★

  June walked up to the Emergency Department with a drag in her step. Her week could have easily gone better, and it seemed it was determined to only get worse. She turned the last corner and caught sight of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. Stopping short and backtracking, she looked down the hallway to the front of the Emergency Room where she wasn’t often bound to go and saw Lydia.

  June groaned.

  Lydia waved.

  Rolling her eyes, June headed toward Lydia, gnawing on her lip until she tasted blood. Lydia was the last person she wanted to see at the very start of her shift. No doubt their conversation would set her entire day in a downward spiral that she’d attempt and fail at pulling herself out of.

  “What are you doing here?” June accused, the anger in her tone evident.

  “I’m here to see you.” Lydia’s bubbly disposition caught her off guard, and she knew it was fake.

  June raised an eyebrow and shook her head and pointed toward the Emergency Room. “I can’t talk right now. I just got a call.”

  Lydia chuckled. “That was me, silly. I called you down here so I could talk to you.”

  Narrowing her eyes, June blanched. “You can’t do that. This is my work and my job. You can’t just call me down wherever you want.”

  “Well, you haven’t talked to me in a week. I feel I deserve some sort of explanation.”

  Gritting her teeth, June jerked her head toward the hallway. “My office.”

  She didn’t wait another beat as she turned on her heel and made her way back to her office in the other part of the hospital. It took them a good three and a half minutes to get there, and June made sure they took the journey in silence. She shut the door to her office and locked it after Lydia sauntered in like nothing was wrong. Spinning on her toes, June shook her head.

  “I’m done.”

  “What?” Lydia’s blue eyes watered, and her lips pouted. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m done. We’re broken up. I’m not coming home. I’ll get the rest of my stuff Thursday night and move out, but I am done living with you, being with you, everything. I’m just done.”

  Lydia’s mouth dropped before she closed it in a sinister smirk. “I knew this was going to happen. You found another woman.”

  June clenched her teeth.

  “What’s her name?”

  “I’m not seeing another woman.” June curled her toes in her tennis shoes. “I have not cheated on you.” Her stomach twisted at that because technically, she had, but in her head, they were already done by that time.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Oh really?” June’s voice raised. “What were you doing last Wednesday? Hmm?”

  “I told you I was working late.”

  “Late at Charlie’s Eatery?”

  Lydia paled. June felt justified, validated. Lydia had not been expecting that.

  “Yeah. I know. I saw you. Like there was nothing to it, just making out at the fucking bar!” June screeched out the word as her loud voice turned into a yell. “I’m sure you went back to her place, or maybe you didn’t even make it that far and had your way with her in the car. Jesus, Lydia. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

  Her lips pressed tightly together, Lydia didn’t answer.

  “Oh my God,” June whispered. “That wasn’t the first time.”

  She spun around and walked away toward her desk before walking back. She clenched her fist tightly, then opened it and clenched it again. Anger bubbled where the weight was in her stomach and threatened to surface. In fact, she wanted it to surface.

  “How many times?”

  “I’m not answering that.” Lydia put her hand out in front of her like she was warding off a demon.

  “How many women?” June asked, louder this time and with more anger lacing her tone. “How many!”

  Lydia’s silence only fueled her. Lydia had probably never been called out directly, or if she had, she’d just brush it off and move on to her next conquest.

  Rolling her eyes, June said the only thing she could think of. “Get out of my office. Now.”

  Lydia’s lips parted like she was going to say something, but June shook her head and growled in response, pointing to the door at the same time.

  “Get out. We’re done.”

  Lydia walked out, this time her feet dragging instead of swaggering. June released a pent-up breath and folded onto the tiny couch in her office. She rubbed her hands over her face as tears fell. Her heart broke. It twisted, it knotted, and then it shattered. Picking up her life again would not be easy, but she was up for the task. If she were honest with herself, she and Lydia had been done for a while. This was just the final straw.

  Sniffling and drying her tears, June got up and had a cup of ice-cold water. She sat down at her desk and turned on her computer, determined to not let her now recent rather than impending breakup ruin her day any longer. She would start new, start fresh, and she would move on with her life without looking back. Well, at least without looking back with longing. She’d work hard not to make that same mistake twice.

  ★

  Elle walked into the hospital through her usual entrance, bundled against the cold. After making her way to her locker and shoving her jacket, hat, gloves, and scarf inside, she grabbed her wallet and headed toward the cafeteria, wanting a big cup of steaming coffee before she settled into her shift.

  The hallways were so familiar to her that she wasn’t fazed when she swiped in and out of rooms and more halls to make her way down to the cafeteria. She was, however, surprised when she turned the very last corner and caught sight of June just leaving her office. She shouldn’t have been, not really, seeing as how the chaplain’s offices were on her way to the cafeteria from the Emergency Room, but it was well after five in the evening, and June should have been home by then.

  Worrying her fingers together, Elle debated on what to do or say. They hadn’t left on the greatest of terms, but they also hadn’t left on the worst of terms. June was locking the door and hadn’t noticed her yet. Elle could very easily turn around and head back the way she came, hiding and not having to deal with yet another confrontation. Chiding herself, she shook her head and took one step forward. No, she wouldn’t run and hide. They needed to face each other, especially if they were going to be working in the same hospital. That had been a concern June had brought up, and Elle was determined to prove her wrong.

  It took her another thirty seconds to reach June, and by the time she was halfway there, June had turned and spotted her. June froze, but Elle kept right on walking toward her. No doubt June was flashing through the same conversation she’d had with herself not a minute before.

  “Hey,” Elle said, her voice soft in the quiet of the hall.

  “Hey back.” A slight smile played at the corner of June’s lips.

  Elle loved how confident June could be even when she most definitely was not confident. “You’re getting off late.”

  “Uhh…yeah.” June glanced at her door and back to Elle. “I had quite a bit of stuff to finish up before I could head out.”

  “Yeah…I used to have a lot of charting to do when I was avoiding something, like going home to an empty house or a husband who would rather be with his girlfriend.”

  June’s eyes widened in utter shock. “I—I’m not avoiding anything.”

  Elle put both her hands up and took a slight step back. “I wasn’t saying you were. Not at all. I used to use that as an excuse. I was the only doctor who always had her charts finished before the start of her next shift. Even on those crazy nights. Still am for the most part. Proud of it too.”

  “Ah…” June looked like a frightened cat who was ready to bolt.

  About to make an excuse to continue on her way, something stopped Elle. Maybe it was the way June was looking at her—or rather not looking at her—or her red eyes, or how she just seemed so small when she never had before, but Elle stayed rooted to the spot.

  She opened her mouth and then closed it, trying to figure out the best way to ask what she wanted to without offending her. Elle took a step closer and gripped June’s arm. It seemed even in their distance and issues, Elle couldn’t stop touching her.

  “Is everything okay? I mean…well, is everything okay? Something just seems off.”

  The question must have caught June unexpectedly because her eyes watered, her nose reddened, and her cheeks paled. A second more of a pause before June shook her head slowly indicating no, everything was not okay, and Elle almost regretted asking the question.

  Tears fell freely from June’s eyes, and Elle took the last step. She circled her arms around June’s shoulders and pulled her in for a gentle and comforting embrace. Elle rubbed her hands up and down June’s back, making circles and letting her just feel in the moment whatever it was she needed to feel. She lost track of how long they stood there, but when they pulled away from each other, June looked utterly embarrassed.

  “Don’t feel you have to explain anything unless you want to,” Elle said. “I’m just here for whatever you need in this moment.”

  Sniffling, June brushed tears away from her eyes. “Thanks, especially after I was a jerk to you.”

  “You weren’t a jerk.” Elle cocked her head to the side. “The timing just wasn’t right.”

  “That’s one way to look at it.” June shifted her satchel from one hand to the other and her weight from one foot to the other. “I guess I should let you go wherever you’re going.”

  “Coffee,” Elle replied with a grin. “It’s a fright outside. Need something to warm me up.”

  “Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

  June made to walk around Elle, but Elle stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. They shifted positions but were still facing each other. Elle looked her up and down, taking in her slight curves, her golden-brown hair, pale-green eyes with speckles of brown and black in them. Her double dimple in her right cheek was nowhere to be found, and Elle was suddenly surprised by how she missed seeing it.

  “June, everything will be all right, you know that, right? It’ll all work out.”

  “Yeah. I do. It just doesn’t feel that way right now.”

  “It never does. But I promise you, whatever it is that’s going on will pass, and life will even out, and I’ll see that beautiful smile again someday.”

  June’s cheeks blushed pink at the last comment Elle made, but she didn’t regret it. It was completely true. She missed seeing June’s smile, and even though it hadn’t been that long, she missed spending time with her too. Perhaps, one day in the near future, they could rekindle what was left of their friendship and move forward rather than breaking all ties.

  “Thanks, I think,” June answered. “I’ve got to get going. Don’t want to keep you from coffee. I know how much a pain you can be without your caffeine.”

  The slight smirk on June’s lips gave Elle hope.

  “I’ll see you around, then.”

  “See you.”

  June turned to leave, and Elle watched her go, memorizing the way she walked and the small spurt of joy that settled in her chest.

  Chapter Ten

  Lydia’s car wasn’t parked out front, and June couldn’t be happier with that arrangement. The lights in the apartment were dark, telling her Lydia wasn’t home and just tricking her, which she wouldn’t put past her. She turned off her engine, pulled out the boxes from the back seat of her rundown car and headed to the stairs to their second-floor apartment—or rather—Lydia’s second-floor apartment.

  She trucked herself up the stairs with empty, folded boxes in tow. She didn’t have very much stuff to cart around with her. Lydia hadn’t liked any of her things, and since she was moving into Lydia’s pre-established apartment, June had sold most of her furniture. June pulled out her keys from her pocket, let herself in, and flicked on the lights.

  Stopping short as soon as she entered and looked around, June shook her head. Everything she owned was shoved into a pile in the center of the living room. She growled low in her throat and then swallowed back the anger biting its way out from her chest.

  “Guess that helps a bit.”

  June didn’t wait any longer. She got down on her knees after shucking her jacket and started building her boxes with the tape she had brought with her. Each box she made up, she shoved her things into it, most of which were clothes. She had a few books she pressed into the corners to best distribute the weight. Once she had everything packed, June stood up.

  With her hands on her hips, she surveyed the room to check and see if Lydia had left anything out of her obvious anger fit to stockpile June’s things. She took careful steps around the apartment, quietly checking over everything and opening every drawer to make sure.

  June closed her eyes and let out a snort when she came upon a framed photo. Before the last week, it had been a photo of the two of them, holding hands under a tree at Teton National Park, but that picture was gone, who knew where, but probably the trash, and it had been replaced.

  The picture now was of Lydia and another woman—the same one June had seen her with the other night. They were kissing as they sat on a blanket in the middle of some grass. June picked up the photo to look at it more closely. They were at the local park by the zoo, and there was a banner draped across the fence advertising an event—an event that happened in May.

  Shaking her head, she put the photograph back exactly where she had found it. May. That meant Lydia had been cheating on her with this woman for at the very least six months. Hurt once again, June brushed the tears from her eyes and moved on to the bookshelf, making sure all the movies and books she had brought into their relationship came back with her.

  It didn’t take her too much longer to run through the rest of the tiny one-bedroom apartment. June had intended on leaving a check with her portion of rent for the rest of the month, but after finding the photography amongst other women’s items, she opted to just leave. She lugged down each box separately and shoved them into her car before locking up and leaving behind her old life and heading into her new transition.

  Driving to her new long-stay hotel she’d rented out a few days before, June unloaded all her boxes and her life. She realized quite pointedly just how much she was truly lacking in the way of things. She had no television, no bed, no chairs or tables. She would have to buy all of that once she found her own place to live and signed a lease on her own, but before she even did that, she would have to save enough for first and last month’s rent along with a deposit.

  June moaned as she unloaded another box in her tiny room. She made seven more trips before she sat on the corner edge of her rented bed and rubbed her hands furiously over her face. It was as if every decision she’d made lately had been a bad decision from the start. Somehow and somewhere, she had gotten off the right path, and she hadn’t even known it.

  She was so far gone she didn’t realize how lonely she had truly been for years—most of the years she and Lydia had been together, truth be told. She was the one left picking up the shattered pieces of her heart and her life. Lydia moved on well before they’d broken up, but June had been blindsided by it all. She hadn’t prepared. She hadn’t thought about the what-ifs. She’d just let life lead her instead of her leading life.

  Stripping down and stepping under the spray of a hot shower, June replayed the last few years of her life through her head. Where she had gone wrong. Where she had gone right. Slowly, she formed plans for her new future, the one she wanted, the one she hoped she would have, and the one she would make a complete possibility.

  She needed, first and foremost, to find a place to live. A long-stay hotel wasn’t the place for her. She needed her own space, a place to call home, not just a bed. Second on her list was to rekindle her friendship with Elle, right her wrongs, fix whatever she had broken in that relationship. Perhaps—just perhaps—that might lead to more, but even if it didn’t, friendship was what she needed more than a girlfriend.

  But she would not, under any circumstances, let her past mistakes get in the way of her future promises. Deciding on a plan to save up money fast, June washed her hair, scrubbed her body, and got out of the shower. Once she’d prepared for the night, she slipped under the covers to her rented bed and relaxed for the first time in a week. She had a plan. It might take her some time to get it done, but she had a plan, and that was worth its salt.

  ★

  Elle arrived at the restaurant after spending at least an hour getting dolled up and trying to tamp the nerves in her stomach down. She shouldn’t be nervous. This was exactly what she wanted. Blowing out all her anxiety, Elle walked inside to find Lydia waiting for her at the front near the hostess. She gave Lydia a small smile and hoped she didn’t see her discomfort or take it the wrong way if she did see it.

  They were seated almost immediately at a table in the back corner near a window. When Elle risked a glance outside, she saw snow falling gently to the ground and Christmas lights making the sky look like glitter. It would be a perfect night; she was sure of it.

  They each ordered wine and skimmed the menu, making chitchat about what they were planning on ordering. It wasn’t long until they had to find a new topic of conversation because what they were going to eat was becoming old. Elle flitted her gaze over Lydia and took in all her beauty. She had soft blue eyes and long blonde hair that was perfectly curled, her lips painted bright red. Elle could get lost in looking at her if she didn’t keep herself centered.

  “So, you work at the hospital…” Lydia began. “My ex works there as well.”

  “Oh?” Elle’s ears perked up, and she raised her eyebrows as she took another sip of her wine.

  Lydia nodded. “Yeah, but you work in the Emergency Room, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “She doesn’t work there. You probably wouldn’t have seen her.”

  Elle hummed and took yet another sip of her wine. She hadn’t anticipated the night going this direction. Exes were usually an off-limit topic when it came to dating—at least, from what she remembered of dating. Before she knew what was happening, Lydia leaned over and clasped Elle’s hand in hers and was rubbing a sensual pattern with her thumb on Elle’s palm.