In her mind, she could see the future clear as if she were living it right then: Cate meeting her parents. Cate in the audience when she gets her architecture degree. Cate beside her as they get married. Cate pregnant with their kids. Cate growing old beside her. Cate was everywhere, and Hilary couldn’t stop smiling at the images.

  Over the years, she had laughed at friends who suddenly met someone, moved in with them, and started a life within days of meeting. They always said the same thing: when it’s the right person, it’s the right person. It had been baffling to Hilary. Until Cate.

  For months there had been an unsettling change in her life. For some reason, she knew something was missing, someone. Once she had met Cate, she had lost her heart instantly. That day, the earth had tilted. Today it had righted itself, just not to the same point it had been at before. A new and better place.

  Deciding she was going to make Cate breakfast in bed, Hilary slipped from the covers. Her clothes were somewhere between the kitchen and the bedroom and should be easy to find; Cate’s house was neat as a pin in every other way. All she needed to do was find some of her clothing, and Cate could have something in the cupboards that she could work with.

  Shifting ever so slowly, she slid from the bed without waking the other woman in it. Once on her feet, she looked down at Cate’s bare back in the dim light and regretted leaving her.

  Tiptoeing to the door in the darkness, Cate’s husky voice stopped her just as she had found her underwear. “You don’t have to sneak out in the middle of the night. I have to work early, so you can sleep in and leave whenever you want.”

  “I wasn’t sneaking out.” Hilary frowned and turned back to her, wishing she could see her better in the darkness of the bedroom. The streetlight only lit the room so much, but Hilary wanted to see Cate’s face clearer. “I was making you breakfast in bed.”

  “At two in the morning?” Lifting her head, Cate looked at her, and even in the dim light, Hilary could see she was hurt. Something that had never bothered her when she had been leaving a woman’s bed before, but Cate was always going to be different than anyone else.

  “Yes, because I don’t know what time it’s. Where’s your clock?” Staying where she was, she looked around the room again as she wondered how Cate knew what time it was.

  Cate ignored the question and said, “The rest of your clothes are in the kitchen.”

  “I know.” Hilary bit back a moan as images of taking off those clothes flashed through her mind, or having them taken off her.

  “I had a good time.” Cate snuggled back into her pillow.

  “Me too.” Hilary’s heartbeat skipped—this sounded like a brush-off. Like the night was coming to an end, and maybe more than the night. Like everything was coming to an end.

  “I have to work at eight and need sleep,” Cate mumbled, more into her pillow than to Hilary.

  “I won’t make breakfast then.” Hesitantly, she stood in the doorway, her underwear still in her hands. She wasn’t sure what to do. Cate was showing no indication she wanted her back in bed with her.

  “Thanks. See you around, Hilary Mathews.” Snuggling deeper into the covers, Cate didn’t seem like she was affected by this moment. With the blankets now covering her entire body, she was nearly completely blocked from Hilary’s view. As if there was suddenly a wall between them.

  “I, ah, wasn’t leaving.” Walking back to the bed slowly, Hilary added, “Breakfast and all.”

  “I’m too tired to have this talk,” Cate mumbled, not moving.

  “Can I come back to bed?” Hilary asked, suddenly wondering if Cate wanted her there.

  “Nobody is stopping you but you,” Cate replied softly, not committing to anything.

  She walked back to the bed and slipped in, then lay there stiffly as she waited for Cate to say something else. But the woman beside her sighed and seemed to fall asleep again.

  It took another hour for her to fall back into sleep, an hour of her mind racing about how Cate knew her tricks. That she had thought that her getting up was just her leaving. Probably because she heard she did it before. Or thought that she got what she wanted and was done with Cate. Both were wrong, and she hoped she would show that to Cate in the morning.

  But when she woke, warm sunlight was streaming in the window, and the bed was empty and cold. A quick search of the house showed Cate was gone. But since it was after ten, Hilary assumed she was at work.

  Groaning, Hilary wondered if she couldn’t have just woken her to say goodbye. Just a kiss and maybe some talk about when they would see each other again. Because Hilary wanted to see her again today, tomorrow, and every day after.

  After the midnight talk and the empty bed this morning, Hilary realized that she had met her match. Was Cate no more interested in her for anything besides sex? Suddenly, the tables were turned, and she didn’t like it.

  But what had she expected? Her perfect date with reservations had turned into fast, hot sex, and they didn’t even eat. What was Cate to think? It was exactly how Hilary would have acted with anyone she had dated. She had wanted Cate to be different from the start and had messed up.

  Determined to fix it, she knew she had to talk to Cate again and knew exactly where she was. Now there was no way she would disappear on her again.

  Chapter 8

  “I thought you would be in a better mood after your big date last night,” Peggy said, bringing Cate the returns for her department.

  The arm full she carried meant Cate had something to do for an hour or so. The fact that Peggy was asking meant that Peggy wanted to talk. And her supervisor took it as her duty to keep involved in all her employees’ lives. Even when they didn’t want her to.

  “It was great,” she said truthfully. Everything about it was exactly what she wanted in a date from Hilary, everything she had expected. Pretty words and great sex. She had said yes yesterday because she had believed the lines and complements that she was special, different than the others, but she wasn’t. And that hurt as much this morning as it had in the middle of the night.

  Hilary staying meant something, but Cate knew she would be gone when she finally got off work, and they were never going to cross paths again. After all, Hilary knew how to avoid her now that she knew where she worked. And Cate knew better than to try to hold on to someone who didn’t want attachments.

  “Yeah, sounds great too. You know, not every date is a hit out of the ballpark. Some are just bad and need a do-over. I know you really like this girl, so don’t let one bad night end something that might work out in the end.” Peggy got the wrong idea about the date completely. Maybe Cate hadn’t used the right inflections, but she was tired and hurt and just wanted the day to be over.

  “It’s not going to happen again.”

  Catching her leaving in the middle of the night had proven that. Even though she’d stayed, it was only because Cate had promised there would be no confrontation in the morning. Which was why she left her sleeping this morning. No need to start a fight when it was easier to be ghosted.

  “That bad? I thought you really liked this girl. I mean, you don’t date, and suddenly you have a date. I wish I had seen her.” Peggy looked around the store as if Hilary was going to be somewhere near by.

  Biting her lip, Cate admitted that she had known better. “She’s a player. And I guess I bought it, even if I knew it was going to be just a short time. I just wanted that time.”

  Cate had met Peggy during her first day of work at the store, and on that day, the woman had decided to set Cate up with her two single sons. Both were nice-looking, hard-working men that Cate had met since, but when she had admitted to the woman a few months later that she wasn’t interested in men, Peggy had laughed and told her that her daughter was already married, so she couldn’t really set them up. But she would have, and she would be on the lookout for a nice girl for her. Which hadn’t actually happened, but it was far more accepting than Cate’s actual mother had ever been.

  “Oh, Cate, there are more fish in the sea. Forget that girl.” Peggy was straightening an already straight pile of little girl’s leggings in all colors of the rainbow.

  “I will.” Cate hoped she was being truthful, but five months hadn’t been enough to get over Hilary. This time, they had done far more, and it was going to take a long time to forget any of it.

  “Good girl. Now, how about some overtime?” Peggy asked, and Cate knew the true reason she had come over.

  “How much?” Cate sighed. She needed the money. They both knew it.

  “Kandi isn’t coming in today. Her baby is sick, but I swear that kid is sick every other Sunday.”

  “It’s fine, it will keep me busy, and the money will be useful.”

  “Have you looked into taking a class or two? Not full-time, but a few credits? That shouldn’t be too much money.” Peggy was always trying to get her to not give up completely on college.

  “Right now, I can’t. Last week, the roof started to leak, so now I have to get that fixed right away.” Picking up a few of the items Peggy had brought over, Cate started putting them away. When she had spotted the wet spot in the ceiling, she had planned not to tell Peggy. She knew she needed to start taking care of things herself, to learn how to be a responsible adult.

  Peggy got that mothering look in her eye and said, “I will send my Don over there to take a look today. He can tell you how much it might cost, a ballpark. I know you’re saving money, and I hope you have enough.”

  “Thanks, Peggy. You guys don’t have to do that for me,” she argued. Don had done too much on the house as it was. Nothing as major as a roof, but still plenty.

  “Someone does, Cate. Why not me?” Peggy gave her a hug and headed back to the front of the store.

  Since Cate had started, Peggy had taken her under her wing, being a mom and an advisor to her. Cate had appreciated it and looked up to the woman. She had worked at the store for three decades now and was a manager. It was what Cate wanted, and since Peggy had no degree or extra schooling either, Cate felt it was manageable. That one day, she might become more than a floor worker.

  Turning back with the rest of the clothing in her arms to put away, she nearly ran into a customer. For the most part, she knew who was in her department, but her conversation with Peggy must have made her lose focus.

  “Excuse me,” she said with a smile.

  “There are really no excuses for you, Catalina.” The voice made Cate cringe. It was her sister, Anita.

  Looking at her sister was like looking in the mirror at herself. That is, if she was a year older, thirty pounds heavier, and probably high. Same dark hair and same olive skin. They had been told that they even sounded alike, but their looks were where the similarities ended.

  Standing up straight to her older sister, she asked, “What do you want, Anita? I’m working.”

  “Cute old lady. Is she your girlfriend?” Anita snapped out the word.

  “She’s my boss.” Cate tried to remain calm. Anita’s goal in life, it seemed, was to agitate her and get her to lose her temper. Which on most days was a feat, but when it was her sister, Cate’s temper boiled quickly.

  “She’s kind of huggy for a boss. I have never hugged my boss. Fucked a few, but never a hug. Is that a lesbian thing?” Anita folded her arms in amusement. She was most definitely high.

  “Again, what do you want?” Cate demanded, not wanting to hear Anita’s opinions about her sex life—especially not in public where she worked.

  They were thirteen months apart in age, but it felt like a lifetime. At twenty, Anita depended on her latest boyfriend for everything and when her relationships ended she bounced back home. At now nineteen, Cate couldn’t see herself going home again. She had gotten out at eighteen and liked to visit, but too much time with her mom and sister depressed Cate.

  Her mom pretended that Cate was not sexual. From the moment Cate told her she was gay, her mom acted like Cate was a nun. Relationships had never come up in conversation unless Anita was around. They talked about the guys Anita was into all the time, but Anita treated Cate like she had the plague, and if she talked about relationships, it was in jest because they weren’t taken seriously. Merely friendships.

  “Money, baby sister. Mom needs money, and she sent me to get it,” Anita lied with confidence as she chewed her gum loudly.

  Their mom would never ask either of them for money. No matter how much their mom loved to use men for the money they provided, she never stooped to asking her kids. That would have made Cate better than her, and Esmerelda Herrera was never letting that happen. That was another reason Anita was the favorite—she still needed Esmerelda, something Cate would never let happen again.

  “I don’t have any money,” she lied right back to her sister.

  “Not what your girlfriend said. She said you have been saving.” Anita grinned. She had overheard enough.

  “For a roof, not for you,” she reminded her, because she must have overheard that part also.

  “Mom needs it,” Anita reiterated, popping her gum.

  “Mom doesn’t have a drug problem; you do.” She reached out to touch her sister’s arm.

  Taking a huge step backward as if she had been burned, Anita glared at her. “Keep your lesbian germs to yourself, Catalina.”

  “Afraid you will catch it, Anita?”

  “Not on your life. I like big dicks,” Anita announced loud enough to where the woman looking at swimsuits with her son looked over at them.

  “Shut up, this is a kids’ department,” Cate said to her sister, talking quieter.

  “What? Afraid of big dicks, Catalina? Afraid you will find out what you have been missing with those women? Because I can tell you you’re missing something amazing.” Anita made a hand gesture that left little to the imagination, and Cate hoped none of the kids around the department had seen it.

  “I’m not giving you money.” Cate folded her arms.

  “I will get it, baby sister, one way or another.” Anita laughed loudly, shot a middle finger at the woman who was watching them, then turned and walked away. Cate was left off-balance for the rest of the day. And it was going to be a long one.

  On a positive note, she wasn’t thinking about Hilary as much. She had slipped her mind for the first time that day. It was a small start, but a start nonetheless to getting over the woman.

  Chapter 9

  If Cate went to work at eight, she should be home at five, or four or six if she got caught with a customer. But at seven, she was still not home yet, and Hilary was running out of ideas about where she was. Mostly, she was starting to worry more and more.

  Unable to just leave, Hilary had spent most of her day at Cate’s house. After finding her extra key, she went home and showered, changed clothes, and came back. From two until four, she had been sitting in her car because the temperatures were hovering close to zero today, and there was heat in her car. That and being at Cate’s house alone seemed weird. After all, it was Cate’s house. Did she want her in it?

  But when she had gotten tired of sitting in her chilly car, she had moved inside, telling herself it was just until Cate came home. Lounging on the couch, she played games on her phone, occasionally looking up and around the quiet room.

  There was very little of Cate in the room. Everything there was run down. Cate had added colorful pillows on the couch, but the couch was old, and though it was comfortable, it was orange. Which didn’t match the grayish, green chair next to it. The coffee table had a broken leg that was held together with clear tape. The TV stand was actually a small side table from a bedroom, holding the smallest TV Hilary had seen in years on it. The one in her dorm room was far bigger.

  Earlier, she had explored the house and had found two other bedrooms that were empty. Only Cate’s own bedroom had furniture in it. That was a matching set and was nice, though old. It was exactly what she would have expected of a broke college student living on her own, which the two empty bedrooms proved.

  The house was spotless, and everything was put away. There were pictures on the walls that Cate had put there, but none of her family. Hilary didn’t even know if she had one, just assumed she did.

  As darkness fell, she had left the lights off because she didn’t want Cate to call the cops when she got home, seeing her lights were on when she lived alone. But she couldn’t not talk to her. Couldn’t not explain. This attraction she had for Cate was different than anything she had ever experienced.

  Just as she killed the ogre for the third time in the game she was playing, she heard someone on the front porch. Finally, Cate was home. It had been almost ten hours since Hilary had woken up alone. Who knows how long since Cate had left the house?

  Setting her phone on the coffee table, she sat up, hoping not to scare Cate by still being in her house. But instead of Cate coming into the house, Hilary heard voices on the front step. Two voices, one male and one female, arguing in another language. She was about to open the door to see what they wanted when she heard scraping in the lock.

  “Just open it,” the female said in annoyance, and though it sounded a lot like Cate, Hilary knew it wasn’t. She hadn’t known her long, but her voice was committed to memory already.

  “It’s not as easy as it looks, babe.” The guy’s words were heard loud and clear in the dark living room, making the hair on the back of Hilary’s neck stand on end.

  Instead of waiting like a sitting duck on the couch, Hilary grabbed for the lamp on the end table, yanking the cord from the wall. These people were breaking into Cate’s house. Hilary was starting to worry about Cate living here alone. Had she been robbed before? Was she being robbed now?

  Tossing the shade aside, she went to the door and waited in case they didn’t actually get in. Which was exactly what she was hoping for because she wasn’t actually a defender, no matter what the games she played were like. This would be the first time she had ever been this close to a crime in progress.

 

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