Harper smiled too, and it occurred to her that those were the first words spoken between them since…well, since before. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say, if anything. Dani surprised her by breaking the ice first.

“Are you beating yourself up?”

“I keep waiting on the guilt to hit me,” she said honestly. “But…no.”

Dani rolled to her side, facing Harper. “I feel like we should talk, but I don’t know what to say.”

“I know. Me either.”

“Harper, I…I needed you, I needed that. I hope…well, I hope that you’re not sorry.”

“No. It was…it was a perfect night,” Harper said, again waiting on guilt to strike. It was perfect, yes. Was that saying that things with Jan—in bed—weren’t perfect? No. Things with Jan—sex with Jan was good. It always had been. Maybe last night, well, they were both riding on emotions; they both needed that, not just Dani. So maybe it was the fact that Harper needed that physical contact too that had her reeling.

“Do you feel guilty for not feeling guilty?”

Harper nodded, wondering how it had come about that Dani could read her so easily. “Honestly, after Jan died, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to touch another woman. Or if I did, I assumed Jan would be there with me, that I would be thinking of her.” She moved her hand under the cover, touching Dani’s hip, before sliding it up to her waist. “It wasn’t like that at all.” She met Dani’s eyes, trying to read them. “It was only you, never her.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I was afraid that…well, I thought maybe—”

“No. I knew exactly who I was making love to. She wasn’t with me last night.” She sighed and lay back, staring at the ceiling. Did that mean Jan would never be with her again? Had her ghost finally left?

“I’m sorry,” Dani whispered.

“No. Don’t be.” She turned her head to look at her. “Why were you crying?”

Dani blinked several times and Harper again saw a misting of tears there.

“I felt…all alone. I felt like I was on an island and no one was coming for me.”

“I was right here.”

Dani blinked at her tears again. “You were here, but you were still so far away. I needed to be touched and hugged and… and loved. You’d made it clear that you couldn’t be that person for me.”