Elena sighed, finally opening her eyes and meeting Devyn’s concerned look. “Mari thinks I’m not taking care of myself.”

  Devyn pointed to the empty Pop-Tart package on Elena’s desk. “I’m guessing that was dinner?”

  Elena’s lips pursed.

  “Mm-hmm. And how many days in a row have you been here?”

  “Thirteen.”

  Devyn was on day twelve herself and she knew what that did to her mental health. “When will you admit you’re human and give yourself a break?”

  “When I die?”

  “Don’t joke. You know how much I like you—and not only because you’re a brilliant surgeon I depend on.”

  “But mostly that.” Elena winked.

  “The other surgeons take vacations. And don’t agree to work on their days off. You say yes too easily.”

  “As if you’re any better.” Elena laughed. “Do you want me to pull up the calendar to mark off the number of shifts you’ve agreed to work this past month?”

  “Leah’s on maternity leave and I had someone I was avoiding.” She wouldn’t have told Matt she was avoiding him before she found out about his yearlong affair, but it was true even then. That was partly why she didn’t blame him for finding someone else. She’d almost hoped he would. And since their separation, she’d taken on more responsibilities at work because that meant fewer days—and nights—at home. “You do want to be home with Mari, right?”

  Elena was quiet for a minute before saying, “We’ve been having some hard conversations.” She reached for the Pop-Tart wrapper, crumpled it, and tossed it in the trash. “I know I should have expected it eventually. She’s always said how much she loves our niece and nephew.”

  “Wait, she wants kids?” She knew from Elena’s tight-lipped look that she’d guessed correctly. “Have you two not talked about this before?”

  “Not directly.”

  When she was trying to get pregnant, Elena had been the one she’d confided in. And Elena had consoled her after the news came that she was infertile. She’d taken comfort in knowing Elena was like her—someone who couldn’t have biological children—and eventually she’d realized she was okay with it. But that had taken time and a lot of letting go of expectations.

  “I’ve told Mari I don’t understand people who want kids,” Elena said. “I guess I wasn’t clear that meant I didn’t want kids.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know.” Elena dropped her chin. “I know what Mari wants, and I don’t want her to give up what she wants for me. Not something this important. But I also don’t want our relationship to be over. Maybe I wouldn’t hate being a mom?” Elena shook her head. “I love her. I’d do anything for her.”

  Devyn set her hand on Elena’s shoulder. “She loves you too. And I know she wouldn’t want you to go along with something like this if you didn’t really want it.”

  Elena and Mari’s relationship was solid. Still, even two people who seemed meant for each other didn’t always have the same life goals. Conversely, she knew people could share the same life goals and not be right for each other. When she’d finally told Matt that she not only couldn’t get pregnant but didn’t want kids, he’d surprised her by saying he didn’t want them either. He’d only gone along with it because he thought she wanted kids. That night had been one of the few times she’d felt they’d seen each other clearly. Of course she had no clue then he was already sleeping with another woman.

  “Relationships are hard,” Elena said, sighing heavily. “Can we go back to talking about Matt’s harebrained scheme and this random woman at your house? I don’t want to think about my own drama.”

  “No one wants to think about their own drama.” Devyn finished the notes she had to make and then closed the patient file. “I’m so done with Matt. The one thing he promised in the divorce was to finish the projects around the house. I can’t believe he passed his to-do list to his coworker. Except it’s exactly something he’d do.”

  “Do you think this woman can do the projects?”

  “Yesterday I came home to find her patching a hole in the living room. The hole that’s been there since the day we moved in.” Matt’s promise to fix it that day was a sign of things to come. “She’s already mowed the lawn, fixed a lock on a door Matt insisted couldn’t be fixed, and hung my ceiling fan. Before I left this morning, I found a note on the fridge asking if I wanted the garage organized.”

  “Damn. I’ve got some things I need fixed around my house. Think she wants to come to my place next?”

  “Do you want a stranger living in your space?”

  Elena hesitated. “If she keeps to herself and gets the work done? I mean, I would obviously have wanted to agree to everything in advance. That’s the part that pisses me off for your sake. You had no idea.”

  “But I don’t have time to take care of the yard, I’m not home to take care of Angel, and there’s no way I can do all the projects that need to be done around the house. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when she leaves at the end of the week.”

  “What if you sell the house as is?”

  Devyn shook her head. “We bought at the height of the market. If I sell as is, I’ll lose too much money.”

  Elena considered this. “I think you need to convince this woman to stay.”

  After spending the first night infuriated at Matt for not talking to her about the plan and frustrated at Robbie’s very presence, she’d come to the same realization. She didn’t want Robbie around, but she was useful.

  “You can hide out at work like me while she fixes everything.” Elena only seemed to be partly joking.

  “I’d miss Angel. And I like taking showers.”

  Elena lifted a shoulder. “There are showers here. The food’s terrible, though.”

  “True.” And she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from thinking about Robbie’s cooking. “You know that lasagna I made you try a bite of yesterday?”

  “God, that was good. Where’d you get that from anyway? Cucina Basilico?”

  “Robbie made it.” At Elena’s look of confusion, she added, “The woman at my house. She said her uncle was a chef and she loves to cook.”

  “She cooks and does home repairs?”

  “And Angel loves her.”

  Elena’s brow furrowed. “That dog doesn’t love anyone except you.”

  “I know. He bites everyone who tries to touch him, but I watched her scoop him up and all she got was a lick on the chin.” She still couldn’t quite believe Angel’s response. “I started calling him a traitor.”

  “Maybe this Robbie isn’t all bad. If Angel likes her…” Elena’s words trailed. “Do you know her last name? We could run a background check and make sure she’s not a psychopath.”

  “I don’t think she’s a psychopath. She seems really normal.”

  “That’s what people say about serial killers.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Robbie’s not a serial killer.” Although a background check wasn’t a terrible idea. Still, she trusted her gut. Aside from being Matt’s friend, there were no red flags or funny feelings with Robbie.

  “Matt works with her. He said he’s known her for a while. They’re both network security engineers but they’re based at different sites.” She paused, wondering if she should admit her earlier fears which now seemed ridiculous.

  After a moment considering it, she continued, “Matt used to talk about this woman he worked with…another network engineer. He seemed really caught up with her. At first I was happy he’d made a friend because he stopped complaining about his job. But then I thought she was the one he’d had the affair with. Now that I’ve met her, I know there’s no way she’d sleep with him.” When Elena gave her a questioning look, she added, “I’m sure she goes for women.”

  “Why didn’t you say she was a lesbian to begin with?”

  Devyn laughed. “If she’s a lesbian, she can’t be a psychopath?”

  “Oh, she still could be, but this whole mess is more interesting now.”

  “My problems are only interesting when they involve lesbians?” Devyn laughed again.

  Elena waved a hand in the air. “I said more interesting. Don’t worry. Your life has been interesting for a while. You know I love drama.”

  “I’m glad someone’s happy.”

  “Mostly I’m jealous you’ve got a housebutch,” Elena said. “I’ve always wanted one of those.”

  “I didn’t know a housebutch was a thing.” Though the title did seem to fit Robbie.

  “I wonder if Mari would be up for a threesome if I told her what this woman can do. Is she good-looking?”

  Devyn felt heat unexpectedly rush to her cheeks. She’d been attracted to women before but never felt called out to admit it. And it was one thing recognizing a woman was beautiful and quite another to tell Elena she thought the woman who’d moved into her cottage was hot. But she couldn’t deny Robbie was attractive. She’d come home yesterday and found Robbie in her living room stripped down to a tank top and immediately lost all ability to think as she stared at Robbie’s sculpted arms and perfect profile. Fortunately, Robbie had been focused on patching the hole and hadn’t noticed her gawking.

  “Honestly, it doesn’t really matter,” Elena said, not seeming to notice that Devyn had been thrown by her question. “If she can fix my AC and make me a sandwich, I want her number.”

  A knock sounded, and both Devyn and Elena looked to the open doorway. One of the new overnight nurses gave them an apologetic smile. “Hate to bug you, Dr. Lancaster, but Dr. Zang is asking for backup.”

  Devyn nodded. “Tell her I’ll be there in five.” She turned to Elena. “I’ll ask Robbie if she works on air conditioners. She’d probably rather be living at your house than mine.” In a lower voice she added, “And I know you love Mari and she loves you. You two need to talk about the kid question. I want you to save your marriage while you still have one.”

  “Mari and I will be fine. You’re right. We do love each other. This is just a bump in our road.”

  Devyn raised an eyebrow as she reached for her stethoscope. “So why aren’t you going home?”

  “I’m not leaving until you do. Go help Kelly.”

  Kelly’s relief was obvious the moment she saw Devyn. “I know you were scheduled to be off hours ago, but Malcolm is in with a cardiac arrest and I’ve got a twenty-year-old male with a tension pneumothorax and a nine-year-old girl with a temp of one-oh-six who started seizing. Plus some guy up front is making a racket about his chest pain.”

  “If he’s making a racket, he’s not next in line. I’ll take a look at the kid with the fever.”

  Kelly blew out a breath. “Thanks. I owe you.”

  An hour later, Devyn found Elena exactly where she’d left her. With another empty package of Pop-Tarts. She pointed to the wrapper and Elena said, “Don’t judge. I wasn’t going to finish my records without empty carbohydrates.”

  “Did you finish?”

  “Close enough.”

  Elena was either too exhausted or too caught up in her thoughts to say more. She didn’t talk as they gathered their things or as they walked through the parking garage together either. It wasn’t until they’d reached their cars that Elena turned to Devyn and said, “I’m sorry about Matt leaving. I know you said you needed his income to pay the bills. If you need any help these next few months—”

  Devyn cut her off, raising her hand. “I’ll be fine. I can cover a few months on my own.” Although after paying off Matt’s credit card debt that had become a joint debt with the marriage, she had almost nothing in savings. “Worst case, I tap into my 401K. The only problem is him leaving means I need to sell sooner rather than later.”

  “Don’t pull money out of your retirement. Come to me for help first.”

  “Elena, I don’t want to—”

  “Please.” Elena met her gaze. “I know you’d only ever need a short-term loan.”

  She could take out a bank loan if it came to that, and she’d sooner do so than ask for money from a friend. Then again, Elena wasn’t simply any friend, and if Devyn could, she’d do the same for her. Finally, she dipped her head. “If it comes to that, we’ll talk.”

  “That was hard for you to say, wasn’t it?”

  She smiled. “You know me too well.”

  Elena opened her arms and Devyn stepped into the embrace. She didn’t realize how much she needed the hug until her heart tripped over itself to return it.

  “See you in nine short hours,” Elena said, releasing her.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Devyn followed Elena’s car, parting ways only when they reached the freeway. She cranked the volume dial on the radio to stay alert, but her eyelids kept drooping and she breathed a sigh of relief when her house came into view.

  The porch lights were on, but the house was quiet when she unlocked the door. She went to the kitchen and called for Angel, worrying when he didn’t appear to immediately greet her. Fortunately, she heard the rustle of his tags as he groggily got up from his bed in the living room and shuffled over to see her, tail halfheartedly waving.

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  At any time, day or night, she usually got an enthusiastic response from him—unless he was outside and distracted. Now all she got was a lick of her hand and a butt wiggle when she gave him a pat on the head. Running through the list of possible ailments he could be suffering from, she spotted a note on the kitchen counter with the title of “Don’t worry—Angel is Fine.”

  She smiled as she read the note that detailed how Angel had made a friend at one of the off-leash parks. “You met another little terrier with too much energy, huh?” She glanced at Angel. He’d taken himself back to bed but wagged his tail at her words. “Sounds like you had fun.”

  She pushed away a twinge of jealousy at her dog having a fun afternoon with Robbie—because it didn’t make sense to feel jealous—and scanned the rest of the note: Quinoa tabouli in the fridge in case you’re hungry.

  She thought of Elena’s comment about a housebutch and then the question she’d side-stepped about whether Robbie was good-looking. Even if she did find Robbie attractive, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to act on any attraction. She’d never dated a woman before and there was no sane reason to make the first time be with someone who was Matt’s friend.

  “She probably won’t stay long anyway.” Not long enough to worry about a hormonal response. Once the garden had been replanted and Robbie had assuaged her guilty conscience, she’d leave.

  Devyn went to the fridge and took out a large bowl wrapped and carefully labeled with a list of ingredients. It seemed like too much work to dish a portion into a separate bowl, so she sat down at the table and dug her fork right in.

  “Oh, damn.” She took another bite and didn’t hold back a moan. Yes, she was still annoyed at Matt, and yes, she felt conflicted about finding Robbie attractive. But the real problem was her cooking. Robbie hadn’t left and already she knew she’d miss the gourmet meals.

  Chapter Five

  Robbie squinted at the bedside clock, half disbelieving the hour. She forced herself upright, then squished her feet into slippers and blearily made her way out of the cottage. By the time she’d reached the main house, the barking had stopped. She stood still for a moment, considering bringing Angel back to the cottage with her. Matt had been adamant about not letting Angel bark at night, but she’d discovered Angel wasn’t happy staying by himself when Devyn worked late. The problem was, Devyn hadn’t given her a schedule.

  It’d been four days of their awkward co-living arrangement and she’d exchanged less than ten sentences with Devyn—most of which had happened in the fight over the pollinator garden. Since then, Devyn had seemed to go out of her way to avoid interactions. The few times they’d been in the same room together, Devyn had made some excuse for why she couldn’t stay and talk. But she’d left Robbie thank-you notes and had a list taped to the fridge of all the completed projects with stars next to each one like some kind of grade school report card. It was oddly rewarding to add a project to the list and find a silver star next to it the following morning.

  A loud bark made Robbie jolt. She couldn’t see Angel at the sliding glass door and it was locked anyway, so she went to the side yard and let herself in through the laundry room with the keycode lock she’d placed earlier that day. Another to-do item checked off the list.

  Angel’s barking didn’t stop when she called for him, so she shuffled through the kitchen to the living room and turned around in a circle, still confused as to where the sound had come from. Finally, she decided Angel must be upstairs. She started down the hall and paused midstep. The light was on in the guest bathroom, which meant Devyn was home. Before she’d decided what to do, the light switched off and the door opened.

  “What the—” Devyn shrieked.

  “Shit, sorry,” Robbie said, immediately covering her eyes.

  A towel was wrapped around Devyn’s waist and another was wrapped around her hair, which left her breasts and midsection on full display. Robbie had gotten more than a little peek and…damn. Devyn was gorgeous half-naked.

  “What the hell are you doing in here? It’s two in the morning.”

  “Angel was barking. I came to figure out—”

  “Go. Now.”

  “I’m going.” Robbie turned around, hand still over her eyes. She took a step toward the kitchen and a howl came from the second floor. “See, he was doing that. I know the neighbors complain if he barks and I didn’t know you were home.”