June shrugged and stifled a yawn against her arms. “Couldn’t turn my brain off. It happens.”

  “Thinking about Lydia?”

  They made eye contact, and June nodded. “Some, but not in that way. More just really thinking about how we were not a good match from the start, and I should have seen it and run the other direction. I’ve been struggling to figure out what I saw in her at all.”

  “A pretty woman who seemed to have all your attention.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably it.” June yawned again, this time her eyes watering from the force of it. “It was nice in the beginning at least, for the most part.”

  “That’s more than I got out of her.”

  June snorted. “You’re right. I guess I have one up on you there. When is dinner going to be ready?”

  “Another hour.”

  “I think I’m going to nap.”

  “You do that.” Elle started the rhythmic pattern of her fingers along June’s calf, rubbing her muscles and then her feet. She stared into the unlit fireplace while she listened to June’s steady breathing. Before she knew it, June was fast asleep curled up on the couch. Smiling to herself, Elle made sure June was completely covered with the afghan before she stood up and puttered around the kitchen.

  She checked on her posole, cleaned up the dining room, started laundry, and tidied up their shoes. When she set June’s shoes back down next to hers, she was hit with the fact she wanted to do that. She wanted the normalcy, the rhythm, the love. She wanted June to never leave her house for another home.

  Elle dropped the boot in place, straightened her back, and checked on dinner again. She glanced to the sleeping beauty on the couch and smiled softly. She knew what she had to do. Part of the downfall of her marriage with Logan had been her working night shifts. They had never seen each other, and it had only landed them both in a chasm of loneliness. One she had filled with more work and he had filled with another woman.

  She had to switch her shifts. As much as she had convinced herself she loved working nights, she wanted normalcy even more. Her bed was lonely when she was by herself, whether June was home or not, but with June gone all day and her gone all night, they would never stand a chance of being together fully.

  With a deep breath, she prepared herself. Requesting day shifts was not going to be easy, and it might result in her having to find a more creative solution to a job and leaving the Emergency Room or even leaving the hospital altogether. It was not something she envied because she loved her work, but at that point in her life, work wasn’t everything.

  When the posole was done, Elle turned off the burner and went to wake June from her nap. She sat on the coffee table and stared at her sleeping face. June looked so relaxed in sleep. Deciding against it, Elle set June’s alarm on her phone so she would wake up in the morning for her shift and headed to eat her own dinner in her room. She had to be at work shortly enough, but June clearly needed the rest more than she needed to have a deep emotional conversation. If only they could find the time.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Christmas was just around the corner, and the streets were decorated with lights and more. It was their first night off together in over a week, and both June and Elle had taken full advantage of it. June slipped out of work and into her old worn-down car, jittery with excitement. They were going on a date, a real date, for the first time ever.

  Elle had asked her to sushi at this new place downtown, and June didn’t hesitate. She jumped at the opportunity. They’d had the date set for what felt like ever but was really only a few days. She drove out of the hospital parking lot and took a left to head downtown instead of taking a right to head to the house. Snow was falling heavily in a blanket, and June knew by the time they left, they’d both likely have to scrape their cars just to see out through the windshields. It would all be worth it, though.

  When June pulled into the street, parking just outside, she saw Elle’s green SUV already parked. That meant Elle was likely already inside waiting for her. Giddy one second and nervous the next, June let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. She focused her energy and her anxiety. She licked her lips, breathed out and then in once more, and said a small prayer.

  God knew she needed all the help she could get. It had been a whirlwind of a few months, but everything finally seemed to be clicking into place. She was going on a date with Elle. Grinning ear to ear, June got out of her car and slammed the door shut, making snow fall from the top of it down onto her slacks and shoes. She scoffed and then walked inside before stopping short again.

  She headed back to her car and slid behind the driver’s seat. She unhooked her white clerical collar and took off her dickie. This was a date, not a work date, but a date date, and she would not be caught dead looking like she was going out with a work friend. She slipped both items into her glove compartment and tried again to make her way inside.

  Elle met her at the door. Immediately, their fingers were entwined together as they waited to be seated. June leaned over and whispered in Elle’s ear, “I wanted to try this place as soon as I knew they were building it.”

  “Me too. It’s so hard to find good sushi out in rural America.”

  “The worst.”

  Elle’s eyes lit up when June pulled back and waited for the hostess to take them to their seats. The building had been completely renovated since June had been there last. Before it had been a sandwich diner, mom-and-pop style. She’d only been once, heard about the flags from the health department, and refused to go back. They hadn’t lasted more than a year.

  This place was brand new, opened only three months, and now she finally had the time and the date to check them out with. She was practically bouncing in her shoes as they waited. Elle chuckled into her ear. “Calm down.”

  “I’m just happy,” June replied.

  “Well, I’m glad to see you happy, but if you don’t stop bouncing, I’m pretty sure you’ll jump away.”

  Laughing, June shook her head. “Doubtful. Besides, you can just pull me back down.” She lifted their still-joined hands to make a point. Elle kissed June’s knuckles, and the smile left June’s lips. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and her chest tightened. “We are going to talk tonight, right?”

  “Absolutely. It’d be weird to sit and eat dinner in utter silence.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Suddenly serious, Elle nodded. “Yes. We need to talk.”

  “Good.”

  “Giselle?” the hostess called.

  Elle moved forward and brought June with her, still not letting go of her hand. They wove their way around tables and down some stairs into a wide-open room. There were lots of tables here, some with booths, some with chairs. The wood was dark cherry, the floors dark cherry, the plates stark white with black swirls around them, and there were cool blue lights in the walls that reflected against mirrors and fish tanks.

  “It looks incredible in here. Completely different,” June commented.

  The hostess smiled at them. “Thanks! It took six months to renovate, but we think it was well worth it.”

  “I would agree,” June added.

  Elle walked slightly in front of her, still holding her hand tightly. Once they found their table, Elle waited for June to decide which side she was going to sit on. Instead of sitting across from her, Elle pulled up the chair right next to June, so they’d have to turn and talk to each other, but this way they could easily touch. Which Elle did, instantly pressing her palm into June’s knee.

  They ordered drinks and then their food. Before June knew what was happening, she and Elle dove straight into the conversation they had both been simultaneously avoiding and trying to have.

  “I like you,” Elle whispered with a smile in the corner of her lips. “I like you a lot.”

  Something in the way she said it put June off, like Elle wasn’t coming completely clean about what she meant. June tilted her lips in a return smile and nodded. “I know it’s been weird and rough and, well, weird.”

  “Yeah.”

  “But I would like to try dating, you know. See where this goes. I still think I should maybe move out for a bit to test it that way.”

  Elle’s lips pursed, and she grabbed her water with her free hand to take a sip. “Maybe. Winter is such a hard time to move, though. And you don’t have any furniture yet.”

  “True, true.” June glanced down at the table in front of them. Elle had become slightly cold toward her when she’d brought up moving. Tension had filled her face and her shoulders in a way it wasn’t there before. “It might be useful to still stay at the house. I mean, with working opposite shifts, it’s hard enough to see each other as is. That would at least give us some more time.”

  Elle had a slight smile back, but it wasn’t fully there. “That’s true too.”

  Shaking her head, June closed her eyes. “What are you thinking? Because you seem so far away right now.”

  Elle hummed and ran her thumbnail under her fingernails. June let her take the time she needed to respond, knowing silence often was paid back tenfold in truth, and she was a very patient person when it came to these types of questions and answers.

  “I’m thinking I don’t want you to move out,” Elle confessed. “I know I don’t want you to move out. I like having you at the house. It makes it feel like a home.”

  June gripped Elle’s hand and squeezed lightly. “I like it too.”

  “Good, so don’t move out.” Her smile was brief, and June waited even longer for Elle to continue. “I’ve been toying with the idea of day shifts.”

  “You what? You love nights.”

  “I know, but I want to see more of you, not less, and if I need to switch to days to do that, I want to. I realize that was part of my problem in my marriage, and I wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice for Logan. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

  “What mistake?”

  “I don’t want to lose you too.”

  June’s lips parted with Elle’s confession. She bit her lip and nodded, understanding the sentiment behind Elle’s words. She ran her thumb over the top of Elle’s hand in circles. Giving in to temptation, June leaned closer to Elle and pressed their mouths together in a tender and loving kiss. Neither of them made to deepen it. The kiss was solely there for comfort and for connection.

  When June pulled away, she smiled, whispering, “I don’t want to lose you either.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew without a doubt what she really wanted to say. She wanted to tell Elle just how much she loved her, how much she had been longing for someone like her in her life, someone who complimented her rather than irked her, someone who would work well with her and appreciated her and uplifted her. Raising her gaze to Elle’s face, June saw the love she had for Elle reflected back at her, and her heart warmed.

  “I—” June started but was interrupted by the waiter who slid their food in front of them.

  Elle grinned and immediately picked up her chopsticks to start in on her sushi roll. She let go of June’s hands and dove into her dinner. June, unsettled, was slower to take her first bite. She wasn’t focusing on the food until Elle turned and asked her what she thought of her sushi roll. At that point, June had to think about the flavors. As they bloomed on her tongue, she nodded at Elle.

  “It’s really good. We should come here more often.”

  “Just what I was thinking.”

  Happily eating away, June focused on her own plate, feeling like everything was clicking into place, like the world had finally put both her and Elle on the same time clock, and they would finally be able to see each other the same way at the same time.

  Not wanting to wait another minute, June grabbed Elle’s arm to get her attention. Once Elle was turned toward her and no longer chewing, June flushed and blinked rapidly. She swallowed hard as she tried to give herself the courage to say what she wanted to say.

  “I love you,” June whispered.

  The grin on Elle’s lips brought her comfort and hope. Elle reached forward and brought their mouths together in a heated kiss. “I love you, too, Chaplain Smart-Mouth.”

  Wrinkling her nose, June turned back to her plate. “Just thought I should say that before I chickened out again.”

  Elle’s light laugh echoed in the room. Suddenly, the tightness in June’s chest was gone, the tension in the back of her neck vanished, and there was a lightness about everything. She was elated. She was happy. She loved and was loved back, by someone she truly thought would be a good match for her. They had the same hopes and dreams, the same goals for their life. They had both been through pain and heartache, but they had helped each other through it all.

  When June turned to Elle, she caught the ever-present smile on her lips. It was a good night for a date, and they would no doubt be coming back whenever they got the chance.

  ★

  The rest of their evening at the restaurant had gone well, and Elle had felt wonderful being able to finally touch June unrestricted, to the point where she wanted to touch all of her. Elle waited in her car as June pulled into the garage in her gray car shortly after Elle had parked. As soon as the garage door shut, she got out and waited for June at the door. For some reason, she didn’t want June out of her sight so long as she could help it.

  Once Elle shut the door behind them, she locked it. Smiling to herself, she set her keys on the counter, shucked her jacket, and toed off her shoes. June did the same, and as soon as they were unencumbered by winter wear, Elle pounced. Pushing June against the wall, Elle locked their mouths together and breathed in June’s musky scent.

  She pressed their hands together, holding June’s still as she stepped further into June’s body. She completely covered her. Sliding a hand around the back of June’s neck, Elle slipped her tongue out and traced June’s lip with as much patience as she could muster. June’s eyes popped open to stare at Elle, and she smiled before parting her lips and allowing Elle to explore her even more.

  June arched her back and wrapped her arms around Elle’s shoulders to hold on. Elle continued to keep June’s mouth busy while she lightly scraped her fingers down June’s neck to her collarbone. June hadn’t worn her clerical collar that evening, and as much as it might have disappointed her, she had loved it at the same time. They weren’t there as doctor and chaplain. They were there as June and Elle, newly single—both of them—and looking for new, fresh, and exciting possibilities.

  Her hand moved farther down June’s body, lightly teasing over her chest before resting just above her hip and shoving back even more to lock June in place. June broke their kiss with a heaving breath and grin, her double dimple shining right above her cheek. Giving in to temptation, Elle bent her head and pressed a tender kiss to it. She had wanted to do that since the first time she had seen it, and finally, her dream had come true.

  When she pulled away, June was still smiling at her. With one more peck to June’s lips, she tilted her gaze down to the top of June’s shirt. Her collarbones peeked out of the neckline, and Elle longed to run her tongue along them. She groaned and dipped her head down to do just that. June’s hand locked in her hair, and Elle smiled to herself. She loved it when June grabbed her like that, controlling the moment in as much as she gave herself over to it.

  Their embrace was reminiscent of all those months ago when they shared their first kiss in the parking lot: heated, unbridled, passionate. At the same time, there were hints of their second kiss: love, peace, calm, connection. Elle lowered her fingers to June’s waist and slipped her hands under the soft cotton of her shirt.

  June’s skin was hot. Elle moaned as she moved her hands around to grab June’s sides and hold her close. “You have no idea how long I have wanted this.”

  “I have some idea,” June whispered. “If only I had opened my eyes sooner.”

  Elle shook her head and closed her eyes, pressing their foreheads together. “No. It wasn’t time then. Now, the time is right. We’re where we need to be.”

  June nodded her agreement. Elle kissed her again lightly and then pulled away and bit her lip. She moved her hand around to press it against June’s belly, daring herself to lift the shirt just a little higher to see her pale skin. It was such a contrast to her own darker skin. June was short, small in size, unlike Elle, who was full of curves and had height on her that rivaled a lot of men.

  “You going to continue or not?” June asked, her green eyes piercing a hole through Elle’s heart.

  “Yeah. In a second. We have time, you know.”

  “We do, but we’ve also waited a long time for this.”

  Elle hummed her agreement and slid June’s shirt up to see the tattoo on her ribcage. Elle pressed her palm against it before leaning forward to kiss her again. As soon as their lips touched, the annoying vibration of a phone started. Elle whimpered and tried to ignore it, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she heard a second vibration, then a third. Finally, her house phone rang for the first time in months.

  Jerking back, Elle stared at June and shook her head. A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach. She moved her hands from June’s body and reached into her pocket for her cellphone. June did the same, grabbing her work and personal phone. They glanced at each other.

  “Shit,” Elle muttered.

  “That’s a good word for it,” June responded.

  “I gotta change.”

  “Drive together?”

  “Yeah, might as well. I bet we’ll both be stuck there all night.”

  June grunted her agreement. Elle pulled June to her for one more heated moment before she headed to her bedroom to get her scrubs. More information filtered through her cell, and she glanced at it occasionally. School bus versus semitruck with an added splash of ice. It was not a good combination. Dressing rapidly, Elle read through the rest of the information to get some sort of idea what she was in for.

  Forty-five teenagers, five adults, including the driver of the bus and the driver of the semitruck. Most injuries were minor, but there were at least seven critical coming in that they knew of at that point. Elle grabbed her stethoscope and flung it around her neck.