Anja nodded. “We’re just thirty or forty kilometers from the border and not much farther from Switzerland. There’s an observation tower a bit higher up. You’ll probably have an even better view from there. Want to go?”

“Sure.” She turned toward her sister. “Are you up for a bit more hiking?”

Normally, Franzi was up for pretty much anything and never admitted defeat before Susanne did, but this time she hesitated. She exchanged a glance with Miriam. “Miri has promised to introduce me to the Flammkuchen in the beer garden.”

What the hell…Miri? Half an hour ago, her sister hadn’t even known Miriam existed, and now she was already calling her by her nickname? Well, at least she was no longer flirting with Anja. “If you wait a little, we could all have Flammkuchen together.”

“We can’t take Gino up to the observation tower.” Miriam pointed at her dog and threaded her arm through Franzi’s. “We’ll wait for you down there. Just join us whenever you’re ready.”

Before Susanne could think of something to say, the two strolled back to the path leading to the beer garden.

Anja stared after them. “I was pretty sure they’d hit it off, but I didn’t expect this.” She gestured at the disappearing act they were pulling. “Your sister isn’t going to break Miri’s heart, is she?”

“Hey, why do you think my sister’s going to be the heartbreaker? It might be the other way around.” Truth be told, she wasn’t too worried about her sister. Franzi usually was quick to jump into flings but slow to lose her heart to anyone.

“True.” Anja shook her head at them, then turned toward Susanne. “Well, they’re both adults.”

“At least according to their passports,” Susanne threw in.

Anja chuckled and set them off toward an even steeper, winding path.

For a moment, Susanne half expected Anja to thread her arm through her own the way Miriam had done with Franzi, but she didn’t. Susanne shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat and pushed away the weird feeling of disappointment coursing through her.

It took a bit of searching for them to find the tower because there were no signs pointing out which path they needed to take. “Sorry,” Anja said, sounding a little breathless from the hike. “It’s been a while since I was here.”

“I don’t mind,” Susanne said and found that it was true. It was nice to be so far removed from her everyday life and the problems they dealt with at work. She looked around the slopes of the hill. “Why is it called Schlossberg?” They were nearly at the peak now, and still there wasn’t a castle in sight.

“There was one…or rather several throughout the centuries, but they were all destroyed in one war or another. You can still see the ruins in some places, though.”