello.”

“Hey, no need to get defensive. I’m happy for you.” Franzi chuckled. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if both of us ended up moving to Freiburg? And I didn’t even have to step into a Bächle!”

“Whoa!” Susanne held up her free hand even though Franzi couldn’t see it. “I didn’t say anything about moving to Freiburg! Right now, we’re just seeing where it might go. Are you really at that point already? Franzi, this is crazy! You’ve known her for all of two weeks!”

“What, you think you lesbians have a monopoly on the U-Haul phenomenon? I’ll have you know that some of us bisexuals aren’t immune to premature-moving-van syndrome either.”

“Franzi…”

Her sister laughed. “Just kidding. God, lighten up. We’re not moving in with each other anytime soon, although I wouldn’t rule it out for the future. But for now, we’re taking it one day at a time.”

Susanne exhaled and rubbed the back of her neck. The muscles there were tense. Maybe Franzi was right—she really should lighten up and not worry so much or she wouldn’t survive the next six weeks. But she wasn’t as good as her sister at living in the here and now; she always thought five steps ahead and never went into any situation without a solid business plan.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to go all big sister on you.” Susanne paused. “So are you giving her anything for Valentine’s Day?”

“What? Are you afraid I’m going to send her a ring?” From Franzi’s tone, it was obvious that she was grinning.

“I’m serious. Are you getting her a gift?”

“I thought about taking her to a tree-top ropes course on Saturday afternoon. Is that non-U-Hauly enough for you?”

Susanne laughed. “Yes, that has my sisterly approval.” But it didn’t help her decide what to do about Valentine’s Day herself. With her fear of heights, Anja probably wouldn’t enjoy an afternoon up in the trees.

“You’re not just asking because you’re worried about me and Miri moving too fast, are you?”

Her sister knew her too well. Susanne sighed. “It’s been a day, an hour, and twenty minutes since Anja and I…since we agreed to give it a chance. We said no promises. So do I give her something for Valentine’s Day? What if I don’t and she’s got something for me? I don’t want her to think I don’t care, but I also don’t want to make any promises I might not be able to—”