Behind her, a Bächle gurgled pleasantly, the sun glinting off its clean water. She had stepped over the narrow stream without giving it any thought, the way Anja did. Like a local.

“Shit,” she breathed into the phone.

“What?” Franzi’s voice rose in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re right. Maybe the reason I haven’t started looking for a new job is that I don’t want it—any of it. I don’t care about a great career with a fat salary or about my nice apartment in Berlin. I like Freiburg. And I…I love Anja. I want to stay.”

Franzi laughed. “And you just now figured that out?”

Susanne thought about it. Deep down, she must have known for a while, or she would have looked for a new job, but she had stubbornly clung to the thought of returning to Berlin because she’d been afraid. For the first time in her life, someone meant more to her than her career, and that was scary as hell.

“Yeah, well,” she said, her voice thick with emotion, “looks like I’m a little slow when it comes to love.”

Saying that word out loud, admitting that she loved Anja—was in love with her—sent a warm thrill through her. “Wow. I can’t wait to tell her.” She lengthened her steps.

“Tell whom?” Franzi asked. “Mama? Well, you can. She’s in the kitchen, making a cake for Miri. Here.” A door creaked open, and then the sounds of the phone being handed over filled Susanne’s ears.

“What? No, Franzi, wait! I—”

“Susanne?”

“Mama? What are you doing at Franzi’s? Um, I mean, I didn’t know you were at her place.”

“I want to meet that new girlfriend of hers. And if I wait for Franziska to bring her around, I’ll be ninety by the time I finally get to meet her, so I just dropped by unannounced.”

For once, Susanne was glad she wasn’t in Franzi’s shoes, but then she remembered that at some point, she would be if things continued to go well between her and Anja. “I met someone too.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. What is it about the women in Freiburg?” Her mother chuckled. “I assume that’s where you met her?”

“Yes, I did. We—”

“Then make sure you bring her over for coffee when she visits you. I’d love to meet her too.”

“She won’t be coming for a visit.” Susanne cursed her sister for getting her into this mess long before she was prepared for it. She gave herself a mental nudge. “I won’t be coming back. I’ve decided to stay in Freiburg.”

For a while, only her mother’s harsh breathing filtered through the phone.

“Mama? Did you hear what I just—?”