Distant Shores Silent Thunder

After KT confirmed Pia’s understanding of her injuries, she listened politely as Pia laid out the treatment regimen, but she wasn’t really absorbing the details of the plan. She’d slept fitfully the remainder of the previous night despite the sedating effects of the oral narcotic and had awakened inexplicably disturbed and agitated. Now, unexpectedly, Pia’s voice, musical and rich, soothed her into a comfortable lassitude.

“Where are you from?” KT asked, struck by the barest hint of an accent underlying Pia’s mellifluous voice.

Pia stopped abruptly in the midst of explaining the theory and practice of dynamic splinting. “Right here in Provincetown.”

“Really?” KT barely noticed as Pia began to disengage the elastic bands attached to the ends of her fingers that protected them from unexpected motion.

“Mmm-hmm,” Pia said as she worked carefully and efficiently to remove the Orthoplast splint. “My father was a fisherman, descended from some of the original Portuguese settlers. My brother still goes out on a fishing boat every day. My mother came here for the summer with her family thirty-five years ago, met my father at a party one night, and never left.”

“I take it she was weal ah, damn.” KT flinched as a muscle in her forearm spasmed and an electric shock stabbed through her hand.

“What?” Pia asked quickly.

“Paresthesias,” KT grunted, referring to the abnormal sensations commonly experienced after a nerve has been severed or badly injured. In the last few days, she had started to experience pins and needles, shooting pains, burning discomfort in her fingertips, and all other manner of abnormal nerve discharge as the damaged nerves in her hand attempted to heal. While in one respect it was encouraging, because it meant that the nerves in her fingers were starting to regenerate, the unexpected and often severe pain was wearing.

“It’s about time for that.” Pia cradled KT’s hand in both of hers, examining the location of the incision, the texture of the skin, the condition of the muscles, and the adequacy of the blood supply to the injured fingers. She gently traced her fingertips over the healing laceration. “This looks good.”

KT stared at the slightly raised, thick red ridge across her palm, remembering the instant when she’d held her hand out to ward off the blow and had felt the knife slice to the bone. She shivered and fought down a wave of nausea. “Yes. It’s coming along.”

“You understand that for the next few weeks we’ll simply be concentrating on range of motion and scar desensitization. You can’t flex your fingers actively or attempt any resistive exercises. The tendon repairs are still far too delicate to risk rupture.”

“I understand.”

“Good,” Pia said with a smile. “I’m going to range each digit now. I’m sure the joints are stiff, so you can expect a little bit of discomfort.” She cocked her head and studied KT’s face. She was pale. “Have you eaten anything today?”

“I…uh…” Caught off guard, KT fumbled for an answer.

“These first few sessions are going to be difficult. It’s been my experience that you will tolerate therapy much better if you’re rested and not otherwise stressed. Breakfast…” She stopped when she saw KT smile. KT’s lips were full and sensuous, and her smile might have been beautiful had it not been curved ever so subtly downward with bitterness. “What?”

“I was thinking about stress, I’m starting a temporary job at the East End Health Clinic today. It’s not what I’m trained to do, but it’s all that I can do. My hand is completely dysfunctional and might not improve significantly. I may never operate again. Somehow, I don’t think a bagel is going to help.”

“Yes,” Pia said calmly. “I suppose you might be right.” She held KT’s eyes, her own gentle and without reproach. “But we won’t know until we try, will we?”

We. It wasn’t a concept that KT was used to contemplating. Even when she’d been in a long-term relationship, she’d always felt as if she were doing battle alone, Tory had supported her in her quest, but there had been only so much she could do to help. When it came down to succeeding or failing, the outcome had always rested squarely on KT’s shoulders. KT stared at her hand still resting between Pia’s long, deceptively delicate fingers. Her own hand, lifeless and pale, looked forlorn nearly as forlorn as she felt. Nevertheless, Pia’s darker, stronger fingers appeared capable. More than capable. Certain and sure. KT felt a flicker of hope and raised her eyes to Pia’s, “I promise not to show up again on an empty stomach.”

“Good.” Pia resumed her gentle ministrations and, as she carefully massaged and manipulated the stiff joints in KT’s fingers, continued the interrupted conversation. “My mother was a society debutante, I guess you could say. She’d just had her coming-out party the summer she arrived here.” Pia laughed. “She always says she hated that party, but was glad she’d gone because it gave her a pretty good idea of the kind of man she didn’t want to marry.”

KT smiled. “I guess your father wasn’t one of those guys.”

“No,” Pia agreed quietly. “He wasn’t.” She reached for the splint and set about reconnecting KT’s fingers to the elastic bands and attaching the Velcro straps that held it around her wrist and palm. “You can take this off to shower. You probably already are. Be careful when the hand is unprotected.”

“What kind of exercises can I do at home?”

Pia shook her head. “None for now.” She caught the not-unexpected flicker of irritation cross KT’s face, noting as she had the first time she’d seen her how extraordinarily good looking she was. Anger didn’t diminish her appeal. It only made her look wilder, and a little dangerous. The fact that Pia found any of those things attractive surprised her, but she pushed the thought aside and said firmly, “It’s too soon. You’ll only delay the healing.”

“All right. I get the message.”

“If you cheat, I’ll know.”

KT felt the words like a blow and forced herself not to recoil. Then she admonished herself for the ridiculous reaction. Pia didn’t know her. Didn’t know a single thing about her. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Dr. O’Bannon,” Pia said mildly as she rose to show KT to the door. Out on the porch, she instructed KT to come again the following day at the same time.

As KT made her way slowly down the flagstone path toward Commercial Street, she felt Pia’s gaze upon her back. Before she turned left to head into town, she glanced back toward the cottage. The tiny porch was empty. She felt a pang of loneliness, but this time there was a pleasant edge to it. It was the kind of missing that comes of having enjoyed someone’s company and being disappointed to have that time come to an end.

For the first time in a long time, KT occupied herself with pleasant memories as she walked.

Chapter Twelve

Tory looked up in surprise as Reese walked in the back door shortly after 10 a.m..

“Hi, honey,” Tory said. “Slow morning?” Reese had left for work over three hours before.

“Quiet enough.” Reese quickly crossed the room and leaned to kiss Tory lightly on the mouth. Then she sidled around her, plucked Regina from her infant seat, swung her carefully into the air, and kissed her cheek. “Mmm, you smell good,” she murmured before glancing back at Tory. “I thought I’d take this one over to the grandmoms.”

“You didn’t have to leave work to do that. I was going to drop her off on my way to the clinic.” On my way to see KT. All through the morning’s preparation, including feeding and battling the baby, showering and dressing herself, and reviewing the preliminary work shift schedule she’d put together hastily the evening before, she’d thought about spending part of the day with KT. It was so unbelievable as to be impossible to absorb. More than six years had passed since they’d spent any personal time together, six years that reverberated still with all the things left unspoken between them.

“Nervous?” Reese asked gently.

Tory gave a small start, then shook her head with a wistful smile. “You are frighteningly perceptive, Sheriff.”

Holding the baby against her shoulder with one hand, Reese efficiently gathered together bottles, diapers, a change of clothing, and the sundry other items required for the day’s outing. She just as proficiently organized everything in a plastic carryall. “You didn’t sleep very well last night. You tossed and turned a lot.” She hefted the bag in her right hand and regarded Tory tenderly. “I figured you were worried.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you awake. I”

“Nothing to apologize for.” Reese bounced Regina on her shoulder softly when the baby began to fret. “I think she’s ready for a ride in the cruiser.” She tilted her head and regarded the baby seriously. “What do you think, huh? Lights and sirens?”

Tory took the carryall from Reese and set it aside. Then she wrapped her arms around Reese’s waist and rested her head on the opposite shoulder from their daughter. “I think she’d love it, but Nelson might object to you going Code 3 on the way through town to Grandmoms’.”

“He’ll never know.”

“In Provincetown? Please.” Tory kissed Reese’s neck. “It wouldn’t take five minutes.”

Reese grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. Besides, I should wait until she’s a little bigger so she’ll really enjoy it.”

“So why did you really come home this morning?”

“You don’t believe the part about me wanting to take the baby to my mother’s?”

“Oh, I believe that.” Tory snuggled closer. “It’s exactly the sweet kind of thing that you would do. But it’s Saturday morning on one of the busiest weekends of the year, and you’re on duty. So what are you doing here, Sheriff?”

“I just thought you might be having a rough day,” Reese said quietly.

“And you wanted to check?” Tory asked just as softly. She didn’t need to hear the answer, she knew. She rubbed her cheek against the stiff fabric of Reese’s uniform shirt, taking comfort from the simple strength of it, so like Reese. “Thank you. I’m fine.”

Reese kissed Tory’s forehead. “I knew you would be. I stopped by for me.”

Tory lifted her head and regarded Reese somberly. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Reese smiled and snuggled the baby closer to her neck. “I better get going. I left Bri at the station chasing down missing-person leads.” She picked up the bag with the baby’s supplies. “Would you mind if I stopped by the clinic later?”

Tory’s green eyes darkened. “You never asked before.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m being…overly protective.”

“I like it when you worry.” Tory tenderly stroked her fingers along the edge of Reese’s jaw. “And you never need to ask if it’s all right to come and see me. You might want to ask Randy if it’s all right.”

They both laughed.

“I already know what he’ll say.” Imitating his mildly exasperated tone, Reese said, “She’s behind, and you’ve got thirty seconds.”

“Well, I’m glad that you never listen to him.” Still smiling, Tory linked her arm through Reese’s and together they walked to the door. Her melancholy had disappeared, and when she thought ahead to her day, the prospect of seeing KT seemed far less daunting.

Pia walked east along Commercial Street, enjoying the sunshine and the smell of the sea. She knew that within a few short weeks, summer would be gone and fall would be fast upon them. She didn’t mind, because fall was her favorite season. The sun still held the power to warm her at midday, and the nights were cool enough for her favorite leather jacket the one that had been her brother’s when he’d been a teenager and that had been handed down to her when she was fourteen, despite her mother’s protests. In addition to the weather, which pleased her, October brought Women’s Week seven days on either side of the Columbus Day holiday marked by a large influx of lesbians to town and a general atmosphere of celebration. Even though she’d grown up in Provincetown and had been exposed to the social and sexual diversity of the village since her earliest days, she still thrilled to the atmosphere of community when the town was filled with women in love. Or, sometimes, simply in lust.

As Pia climbed the wooden steps to Provincetown Realty, her mind suddenly skittered to KT O’Bannon. While she’d been working on the surgeon’s hand, her attention had been completely focused on the wound and the challenges of rehabilitation. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about the devastation, or the tremendous tragedy it would be if her treatment failed to overcome the damage. It hadn’t been difficult to see what the injury had done to the surgeon. Beneath her undeniably self-possessed and forceful facade had run a river of pain.

Pia gave herself a mental shake as she pushed through into the large, single-room office. Her task was clear. She needed to bring to bear every ounce of skill and experience she had acquired over the last eight years in order to return KT O’Bannon to the life she had known before some maniac had taken it from her. If she could do that, she would be well satisfied.

“Pia!” the woman behind the desk exclaimed. Her blond hair was stylishly coiffed, her blue eyes were subtly highlighted with expertly applied makeup, and her tailored blouse and slacks accentuated a willowy figure. At forty-eight, she looked thirty-five. “What a nice surprise.”

“Hi, Mom.” Pia had her father’s dark coloring and slender, wiry stature. Combined with her mother’s elegant bone structure, they made her appear more exotically attractive than classically beautiful. “How’s business?”

Her mother shrugged. “It’s the end of the season. Rentals are down, but we’re gearing up for the off-season maintenance projects.” In addition to selling real estate in the increasingly competitive Provincetown market, her mother’s business also managed several of the condominiums in the village. “You’re in town early. Shopping?”

“No, I just dropped by to ask you a question about the third-floor unit. Is it still vacant?”

“Yes. Why?”

Suddenly, Pia was plagued with second thoughts. Just the day before she had decided it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with KT O’Bannon in any way other than purely professionally. Now she was contemplating recommending to the surgeon that she rent a unit in her mother’s guesthouse. The house that was twenty feet from her own front door.

“Do you have a possible tenant?” her mother asked curiously.

“Uh…I might.” Pia rested her hip on the corner of one of the cluttered wooden desks opposite her mother’s. The part-time agent who worked for her mother was not in, and they were alone in the warm, sunny room. “I have a new client, and I know that she’s looking for a place to rent. It would be…convenient…I mean, she’d be close by and I know the unit is empty and she’s going to be here at least for several months…” And I don t know why, but I just wanted to help her out.

“A client, you say?”

Pia nodded. “Yes. A surgeon from Boston Hospital. She has a hand injury.”

Her mother grimaced. “Sounds serious.”

“Very serious, I’m afraid.”

“What is she doing while she’s here?”

Elana Torres regarded her daughter intently, and Pia wondered what her mother might have seen in her face, her mother was usually very good at reading her moods, often too good. As difficult as that sometimes was, Pia’s inability to keep very much a secret from Elana had kept them connected even during the most chaotic periods of Pia’s life. The first had been when Pia had realized she was a lesbian at the age of nineteen. She’d tried to hide it, only because her first crush on a fellow college student had been so intensely passionate that she hadn’t wanted to share the feelings with anyone. She hadn’t been ashamed, she’d been in awe.

But her mother had seen the truth the first time she’d seen the two of them together. After dinner the night that Pia had brought Rose home, her mother had taken her aside and asked pointedly about the nature of their relationship. Unwilling to lie, Pia had told her that they were in love.

“Are you sleeping together?”

“It’s not about that, Mom.”

Her mother hadn’t been happy, and their relationship had been strained for several years. Gradually, however, their deep affection for one another had overcome the estrangement that had resulted from her mother’s disappointment that Pia would not marry and produce grandchildren, at least not in the traditional fashion. In recent years, her mother’s concern had shifted more to the fact that Pia wasn’t married in any fashion whatsoever. It was one of the few topics they didn’t discuss.

“Pia?”

“Hmm? Oh…what is she doing? I don’t know. I’ve only met with her twice.”

“But you’re finding her a place to live?”

“No,” Pia said hastily. “I just thought of the unit, and it seemed like a reasonable solution.”

“Here,” her mother said, reaching into a drawer. She extended a set of keys. “The next time you see her, show her the unit. If she’s interested, she can drop by and I’ll go over the lease with her.”

Pia backed up a step and unconsciously put her hands behind her back. “No. I’ll just tell her to stop by”

“Don’t be silly. This will save a step.” Elana tossed the keys to Pia, forcing her to catch them on the fly. “You must have a number for her. Just give her a call and ask her to, drop by this evening and have a look.”

“I, uh…all right,” Pia acquiesced, feeling foolish. “I’ll…I’ll call her.”

“Good.” Elana narrowed her eyes. “Are you all right? You seem…distracted.”

“No,” Pia replied vehemently, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of calling KT O’Bannon. “I’m just fine.”

When KT arrived at the East End Health Clinic at a few minutes before eleven a.m., there were already ten people in the waiting room. She nodded to Randy, who was seated behind the intake desk. His royal blue shirt matched his eyes, which were narrowed at her suspiciously.

“Is Dr. King in yet?” KT asked in what she hoped was a friendly tone.

“She’s in her office.”

KT extended her hand across the counter. “I’m KT O’Bannon. We met briefly yesterday. I’ll be working here from now on.”

“So I understand,” Randy shook her hand, because it was required of him. “Today will be a good warm-up. We have fifty patients scheduled.”

“Wonderful,” KT muttered as she moved toward the doors leading to the rear. A minute later, she knocked on Tory’s office door, waited for a response, and entered when Tory called out,

“Come in.”

“Good morning,” KT said.

“KT.” Tory passed a single sheet of paper across the top of her desk in KT’s direction. “This is the shift schedule for the next month. If you have a conflict because of your therapy or…anything, let me know as soon as possible so I can make adjustments.”

Slightly surprised by Tory’s formal and perfunctory manner, KT lifted the sheet of paper and studied it. “Looks fine to me.”

“Good.” Tory took a breath, surprised at the undercurrent of nerves. “The majority of the patients will have chronic, common medical problems such as hypertension or diabetes. If you have questions about the management, just check with me. I don’t imagine it will take very long for you to catch on.”

“All right.”

“If there’s anything you have a question about or are uncertain of”

“Vic, I won’t take any chances. I”

“If you don’t mind,” Tory interrupted, “I’d prefer that you call me Tory.”

KT blushed. She’d been the only one to ever call Tory Vic. It had begun in medical school when the computer had mistakenly listed her as Victor King on all of her class rosters. The teasing about Victor had led to KT calling her Vic, and it had just stuck. But the old endearment had no place in their present relationship.

“Of course,” KT said stiffly.

“Well, I imagine we’re already behind, and the day is young.” Tory stood. “There’s an empty office down the hall. You can use that. Feel free to ask Randy to get you anything you need in the way of supplies.”

KT stood as well. “Sure. Thanks.”

“Good luck, then,” Tory said as she left the room without looking back.

Just as KT moved to follow, her cell phone rang. She checked the readout and was surprised to see that it was a local number. “Hello?”

“Dr. O’Bannon?”

“Yes. Can I help you?”

A soft chuckle came through the line. “It’s Pia Torres. I was wondering well, there’s an empty apartment, a condo, actually in the main guesthouse adjacent to my cottage. 1 thought you might be interested”

“I am. Definitely. Who should I call?”

“I have a key. I thought perhaps this evening”

“Yes. That would be perfect.” KT checked her watch. Seven hours and she would be off her first day of work as an internist. “How about we have dinner at seven and then go take a look at this place.”

“Oh, I couldn’t…”

“Sure you could. Just say yes.”

There was silence on the line. KT found herself holding her breath as she waited for the woman’s response, a wholly new and unusual experience.

“I’d like that,” Pia said quietly. “Yes.”

Smiling, KT breathed out slowly. “You pick the place.”

“You might be sorry,” Pia said teasingly.

“No,” KT replied completely seriously, remembering the soothing tone of Pia’s voice and the sensitive touch of her hand. “I don’t think so.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Are you sure you can’t stay for lunch?” Kate asked.

“Hmm?” Seated at the fifties-style Formica table in her mother’s kitchen, Reese absently traced her index finger down the length of Reggie’s arm, around the bend of her wrist, and over her tiny hand and even tinier fingers. She turned her own ringer over and rested it in Reggie’s palm, fascinated to see the little fist close around it.

Smiling, Kate placed both hands on Reese’s shoulders and massaged the firm muscles, amazed still at the tall, strong woman her daughter had become. “Lunch?”

“Tory says she can’t see things, but look at how bright her eyes are and the way she keeps looking all around. I’m pretty sure she knows what’s going on.”

“I imagine that Tory’s right about her inability to focus just yet,” Kate noted judiciously as she kissed the top of Reese’s head. “But I’m also certain that she’s taking in the whole constellation of sounds and sights and touches and smells in her little universe.” She resisted the urge to kiss Reese’s head one more time and merely squeezed her shoulders again. “And you and Tory are her whole world.”

Reese glanced up from Reggie in her baby seat, grinning. “It’s amazing.”

“That it is.” Kate moved across the small kitchen and leaned against the counter by the white enamel sink. “Tory’s at work?”

“Yes. She’s supposed to be working six hours today.”

Kate said nothing.

“I suppose her first day back is going to be pretty hectic,” Reese noted as she leaned over to kiss Reggie’s forehead. “Did she tell you about hiring KT?”

“We talked about it last evening, but I didn’t know that she had decided for certain.” Kate took the coffeepot from the warmer and refilled her cup before gesturing to Reese, who shook her head. “I’m glad that she’s going to have help.”

“Me, too.” Reese stood and walked to the window that looked out on a small wooden deck and a narrow strip of sandy beach leading down to Provincetown Harbor. A red kayak came slowly into view followed by a group of yellow ones, a class from the boat rental place in town floundering along behind it like a disorganized line of baby ducks. She watched the leader, thinking how much she missed her morning drive to Herring Cove and the pleasant anticipation of waiting for Tory to appear on the horizon in her own red kayak. “It’s funny how it turned out to be KT.”

“Do you believe in coincidences?” Kate asked quietly.

Reese turned and met her mother’s eyes. “I’m a cop. I learned a long time ago that there are no coincidences.”

“Do you have a theory about what it means, then?” Kate studied her daughter’s expressive eyes, thinking how like Reese’s father’s they were. Sharp and discerning and so, so intelligent. Reese saw everything with such clarity and didn’t shrink from the sharp edges of truth. Kate imagined that had Reese been a combat soldier, she would have been a great leader, just like her father. But Reese was so very different from him in one critical way. One had only to see the way Reese looked at Tory or their baby to know that her heart was completely unguarded. As a woman, Kate appreciated that; as a mother, she worried.

“I don’t think much about the metaphysical nature of things,” Reese said with a wry smile, “but if I did, I’d say that when you’re wounded, your instincts are to head for home.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “Does that bother you?”

Reese lifted her shoulder. “That KT came to Tory now?” Reese glanced at the baby, who in the midst of vigorously flailing her arms and legs was malting small happy sounds. “I can’t imagine not loving Tory, so I figure KT must still, too.” She heard Kate’s swift intake of breath. “Do you still love my father?”

“Oh, you have such a way of taking me off guard,” Kate said with a shaky laugh. She glanced down at the wedding ring she wore, the one that Jean had put there only weeks after the two of them had fled from their lives, for their lives, leaving pieces of their hearts behind. She looked up at the largest part of her heart, realizing again the terrible sacrifice that had been forced upon her when her husband had made her choose between Jean and her child. “No, I don’t love him. But I remember loving him. I was a different woman then, and he was a different man. I wouldn’t go to him now under any circumstances, but I never loved him the way that KT and Tory must have loved each other.”

“No, I guess not.” Reese slid her hands into her pockets and rocked back and forth. “Tory loved her very much, and there are places in her that aren’t…healed. She’ll be better when she settles things between them…things they should’ve settled a long time ago but couldn’t.”

“How do you know about those things?” Kate asked curiously. “Did Tory tell you?”

“She didn’t have to. When we first met, she didn’t trust me, and she didn’t trust love.” Reese’s jaw tightened, and her voice dropped a notch. “KT did that to her. There was a time I wanted to kick KT’s ass because of that.”

Kate laughed. “And now you don’t?”

Reese laughed, too. “Not too much. Tory can take care of herself, and if she can’t if KT hurts her I will personally put her on a plane back to Boston.”

“You’ve turned out to be a remarkable woman, Reese,” Kate said as she linked her arm through Reese’s. “I’m so glad that you’re my daughter, and that you and Tory are together.”

“Thanks.” Reese cleared her throat, which was suddenly tight. “It’s…nice…to have you and Jean here for Reggie, for all of us. It’s nice…being a family.”

“Yes,” Kate whispered, “it is.”

“And the next tune you ran out of medication,” Tory said in a gently chiding tone as she opened the door of the treatment room, “call Randy and we’ll phone in a refill. You need to take the blood pressure pills every day, or they’re not going to work.”

“All right, honey,” the octogenarian called cheerfully. “I’ll remember.”

Smiling, Tory turned and nearly bumped into KT, who was leaning against the wall just outside the room. Her smile faltered as she pulled the door closed. “Yes?”

“It’s a far cry from the ER on a Saturday night, isn’t it?” KT observed.

“It’s not without its occasional challenges,” Tory remarked dryly, thinking of the variety of problems she saw. Patients of every description crowded her waiting room every day young, old, male, female, representing varying ethnic and social backgrounds and with all nature of problems, from the common cold to trauma and prenatal difficulties. “But I suppose it lacks the cachet you’re used to.”

“I wasn’t putting it down,” KT said quietly.

Tory took a deep breath. “No, you weren’t. I’m sorry.” She cradled the patient chart against her chest and pushed her hair away from her face with her other hand. “I’m a little thrown by this situation. I’m not used to working with anyone, and I barely had time to adjust to Dan. Now…you…”

“I guess I’ll take a little more getting used to than he did.”

“How’s your hand?” Tory asked, noting that KT held the splinted appendage angled across her chest. From what she could see, KT’s ringers were swollen.

“It’s okay.” Almost unconsciously, KT slid her right hand into the pocket of her navy linen trousers and counted the remaining pain pills. She’d need to wait another two hours at least. “But I have a three-year-old with a lip laceration, and I…can’t handle it by myself.”

“Alt right. I’ll be right there. Just let me get the prescriptions for Mrs. Klein.” Tory turned away, refusing to think about what that admission must’ve cost KT. “Just tell Sally to set up the suture tray.”

“Already done.”

Five minutes later, Tory joined KT and her clinic nurse, Sally, in the treatment room.

“Hi, Andy,” Tory said to the small, young blond who cuddled a cherubic, tear-streaked towhead against her shoulder. “Patty been climbing trees again?”

“Swing set. She saw her brother do it yesterday and must have decided she could climb higher. I was hanging out the wash, and she was up the side like a monkey before I even noticed.” There was a note of pride in the young mother’s voice. “She only cried for a minute.”

“Well then, we’ll be sure not to give her any reason for more tears.” Tory inclined her head until she was almost nose to nose with the child. “Hi, Patty. Are you going to let me fix your lip?”

Dark eyes observed her warily.

“I bet it was a very big swing set,” Tory gestured to the treatment table. “Put her down over there, Andy.”

Once the child was situated with her mother sitting on the far side of the treatment table away from the instruments, holding Patty’s hand, Tory took her first careful look at the laceration. It was a little over a centimeter in length, vertically oriented, and extending through the vermilion border the junction of the pink portion of the lip and the surrounding pale skin. That narrowed junction required precise approximation or else there would be a color mismatch at the edge of the lip, making the resulting scar very noticeable. Tory looked up at KT. “Pretty straightforward.”

“Yes.” For anyone with two hands.

“I’ll take care of this if you wouldn’t mind seeing the patient in four.”

“Sure,” KT said. She brushed her fingers over the small blond head. “See you later, kiddo.”

When Tory finished fifteen minutes later, she walked down the hall and looked into the small office she had assigned KT earlier that day. KT sat at the desk, writing notes in a chart. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.” KT pushed the chart aside and leaned back in the chair. “All done with the lip repair?”

“Yes. She was a trooper.”

KT smiled. “Nice kid. Nice mother, too.”

“Andrea’s straight and happily married.”

“Jesus, Vi…Tory!” KT tossed her pen down onto the desktop in frustration, “I wasn’t going to ask her for a date.”

Tory bit back another careless response and sank into a metal folding chair opposite KT’s desk. “Maybe your working here isn’t such a good idea. I can’t seem to be around you without being furious.”

“You weren’t furious in the hospital when Reese was hurt or when Reggie was born,” KT snapped.

“I had other things on my mind like the fact that my lover might be dying!” Tory looked away, the memories of Reese’s accident still fresh, still painful, after half a year. “And I…appreciate all you did for us. Both times.”

“Jesus.” KT let out an exasperated breath. “I’m not asking for thanks. I wanted to help. It’s what I do. And it was you, for Christ’s sake. Don’t you think I wanted to help you?”

“I don’t know.” Tory brought angry eyes back to KT’s. “I really don’t know anything about you.”

“Yes, you do,” KT said softly. “You know everything about me. Nothing’s changed for me since the day you since the day we separated.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” There was no anger in Tory’s voice now, only sadness. “Everything has changed for me.” She closed her eyes, aware for the first time how tired she was. She’d only been working five hours, and she was exhausted. Her breasts were full and sore, and she realized that she needed to pump. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and smiled wanly. “We can’t have this conversation here. There’s work to be done, and neither of us is quite functioning at full power. Can we just agree not to discuss personal matters?”

“Sure.” KT took in Tory’s pale features and drawn expression, “Why don’t you take off. I can handle the rest of the patients.”

Tory laughed, genuinely amused. “You always did overestimate yourself, O’Bannon. You have no idea what you’re in for here.”

KT laughed with her. “I can be very resourceful when I need to be.”

“Oh, I have no doubt.” Tory stood. “I need to take a few minutes’ break, but then I’ll be good for another hour or so.”

“Okay, but don’t push. It’s just your first day back.”

Tory nodded. “Keep your hand elevated. Your fingers are swelling.”

“Yes, Dr. King,” KT replied lightly. She followed Tory into the hall and headed toward the reception area as Tory stepped into her office and closed the door. Randy looked up with his usual full-combat-mode expression as she approached, and KT held up her good hand to forestall any comments. Then she rested her elbow on the counter and leaned forward so that only he could hear, “Tory needs something to eat. Order something she likes and have it delivered, will you? Tell her you ordered it.”

“Is she sick?” Randy’s normally sultry voice hardened with concern.

KT shook her head. “No, just tired and too stubborn to admit it.”

“Well, I’m glad to see that nothing’s changed while she was away.” Randy’s elegant eyebrow arched as he regarded KT intently. “I’m really not prepared to like you.”

“I got that impression. Is it something I said or do you just not like mainlanders?”

“It’s because you must be an idiot to have let Tory go, and you hurt her besides.”

“Guilty on both counts.” KT’s expression never changed, although her stomach abruptly tied itself into a knot. “Does everyone know?”

“No, only those people who love her.”

“Will you please get her lunch?”

“Of course,” Randy hesitated, then added, “What would you like? Sandwich or salad?”

“Roast beef, Russian dressing, black bread. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Randy picked up the phone to order and, as he did, said over his shoulder, “You should keep your arm elevated. Your fingers are swollen.”

“Thanks,” KT muttered as she headed back to work, wondering just what it was going to take to atone.

“Do you really think Ms. Pelosi is going to let us talk to him this time?” Bri asked as Reese pulled into the emergency room parking lot at the rear of Hyannis Hospital for the third time in three days.

“She said he was ready to give us a statement.”

“What do you think that means?”

Reese settled her cap over her brows as she climbed out of cruiser. Walking around to join Bri, she said, “I think it means she’s pretty certain that Robert Bridger is innocent of any serious crime, and I think she probably wants to aid the investigation. She strikes me as a good attorney doing what good attorneys do, which is protect her client.” She shouldered through the swinging door into the long, brightly lit corridor that ran from the emergency entrance toward the main hospital lobby. “It’s just that good lawyers can sometimes be a pain in the behind for us.”

“Were you a good attorney?”

Reese cast Bri a sidelong glance, then grinned. “I suppose I was. But the JAG Corps was too much talk and not enough action. Everyone was surprised when I switched to policing, but it suited me better. Still does.”

Bri grinned, too. “Yeah. Nothing beats being out in the cruiser,”

“Well,” Reese said, “not much else does.” She was about to add more when Trey Pelosi came around the corner, a cup of vending-room coffee in her right hand and a file folder in the other. Today, the attorney wore navy blue linen slacks, low-heeled, backless sandals, and a silk blouse with fine white and blue stripes.

“Hello,” Trey said in greeting. “You made good time.”

“Everyone is going in the opposite direction,” Reese replied. “Thanks for calling us.”

“I’m happy to. Robert is feeling much better and would like to speak with you.”

“Really.” Reese fell into step on one side of Trey while Bri walked on the other. “That’s good news.”

Trey effortlessly juggled the file folder and the coffee cup and extracted a single sheet of a computer printout. “You’ll want to take a look at this.”

Still walking, Reese quickly scanned what turned out to be the toxicology report, then wordlessly handed it to Bri. “Thank you.”

“I just got it this morning.” Trey slowed just before reaching the elevators. She glanced from Reese to Bri and back to Reese. “Robert is basically a very good kid. He’s scared, and he’s penitent, and he’s willing to provide you with as much information as he can.”

Reese appreciated that the attorney had lowered her sword for a moment of truth, and in appreciation of that fact, Reese lowered hers as well. “I’m not interested in going after him unless I don’t have any other choice. I want the people behind this. I doubt that Robert and his companion are the first kids to run into trouble because of these parties, and I know they won’t be the last. I want to shut them down.”

“Then you and I are in complete agreement, Sheriff.” Reese smiled and Trey Pelosi’s eyes warmed in response.

“I’d rather you not advertise that, Counselor. It would be bad for my reputation.”

“I imagine that your reputation would survive, Sheriff.” Reese pretended not to notice the brief brush of Trey Pelosi’s fingers over the top of her hand as the three of them stepped into the elevator.

Chapter Fourteen

Tory ignored the sound of approaching footsteps until the familiar voice said, “Hey okay to interrupt?” When she looked up from her paperwork, Reese stood framed in her office doorway. Surprised, she said, “Hello, darling. Of course. Come in.”

“Busy?” Reese asked as she crossed the room and skirted around the side of Tory’s desk.

“No.”

Reese chuckled. “Liar. It’s almost six and the waiting room is still crowded.”

“News travels fast in our little world. I think half of them are here to check out the new doctor.”

“I’ll bet.” Reese leaned down and kissed Tory softly on the lips. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fi…” Tory hesitated, because she knew that Reese would know. She always knew. “Actually, I’m tired.” At her lover’s immediate expression of concern, she added hastily, “But I’m all right. Really,”

“Sure?” Reese ran her fingertip along the edge of Tory’s jaw and kissed her again.

“Now,” Tory sighed, leaned back, and closed her eyes, “I’m definitely fine.”

Reese settled on the edge of Tory’s desk. “Are you going to be able to leave soon?”

“Not too much longer,” Tory replied as she slowly opened her eyes. “How about you? Are things hectic?”

“The village is jumping, like you’d expect.” Reese shrugged. “And it’s early yet. Bri and I just got back from Hyannis. We interviewed Robert Bridger finally.”

Tory leaned forward, suddenly much more alert. “Really. What did he have to say?”

“He confirmed some of the things that we suspected. He borrowed his family’s car to impress his friends and drove to a party in Wellfleet. He claims he had never seen the girl she told him her name was Tina before he met her there that night. No last name that he can remember.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I do. Just gut instinct, but his story held up when I pressed for details. Usually if they’re lying, they’ll trip up over the small details right away. He didn’t.”

“How did he account for the drug overdose?”

Reese grimaced. “He swears that he only had one can of Budweiser. Somewhere in the course of the evening, his buddies disappeared. And someone slipped him a heavy dose of ecstasy. His tox screen confirms that he had a very small level of alcohol in his system and a great big dose of MDMA.”

“So where does that leave you?”

“Well, we’ve got a first name for the victim, and we’ve got a general location for the party. Robert vaguely remembers hearing that the parties are a regular occurrence in the area, so we’re going to do some discreet questioning in the bars and among some of our known area drug users. Chances are they’ll at least have heard of these parties.”

“You’re going after the dealers, then?” Tory’s voice was even, but her eyes were fathomless pools, swirling with dark undercurrents.

“No choice.” Reese’s tone was matter-of-fact, because the course of action was obvious. “They’re responsible for that girl’s death.”

“You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

“I always am.” Reese leaned forward and brushed her fingers through Tory’s hair, letting her palm rest against the nape of her neck. “I’ve got two very good reasons to be very careful.”

Tory leaned into the caress and wrapped her fingers around Reese’s strong forearm. She turned her face, rubbed her lips over Reese’s wrist, and murmured, “1 love you so”

“Hey, Tory, what’s the deal with this new cholesterol”

KT stumbled to a stop just inside the door. Her eyes moved from Tory who leaned forward with half-closed lids and her parted lips against Reese’s skin to the woman who gazed down at her with undisguised adoration. The image was cuttingly beautiful, and KT felt a slash of pain as exquisitely sharp as the knife blade that had brought her there. “Oh. Sorry.”

Slowly, Reese swiveled on the desk toward KT, giving Tory’s hand a squeeze as she shifted away from her. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“How’s the first day going?”

“Actually,” KT replied, smiling grimly, “I’m getting my ass kicked. Between the little old ladies who won’t take their medication and the screaming kids who won’t sit still long enough for me to listen to their hearts, I’m beat.”

Reese laughed. “Tough crowd, huh?”

“Give me a multiple trauma any day.” KT looked apologetically at Tory. “I just had a quick question about a patient’s medication. I’m in exam room three when you get a chance.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks.” KT nodded to Reese. “Take it easy.”

“You too.”

When KT left, Reese stood and tucked her cap under her arm. “I should get back to work.” She inclined her head toward the now-empty doorway. “Everything okay there?”

Tory stood and slipped an arm around Reese’s waist, walking with her toward the hall “A few minor bumps, but basically okay.”

“Good.” Reese kissed her one final time. “Don’t stay too late, okay?”

“I won’t. I promise.” Tory stroked Reese’s cheek. “Regina and I will see you at home, Sheriff. Be safe.”

Tory rested a shoulder against the doorjamb and watched until Reese disappeared through the far door. When she finally turned away, she found KT contemplating her with an expression she had never seen on the surgeon’s face before. It was a mixture of tenderness and sadness. Silently, she walked to join her. “Ready for that consult?”

Pia paced, an extremely unusual activity for her. Ordinarily, she was calm, centered, and generally in control not in a rigid, inflexible fashion, but merely in a studied, organized way. Her life was like her work, ordered and with a definite direction, but with no particular timetable attached. Consequently, she was able to adjust to small changes with alacrity. But now, she found herself unaccountably agitated. Actually, there was nothing unaccountable about her present mood. She knew exactly to what she should attribute the uneasiness and sense of foreboding. She had done something impetuous, something that probably skirted the edges of unprofessional at the very least. Although she wasn’t a physician, she was a healthcare worker, and KT O’Bannon was her client. There wasn’t the usual sort of power dynamic at work that made relationships between physicians or therapists and patients improper, but still, the surgeon had come to her in a professional capacity, and here she was

What? What exactly am I doing?

Pia halted at her front door and looked out the window toward the street. At just before 7 p.m., there was still plenty of light, but the sun was low on the horizon, and the sky was tinged with the purples and pinks that preceded the midnight blues of impending darkness. Between the closely crowded houses on the opposite side of the street, she caught glimpses of the harbor and the white swatches of sails tilting in the wind.

She was about to go -out to dinner with a woman, a client she had just met and show her an apartment in the same complex where she lived. In the complex that her mother owned.

How many more ways can I impinge upon boundaries, I wonder?

As she contemplated informing KT that she would be happy to show her the apartment, but that she couldn’t accompany her to dinner, the woman in question turned in the driveway and started down the flagstone path toward the house. Tonight, KT wore black jeans with a wide black belt, black boots, and a white shirt with the cuffs turned back twice. She looked like a knife blade turned edge on, glittering and sharp and enticingly dangerous. Unmindful of the danger, Pia opened the door.

As KT walked the mile from her temporary quarters on Bradford to Pia’s, she thought about her day, remembering the look on Tory’s face as she’d kissed Reese. Try as she might, KT couldn’t ever remember Tory looking at her in quite that way. They’d had passion and they’d shared dreams and they’d celebrated victories, but she didn’t believe they’d ever had that depth of simple communion. So simple as to be profound. She wondered for the first time whose fault that had been. Hers, probably. She’d always had another goal to meet, another obstacle to overcome, another rung on the ladder to climb. There’d always been part of her that was somewhere else, so that she was never completely there with Tory. Never completely there for her.

Why didn’t I ever know that?

The faint scrape of wood on wood brought KT out of her reverie. Pia stepped out onto the porch, and KT slowed to take her in. She wore a blue-and-white striped boatneck tee, white Capri slacks, and sandals. Her bare arms and legs were a rich brown against the white, and her dark hair fell in loose velvet waves around her face. She was stunning in the earthy, sensual way of some women, and KT felt a welcome stirring of desire. Lust always chased the blues away.

“Hello,” KT called as Pia came down the steps. “You look great.”

“Thank you,” Pia said easily, revealing none of her recent misgivings as she fell into step beside KT. “How was your day?”

KT laughed. “Humbling.”

Pia smiled, liking the low, rich timbre of her voice. “Oh? How is that?”

“I discovered how much basic medicine I’ve forgotten in the last fourteen years. They say that you know as much medicine as you ever will on the day that you graduate from medical school, and that from that point on you know less and less. I never believed that until today.”

“You’re a surgeon. You’re not supposed to know general medicine.”

“Yes, well,” KT said quietly, “for the time being, I’m a general practitioner. Maybe that’s all I’ll ever be again.”

“Is that what you think?” Pia asked in surprise. “That we’re not going to get your hand back?”

KT met Pia’s eyes, finding the deep brown ones totally serious and startlingly intent. “Isn’t that something I need to be prepared for?”

“Possibly. But certainly not now. We haven’t even started.” In a completely spontaneous gesture, Pia reached out and squeezed KT’s right hand. “If there comes a time when I think we’re not going to get you back into the OR, I’ll tell you. Until then, I want you need you to believe that’s exactly where you’re going to be when we finish.”

“You really believe that makes a difference? The mind-over-matter thing?” KT’s voice was free of sarcasm. Pia’s conviction was too genuine to castigate. And in addition to not wanting to criticize her beliefs, the warmth of Pia’s fingers curled around KT’s was too peaceful to risk losing.

“You must have seen it yourself,” Pia replied quietly. “The ones who should have died but didn’t because their will to survive was so strong, and the ones who gave up and slipped away even when there was no medical reason for it. What I know is that you and I have to share in the belief that we’re going to bring you back. All the way back.”

Bring me back. Back from where? To where? For the first time in her nearly forty years of living, KT didn’t know where she was going, or more disconcertingly, where she wanted to go. She sighed. “I’m going to do something completely out of character.”

Pia slowed and stepped away enough to turn and face KT on the sidewalk. Their hands were still joined. “What?”

KT smiled faintly and swung Pia’s hand between them in a gentle arc as she allowed herself to relax in the warmth of Pia’s dark eyes. “I’m going to let you be in charge.”

Rather than laughing, Pia nodded solemnly, intuiting without truly understanding why that this was a momentous statement. “Thank you.”

Suddenly self-conscious, yet another extraordinarily rare emotion, KT shrugged as if her heart had not just done a tiny cartwheel. “So. What about that dinner you promised?”

“Since I’m in charge,” Pia answered as she gently withdrew her hand from KT’s, “why don’t you just follow me.”

“All right.” As she fell into step once more, KT found the feeling of not being in charge surprisingly pleasant.

The restaurant turned out to be a tiny place tucked away in an unassuming building that was little more than a shack on the far end of MacMillan Wharf. There were eight tables, each of which had a stunning harbor view, and wait staff who were friendly but unobtrusive. Pia was obviously a regular, and she and KT were immediately shown to a corner table that commanded the best vantage point from which to appreciate the spectacular sunset.

“I’ll bet this place is a well-kept secret,” KT commented as they were seated.

“It’s one of those places the townspeople don’t talk about. We don’t want it to be taken over by the tourists.” Pia smiled up at the small blond in black T-shirt and jeans who handed them menus. “Hi, Lor.”

To KT’s astonishment, the young woman leaned over and brushed a quick kiss over Pia’s lips. “Hi, baby. We got the Dao Quinta Cabriz in today. Wanna try a bottle?”

“Red wine okay?” Pia asked of KT, who nodded in agreement. “Sure. That would be great.”

“Girlfriend?” KT inquired as the cute waitress hurried off. She tried not to sound overly interested, but she’d found the casual kiss disconcerting.

“No,” Pia answered evenly. “Cousin. This is my uncle’s place.”

“Ah. Convenient.”

“Definitely.” Pia leaned back in her chair. “This is Provincetown, but not everyone here is gay, you know.”

“Including you?”

Pia smiled and shook her head. “No, not including me.”

“Is there a girlfriend somewhere, then?”

“No.”

“Hard to believe.”

Lori returned at that moment with two glasses and an open bottle of red wine. Pia was grateful for the interruption, because she’d found the mild flirtation enjoyable and it hadn’t been her intention to do that with KT O’Bannon. Her intention had been to keep everything between them on a friendly but professional level. For some reason, KT made her forget her best intentions with unnerving regularity. She fell silent as Lori poured a half inch of wine. She lifted the glass and breathed the bouquet before taking all of it into her mouth. Partially closing her eyes, she rolled the richly nuanced wine over her tongue, losing herself in the smooth taste and aromatic scent.

KT watched the wine tasting attentively. It was a ritual she had observed dozens of times, but watching Pia was an experience in itself. KT sensed her pleasure in the sensuality of the process she could see it in the faint flush of Pia’s skin, in the curve of her lips and the slightly unfocused look in her eyes. Watching her respond to the pleasures of the wine, KT couldn’t help but imagine how Pia would respond to her touch. And she realized that she really didn’t know, but that she wanted to very much.

“That’s perfect,” Pia said to Lori, who nodded and moved away. As she set down her glass, Pia smiled across the table at KT. Her smile faltered when she saw the expression in KT’s eyes. There was hunger there like none she had ever seen before. She wasn’t a stranger to being desired, but the look in KT’s eyes went far beyond desire. Her dark eyes were ravenous and so fiercely focused that Pia felt the heat on her skin. Softly, she murmured, “Stop.”

“Stop what?” KT asked, her voice barely a whisper. The air between them danced with suggestion.

“You can’t look at me like that in here. My uncle is likely to come out of the kitchen and thrash you.”

The corner of KT’s mouth lifted, and a second later, she laughed. “How big is he?”

“A lot bigger than you are.”

“What about later? Can I look at you this way then?”

Forcing her gaze away from KT’s painfully handsome face, Pia picked up the menu, which she knew by heart. “Everything on here’s great, but I’d recommend one of the seafood-and-pasta dishes.”

KT was unused to women putting her off. Moreover, she never gave in when there was someone she wanted, even if just for an evening. She did the playing, and she didn’t like to be played. She knew not cognizant of how but believing it completely that Pia was not a woman who played or allowed herself to be played. Rather than being annoyed, KT was intrigued.

“You order for me.” KT settled back in her chair, barely recognizing herself. “You’re in charge, remember?”

Pia only smiled and gave their order.

They lingered over dinner, enjoying the exquisite food and the breathtaking sunset.

“It doesn’t matter how many times I see it,” Pia said, swirling port in a heavy glass as she watched night eclipse day over the water. “It’s always so beautiful.”

“Yes.”

The contemplative tone in KT’s voice drew Pia’s gaze from the harbor back to the woman seated across from her. She had enjoyed talking with KT over the meal, finding her sharp, quick intellect challenging and her dry humor pleasant. And she couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed the undercurrent of sexual innuendo that charged their conversation. She wanted to tell herself it was harmless, and of course, it was, as long as she allowed it to go no further. But still, she couldn’t remember the last time she had been so swayed by a woman’s charms. The heat was back in KT’s eyes, and Pia liked knowing she was the cause. “I like to walk through town after dinner. Would you mind?”

KT shook her head. “Not if it means spending more time with you.”

“There’s only one stipulation.”

“What would that be?” KT asked as she slid her wallet from her back pocket. She managed to extract her credit card one-handed without undue difficultly. Getting better at that Despite Pia’s protests, she passed the card to Lori before Pia could grab the check.

“You don’t have to do that,” Pia said quietly.

“I know. But I want to, so please let me.”

“Then I’ll buy next time.”

“Good enough.” KT slid her right hand across the white cotton tablecloth and covered Pia’s hand with hers. “What’s the stipulation?”

Pia slowly slid her hand from beneath KT’s and dropped it into her lap. “That you stop flirting with me.”

KT’s brows rose. “Why?”

“Because we have important work to do together, and I need to be able to concentrate on it. And so do you.”

“We’re not working now.”

“No, but it’s best that we keep things simple.”

“Simple.”

Pia nodded. “Yes.”

KT grinned. “All right, I can do simple.”

“Good,” Pia replied as she stood, wondering why getting the response she wanted didn’t feel very satisfying. Nevertheless, she said nothing more as she led the way from the restaurant and started toward the east end of the village with KT walking quietly by her side.

They spent two hours walking the length of Commercial Street, window shopping, people watching, and talking easily about the unique village’s history and charms. It was nearly eleven when they turned into the path to Pia’s cottage.

“The apartment is the top floor rear of the main house,” Pia explained, pulling the keys from her pocket.

“Have you seen it?”

“Yes.” Pia stopped just opposite the rear entrance to the house. “I’m very familiar with it. My mother owns the building.”

They stood in a pool of moonlight that afforded them just enough illumination to see one another. KT laughed.

“Just how much of this town does your family own?”

Pia smiled. “On the Portuguese side of my family, quite a lot of it. Remember, we all stem from a few settlers, and most of us are related in some fashion.”

“I’ll take the place.”

“Don’t you want to see it?”

“Not at the moment,” KT said quietly, stepping closer and slipping her arm around Pia’s waist. She leaned forward, lowering her mouth toward Pia’s.

Pia extended her arm, placing her palm flat against the center of KT’s chest. “Stop.” Her voice was tender and soft, as was her touch.

KT immediately grew still, relaxing her hold on Pia’s waist but keeping her hand lightly on Pia’s hip. “Earlier you told me not to look at you as if I wanted you. I tried very hard all evening, but it was a struggle. Now, no kisses either?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just not a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea.” KT stepped back a pace, no longer touching Pia. “If you tell me where to go, I’ll sign the lease on Tuesday.”

Pia gave her the address and held out the keys. “You can take these to check out the apartment at your leisure.”

“You trust me with them?” KT took the keys and pocketed them.

“I trust you with anything, Dr. O’Bannon.” Pia held out her hand. “Good night, and thank you for dinner.”

KT took the offered hand and held it. Pia’s skin was soft, her fingers as strong and gentle as KT remembered. She wanted to touch so much more of her and yet found this small connection supremely satisfying. Without thinking, she turned Pia’s hand and lifted it to her mouth. She brushed her lips over Pia’s knuckles. “I had a wonderful time. Good night, Ms. Torres.”

Then, as Pia watched, KT turned and was instantly swallowed by the night.

Chapter Fifteen

Mid-September

Reese walked into the station house just in time to hear Nelson Parker say, “No way,” in a tone that suggested no further discussion was welcome. She slowed just inside the door to reconnoiter. Bri and Allie, both in uniform, flanked Nelson at his desk. Both the look on Nelson’s face and the fact that he was ripping the wrapper from a fresh roll of Turns indicated that whatever the two rookies had just said to him did not sit well.

“Afternoon.” Reese edged through the dividing gate and crossed over to her desk across the narrow aisle from Nelson’s. “Something up?”

Nelson grunted. Allie turned, her eyes glittering with barely contained enthusiasm, and said, “Bri and I had an idea about getting a handle on the dealers who are using the circuit parties to recruit new marks.”

“No,” Nelson growled again.

Reese’s expression was noncommittal. “In two weeks, we haven’t been able to get any kind of lead other than the fact that a few kids in town have heard rumors. The couple of local dealers we rousted either really didn’t know anything about it or were getting paid off to keep silent.”

“What we thought,” Allie continued, apparently either oblivious or inured to her chief’s obvious displeasure, “was that we could try picking up on these parties ourselves. Maybe by hanging out in some of the bars in Wellfleet or farther up the Cape, where no one knows us. You know, get invited.”

“Undercover, you mean.” Reese said the word evenly, as if it didn’t represent one of the most dangerous assignments that a law enforcement officer could undertake. There was nothing harder than being on the front line with little backup in an unknown situation that could go from bad to worse in milliseconds. With inexperienced rookies like these two, it was a recipe for disaster.

Bri joined in. “We know that the people behind the parties have to have a way of getting the word out about where and when, or else no one would be able to find them. According to Robert Bridger’s buddies, they heard about it in a bar. So,” she went on, carefully not looking at her father, “Allie and I figured”

“You figured wrong.” Nelson pushed back from his desk, stood, and paced the crowded space to the single window that looked out onto the black topped parking lot. It was late on Saturday afternoon, and Gladys had already left for the day. The four of them were alone in the station. “The case is going nowhere.”

Unfortunately, that was the truth. Robert Bridger had been released from the hospital, and thus far, no charges had been brought against him. Tina, if that was even the dead girl’s name, remained unidentified. It was not unusual for hundreds of young people from the United States and abroad to flock to Cape Cod in the summer to work and party. If she was in the country on a student visa or simply hadn’t told anyone of her summer plans, she could remain unidentified for months, if not indefinitely. It rankled Reese to know that those responsible for a young girl’s death and for turning on dozens of others to body-and soul-destroying drugs were operating unchecked within her province, but for the time being she was resolved to keeping an eye and ear out for potential leads while trying to be patient. She had briefly considered, and then discarded, the possibility of putting one or both of her young officers directly on the trail of the candy-bowl parties. She’d decided against it, even though the idea had distinct possibilities.

“There are plenty of people in the armed forces a lot younger than us who do things a lot more dangerous,” Allie pointed out doggedly.

Nelson spun around, his eyes uncharacteristically hard. “You’re not in the goddamn Army.” He shot a look at Reese. “Or the Marines.” Then he stomped out the front door.

“Oops,” Allie said quietly.

“Your eagerness is commendable, Officer Tremont,” Reese said quietly. “However, arguing with one’s commanding officer is generally not recommended.”

“It’s a good idea,” Allie said stubbornly.

Reese nodded. “In some ways, yes. The problem is that it’s very difficult to monitor you in a bar, and almost impossible at a party. We are not set up for that kind of surveillance here.”

“But,” Bri pointed out reasonably, “there isn’t any real danger. It’s a drug party. If we’re careful about what we drink and make sure no one slips us anything, there’s not really much chance that anything could happen.”

Reese suppressed a smile. She was proud of both of them for their initiative and their drive, and it was never a good idea to discourage that kind of enthusiasm in a young officer. She thought of the many recruits she’d trained over the years and how she had had to think of them only as marines not as eighteen-or nineteen-or twenty-year-old men and women who had barely begun their lives. They were marines. They would do what needed to be done, as would she. She wasn’t entirely certain why she couldn’t think of Bri and Allie in quite the same way. That, she realized, bore further consideration.

“Let me give it some thought. And the next time you two have a suggestion about an operation, follow the chain of command and come to me first.”

Both Bri and Allie straightened perceptibly at the rebuke, although they couldn’t hide their grins. “Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“I was thinking I could go to the wristlet and get rid of this splint,” KT said as she settled at the table in Pia’s treatment room. She’d just gotten off shift at the clinic and it was nearly 7 p.m., almost exactly two weeks to the minute from the night they’d had dinner. In those two weeks, her life had settled into a routine that was surprisingly comfortable. She’d instructed her housekeeper in Boston to pack up a few essential clothes, books, and her stereo system and ship the entire lot by truck to Provincetown. Those personal articles were enough to make the small apartment she had rented from Pia’s mother comfortable. She was working twelve-hour shifts at the East End Health Clinic, despite Tory telling her eight hours was adequate. She’d quickly realized that if she didn’t work twelve hours, Tory would. And Tory obviously wasn’t ready for it. She was too thin, too pale, and the circles under her eyes were getting deeper rather than fading.

“You’re not ready to go to the light immobilizer yet,” Pia said quietly, releasing the Velcro straps that held the Orthoplast splint in place. They’d met almost every day for the last thirteen days for an hour of treatment. KT had been prompt and eager. She’d also been perfectly decorous in her comportment, with no repeat of the attempt at a kiss. Pia was relieved about that at least, that’s what she told herself. She turned KT’s hand palm up and began to massage the scar with both thumbs. She stopped when she saw KT wince. “What?”

KT unclenched her jaw. “Paresthesias. Ring finger. Man, it burns like fire.”

“Here?” Pia tapped very lightly on the scar.

“No. A little more distal, toward the metacarpal-phalangeal joint.”

Pia tapped slightly closer to the base of KT’s finger, watching KT’s face carefully.

KT jumped slightly and nodded. “Yep. That’s the spot. Damn.” She wanted to take another pain pill, but she’d taken one just prior to the session. Unfortunately, the pain was almost constant in her fingers, and the pills didn’t seem to be doing as much good any longer. Even if she doubled up on them, it only dulled the shooting pains, pins and needles, and intermittent burning sensation that accompanied the nerve regeneration in her injured digits. At least she was able to work if she medicated herself enough to ignore most of the discomfort.

“From the location of the trigger points,” Pia noted, “it looks like the nerve repair is on schedule. Anticipating a millimeter of regrowth a day, that’s about where the healing nerves should be at this point.”

“How much longer can I expect the pain?”

Pia saw the faint mist of perspiration on KT’s forehead, and her stomach tightened in sympathy. She was accustomed to her work sometimes causing her clients discomfort, because effective physical rehabilitation was often impossible to achieve without forcing stiff joints to move and tight tendons to stretch. The sight of KT’s obvious pain affected her more than she was used to. She caught herself just as she was about to reach out and stroke KT’s cheek. What am I doing?

“It varies,” Pia said softly. “If it doesn’t let up soon, you might want to ask your hand surgeon about prescribing Tegretol. It sometimes quiets the nerve irritability enough for it to be tolerable.”

“Thanks. I will.” KT watched as Pia gently manipulated her finger and wrist joints through a complete range of motion. She looked forward to the hour that she spent with Pia almost every day. Not just because their time together was essential for her recovery, but because as Pia worked on her hand, they chatted about current events or local gossip or sometimes unusual cases they had seen and treated. KT brought Pia up to date on the changes at Boston Hospital in personnel and protocol. When she’d asked Pia why she had left the busy big-city hospital for the quiet life of her hometown, Pia had merely smiled and said that the pace suited her better and she liked the independence of her private practice. KT thought there was something more that Pia wasn’t saying, but she hadn’t pushed. And although it went contrary to her nature, she found that being with Pia was teaching her to tolerate, if not almost enjoy, waiting. At the moment, however, the throbbing pain that hadn’t diminished was making patience difficult.

“I think if I don’t have to wear the heavier splint,” KT insisted, “it will take some of the stress off my hand.”

Pia shook her head, but before she could speak, KT went on.

“Look, I know you’re being conservative, but”

“It’s not about being conservative,” Pia said quietly, raising her head and meeting KT’s eyes. “It’s about making sure that you don’t inadvertently stress the tendons and rupture them. Six to eight weeks after the repair is the critical period for delayed rupture, and you’re right in the middle of that time. You’re seeing patients every day, and if one of them slips and you reach out to catch them and rupture those tendon repairs, we could be right back to square one.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“I know that you’ll try to be, but”

“How about this,” KT interrupted. “I’ll wear the Orthoplast splint at work and the wristlet the rest of the time.”

“This isn’t Let’s Make a Deal.” As they talked, Pia continued to hold KT’s hand, unconsciously rubbing her thumb up and down the inside of KT’s forearm, caressing her softly even as she argued. When KT rested her right hand on Pia’s, Pia reflexively intertwined her fingers with KT’s.

“I’ll be good,” KT whispered.

Pia looked down at their joined hands, aware that her heart was thudding painfully in her chest. KT’s fingers were supple and strong. And warm. Very warm as she slowly slid her fingers in and out between Pia’s. “You have beautiful hands.”

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

“We have a half hour left of the session.”

KT lifted their joined hands and rubbed the back of Pia’s against her cheek. “After that.”

“I’d need to shower and change.” Pia was helpless to stop the words as she felt herself surrendering to the intensity in KT’s dark eyes. She sensed the danger but had no desire to flee.

“So do I.”

“I want to do some ultrasound on the scar.”

KT nodded, resisting the urge, but just barely, to brush her lips over Pia’s knuckles as she had that night two weeks before. She could smell the citrus scent on Pia’s skin, and she hungered for the taste of her. “All right.”

“You have to let go of my hand.”

“No.”

Pia laughed shakily, and a second later, so did KT. Finally, Pia was able to break the spell of KT’s mesmerizing gaze and leaned back, gently withdrawing her fingers from KT’s grasp. “Doctors make the most difficult patients.”

“Oh?” KT’s brows rose. “Have you had many doctors ask you out for dinner?”

Pia blushed. “I wasn’t talking about that.” She reached over for the small ultrasound probe, dabbed a bit of the gel on KT’s palm, and began to work the oscillating probe back and forth over the scar to aid in softening the healing ridge of tissue. She kept her head down as she worked and could not see KT’s appraising glance.

“I bet you had a lot of offers, though,” KT said playfully.

“Not the kind I wanted,” Pia replied before she could censor her comment.

KT heard the undercurrent of what sounded like sadness in her voice. “Is that why you’re here? To leave the memory of someone behind?”

“Not everyone comes home to escape something painful,” Pia answered quietly.

“What about you?” KT persisted.

Pia sighed and set the probe down. “No, No one hurt me. I’m not running from a disastrous love affair. This is where I’m happiest. Simple story.”

KT studied her seriously. “Why hasn’t anyone claimed your heart?”

“Because no one has ever asked for it.”

“How can that be?” KT was genuinely confused. “You’re beautiful, you’re sexy, you’re smart.”

Pia laughed. “It’s not about those things.”

“Then what?”

Pia reached for the splint and gently placed KT’s hand into the curved plastic mold. She reattached the elastics to the small hooks glued to each of KT’s fingernails, drawing the ringers down into a protected position. Then she carefully closed the Velcro straps. When she was done, she met KT’s eyes. “It’s about forever.”

“Forever.” KT turned the word over in her mind, wondering where along the way she had stopped believing in it. It might have been when she’d lost Tory, but when she recalled her life in the years just before that final irreparable event, she realized that she had lost sight of what she had with Tory in the shadow of her unrelenting drive, her overpowering need, to excel. Almost before she knew it, it was all gone. “Is that what you’re holding out for? Forever?”

Pia nodded. She’d seen the shadow pass over KT’s face and wondered what painful memory the word had evoked. “Still interested in dinner?”

“Absolutely.” Even as she said it, KT wondered if she had anything more than a casual evening to offer, knowing with certainty that that would never be enough for this woman. Still, even knowing that Pia wanted something she’d once had, then squandered, and finally forgotten, KT couldn’t bring herself to walk away.

Reese pushed through the back door with two bags of Chinese takeout in her arms. Tory looked over from the sofa where she’d been half asleep watching the evening news.

“Tell me that I smell dinner,” Tory said with a note of reverence in her voice.

“Kung Pao chicken, Moo Shu shrimp, and wonton soup, at your service, Madame.” Reese set the bags down on the breakfast counter. “And enough for leftovers, including breakfast, if you should so desire.”

Tory grasped Reese around the waist and turned her so her back was to the breakfast counter before pressing full-length against her. As she wrapped both arms around Reese’s neck, she murmured, “I adore you.”

Reese had no chance to reply before Tory’s mouth covered hers. Surprised, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the welcome heat of Tory in her arms. After twenty seconds, she forgot that she was hungry. After thirty, she forgot that she had to be back on patrol in half an hour. She slid her hand beneath the loose T-shirt that Tory wore and caressed her palm up the center of Tory’s back until her fingers rested against the nape of Tory’s neck. With the other hand, she cupped Tory’s rear, pulled her closer, and rocked her hips into her lover, “Mmm. You feel so good.”

“Reese,” Tory murmured, moving her mouth away an inch. “You don’t really want to do that.”

“Yes, I do,” Reese answered, her voice thick and deep.

“Well…I can always eat later,” Tory whispered, pulling Reese’s shirt from her trousers.

“Baby asleep?” Reese asked breathlessly as she hurriedly unbuttoned her pants and jerked down the fly.

“Uh-huh.” Tory stripped off her T-shirt and dropped it on the floor. She wore nothing beneath.

As Reese reached for Tory’s breasts and Tory slid a hand down the front of Reese’s abdomen and under the waistband of her briefs, the phone rang. They froze, listening to the mechanical voice announce the caller ID. It was a Boston prefix.

“Who?” Reese gasped.

“Don’t know,” Tory replied desperately. “Hospital, maybe.”

“Better answer.”

“Yes.” Tory snatched up the phone in frustration and snapped, “Dr. King.”

She stiffened and, after a second, held out the phone to Reese. “Your father.”

Reese encircled Tory’s waist with one arm as she reached for the receiver with the other. Holding Tory near, she said crisply, “Hello, sir.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Tory?” KT narrowed her eyes and studied Tory contemplatively. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Tory said quickly, running her hand through her hair distractedly. She glanced at the clock opposite her desk and then back to KT. Seven p.m. “I’m sorry. You were saying that Mr. Abbot is complaining of increasing intermittent claudication?”

“Yes. According to him, there’s been a big change in the last six months.” KT glanced down at the chart in her hand. “By history, he used to be able to walk…” She couldn’t suppress a grin as she read from her notes. “From the Lobster Pot to the Coast Guard station at a pretty steady clip, but now he has to stop in front of the town hall and ‘rest a spell’ because his right leg cramps so bad.” She looked up from the file in time to see Tory glance at the clock again. KT closed the folder, tucked it under her arm, and settled her hip on the edge of Tory’s desk. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry,” Tory muttered. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “It’s nothing. It’s silly. It’s just that…it’s nothing.” She was getting used to seeing KT every day, at least to the extent that her heart didn’t give a painful lurch whenever she looked up and saw her former lover’s face. After the first few days, she’d come to realize that her reaction wasn’t one of anger or even pain, but of pure and simple surprise. She had effectively, or nearly effectively, erased KT from her consciousness. Suddenly seeing KT daily, having her so much a part of her life again so abruptly, reminded her forcefully of all the things she had once liked about her. Despite her growing comfort with KT’s presence, however, she hadn’t quite gotten to the point where she was able to confide in her. Their conversations had been strictly limited to patient care.

“Come on, Vic s ” KT prodded with a grin. “Oops, Sorry. Tory.”

Tory waved a hand at the offered apology. “Reese went to Boston today to meet her father. That’s all. I just thought she might be home by now.”

KT recognized the undercurrent of worry in Tory’s voice. Despite their years of separation, she hadn’t forgotten how to read Tory’s moods. “Some kind of problem there?”

“You could say that,” Tory said with a grim chuckle. Forgetting that she hadn’t intended to talk to KT about anything personal, she went on, “Reese’s father is a Marine Corps general. Very by the book. He raised her to be a Marine Corps officer as well. Until four years ago, she was everything he ever expected her to be. Then she left active duty, came here, and came out.”

“I guess Daddy isn’t entirely pleased.”

“That would be an understatement.” Tory rose and walked around to the front of the desk until she stood by KT’s side. She rested her hips against the front edge of the desk and folded her arms beneath her breasts in an unconsciously self-protective posture. “He actually threatened to have her court-martialed at one point if she didn’t stop seeing me.”

“Jesus. Her own father?”

Tory nodded. “I have a feeling he expected that threatening her career would bring her into line.” She smiled. “He doesn’t really know her very well.”

“She wouldn’t choose her career over you, I take it.” KT spoke softly, watching Tory carefully.

“No, never. There’s nothing more important to Reese than Regina and me.”

The absolute certainty with which Tory spoke astonished KT. Astonished and humbled her. She knew with the sudden clarity that accompanies an epiphany that she had never been able to give Tory that unshakable security. Even had she not destroyed Tory’s trust, eventually she would’ve been faced with the choice of sacrificing her career for her relationship. She doubted that she would’ve been able to change her course then, even had she wanted to. She believed in her heart that she would’ve wanted to keep Tory, but she also knew she would not have been able to forgo her goals in order to do it. She understood now, too, what lay beneath the look that had passed between Tory and Reese the day she’d seen them embracing in the office. Their devotion was mutual, their commitment unshakable. Observed from a distance, beyond the reach of her own personal pain, it was a wonder to behold. She cleared her throat and reached down deep beyond her own sense of loss for the love she had always had for Tory and always would. “I’m glad for you, Tory for what you have with Reese. You deserve that kind of love.”

Surprised at the quiet sincerity in KT’s voice, Tory turned until they faced one another, only inches apart. Closer in many ways than they had been in years. “Thank you.”

“So what do you think he wants?”

Tory shook her head. “I don’t know. He called last night, said that he was in town for thirty-six hours, and ordered her to present herself for a meeting.”

“She doesn’t strike me as the type who can be ordered around very easily.”

“Well, he’s her father, he’s a general, and she’s a marine through and through.” Tory blew out a breath. “And in all fairness, she loves him. Despite his blindness about her being gay, according to her, he did a good job of raising her. And I have to believe her about that, because she’s well, she’s wonderful.”

KT grinned. “Jesus. You’re really pretty hopeless about her, aren’t you?”

Surprising herself, Tory laughed. “Apparently so.” She reached for the file that KT still held. “Mr. Abbot? From what you say,” she remarked as she leafed through the lab reports, “it sounds as if his peripheral vascular disease is escalating. I’ve tried to get him to stop smoking that pipe, but he just ‘there there’s’ me, pats my head, and ignores my advice.”

“Well, I guess since he’s ninety-two, he figures the smoking isn’t going to hurt him too much.”

“He’s probably got a point, but it certainly isn’t helping his circulation either.”

“He needs to have an arteriogram and either an angioplasty or bypass.” KT indicated the notes that she’d made in the chart that day. “I’m not getting any pulses below his popliteals, and if that artery occludes acutely, he’s going to lose his foot.”

“I agree,” Tory said. “I’ll call him tonight and talk to him about going to Hyannis to see a vascular surgeon.”

“I can do it if you want.” KT checked her watch. “We were supposed to be out of here two hours ago.”

“I know, but I should probably do it. He might listen to me.”

“You need to start letting me do more of that kind of follow-up, Tory. Otherwise, there’s just too much work for you to handle,” KT suggested gently, setting the file down on the corner of the desk.

“You’re only here for the short term, KT,” Tory pointed out reasonably. “The patients are just more used to me.”

“According to Pia,” KT said, the muscles in her jaw tightening perceptibly, “I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

“Is there a problem with your hand?” Tory still found it difficult to look at the splint and the tendon outriggers on KT’s arm. In the years they’d been together, she’d seen KT operate dozens of times. Her hands had been so facile, so sure, so beautiful to watch. It hurt her physically to imagine what KT was going through now.

“Nothing too bad. A lot of paresthesias.” KT shrugged. “But Pia seems to think it’s going to slow my recovery down because she doesn’t want to irritate the nerve endings and risk the chance of neuromas forming.” She couldn’t hide her frustration. “So she’s sitting on me to go slowly.”

“Pia’s very good. She’s taken care of a number of my patients.” Tory placed her hand on KT’s shoulder, squeezing gently to reassure her. “You can trust her judgment. She’s the best.”

KT thought about sitting across the table from Pia the night before at dinner of how much she’d enjoyed herself and how very much she had not wanted to say good night at the end of the evening. This time, Pia hadn’t even given her the opportunity to try for a good-night kiss, surprising her by leaning forward and brushing her lips softly over KT’s cheek as she whispered good night. It was still hard for KT to believe that she’d stood rooted to the spot, unmoving, and watched Pia walk away without a word. Every smooth line and practiced gesture she’d acquired unconsciously over the years had fled with the first sweet touch of Pia’s lips to her skin. She could still feel the memory of that brief, warm caress.

Tory watched the emotion play across KT’s face with a sudden sense of foreboding. She knew the look in KT’s eyes. She’d seen it often enough, and it would take more than a few years for her to forget what that smoldering heat meant. The words were out of her mouth before she even had time to consider them. “You can’t possibly be thinking about making a play for Pia.”

“What?” KT jerked as if Tory had struck her. Her surprise was followed swiftly by anger. “Make a play for her? You mean as in seducing her into bed for a quickie? I suppose you think that’s the only thing I’m interested in where women are concerned.”

“Isn’t it?”

KT reached for the file she’d dropped on the desk. Through clenched teeth she snapped, “I’ll call Mr. Abbot.”

Tory reached out swiftly and stopped KT with a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry. That was completely uncalled for.” When KT turned to face her, Tory smiled wanly. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I did deserve it.” KT held Tory’s gaze unwaveringly. “Maybe I did, once, Tory. But it’s not like that with Pia.”

“There is something going on, then.” Tory shook her head. “KT, Pia…God. Pia is just…so.. .not the woman for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” KT asked, half astonished and half angry. “We have a lot in common. We get along really well. What’s so wrong about that?”

“Oh, come on. Pia is a sweet woman, but hardly your type.”

“My type.” KT’s voice was flat, her eyes expressionless, “And what would that be, exactly? As I recall, you were my type once.”

“Yes, and look how well that turned out.”

“Jesus. Are you ever going to forgive me?”

The anger mixed with hurt in KT’s voice brought Tory up short. Forgive her. Is that what this is really about? “I don’t know.” She reached out and touched her ringers gently to KT’s cheek. It was the first time she had touched her in almost seven years. “I think eventually I’m going to need to.”

The touch of Tory’s hand was so unexpected and so welcome that KT closed her eyes and leaned into the caress, resting her uninjured hand against Tory’s hip. She hadn’t realized how much she longed for simple tenderness and comfort. “God, I’m sorry, Tory.”

“Oh, KT,” Tory sighed. “I wish” She stopped at the sound of footsteps and turned to see Reese framed in her office doorway, watching them. She dropped her hand and stepped away from KT as she smiled at Reese. “Darling, you’re back.”

KT jerked slightly, as if awakening from a dream. She looked from Reese to Tory and then rapidly retrieved the file from the desktop. “I’ll take care of this right away.”

As she passed Reese in the doorway, she nodded and said hello.

“Hello, KT.” Reese’s voice was quiet and steady, her eyes on Tory. To her lover she said, “Do you have time for a break?”

Quickly, Tory crossed the room and kissed Reese on the mouth. “I’m pretty much finished. We only opened for a few hours this afternoon because tomorrow’s schedule looked so full that I had Randy bring some of the patients in today for routine exams. I can leave the rest of it to KT.” She threaded her arm around Reese’s waist. “Let’s go.”

On their way out of the building, Tory instructed Randy to have KT see the last few patients in the waiting room. It was already close to eight on Sunday evening, and for once, there were no emergencies. Outside in the parking tot, Tory climbed behind the wheel of the Jeep while Reese slid into the passenger seat. Neither spoke until Tory reached Route 6 and headed toward Herring Cove. Then Tory reached across the space between them and rested her hand on Reese’s left thigh. “How are you?”

Reese covered Tory’s hand with hers, cradling Tory’s fingers in her palm. “I’m okay. How’s KT?”

Tory glanced over briefly before looking back at the road. “Why?”

“She looked upset back there in the office. So did you. Is everything okay?”

Tory turned right along the coast road and then made a quick left turn into the long, narrow parking lot that overlooked the beach at Herring Cove. She pulled to a stop at the far end and turned off the engine. They were alone.

She turned in the seat and regarded Reese with a gentle smile.

“Most women would want to know what the hell I was doing with my hand on my ex-lover and hers on me.”

A small crease formed between Reese’s brows as she gave the notion some thought, “Are you upset that I’m not jealous?”

“No. Just. ..curious.” Tory brushed her ringers through Reese’s hair. “By the way, you have nothing to be jealous about.”

“It’s not that I don’t think you’re the most beautiful woman in the universe or the sexiest,” Reese noted seriously. “I still have no idea how KT ever let you go. I don’t imagine there’s one woman in Provincetown, married or not, who doesn’t have a crush on you.”

Tory laughed self-consciously. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”

Once more, Reese regarded her lover intently. “It’s true. Every word.”

“Stop,” Tory whispered, her fingers trailing down Reese’s neck and over her chest. “Because God help me, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off you if you don’t.”

Reese shifted in her seat, caught Tory’s hand, and drew it to her lips. She kissed Tory’s palm and then cradled her hand between her own. “I love you. You make me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I know that whatever was going on back there was about one of you, or both of you, hurting.” She lifted Tory’s hand again and brushed it against her cheek. “If it’s you, I want to help.”

“I’m all right,” Tory murmured, struggling with unanticipated tears. “Let’s go sit on the beach. If we stay in here, I’m going to forget myself.”

Reese grinned. “Yeah?”

Tory leaned over and kissed her a slow, deep kiss. “Yeah. Grab the blanket out of the back, will you?”

“Uh-huh,” Reese muttered, her stomach tight and the conversation with her father forgotten. Almost.

Chapter Seventeen

Reese spread out the blanket in one of the many bowls of sand carved into the dunes by the wind and the rain. Once they were inside the natural shelter ten feet across and just as deep they were invisible to anyone passing by on the beach below, even had the night not been fast closing around them. The sky was so clear, the stars overhead so bright, that it seemed she could reach up and touch one. Fifty yards away, the ocean lay before them, its black surface broken by the crests of waves that sparkled like diamonds in the moonlight.

Carefully, Tory lowered herself to the blanket and stretched out on her side facing Reese. The crash of the surf and the swirling wind forced them to lean close together to be heard. Tory wrapped an arm around Reese’s waist and snuggled against her. She knew Reese’s body so well that she recognized the knots in her back as an unmistakable sign of tension.

“Tell me what happened with your father, sweetheart,” Tory said, starting to knead the tight muscles.

Reese shifted and settled Tory’s head against her shoulder. She sifted strands of Tory’s hair through her fingers as she spoke. “He came to talk to me about the wedding.”

“Ah, I guess he got your letter, then,” Tory remarked, recalling the note Reese had sent to her father telling him of Regina’s birth and their plans to be married. She’d enclosed a picture of the baby and had invited him to come to the ceremony. That had been almost a month ago, and they’d received no reply. “I can’t believe he came in person to discuss it.”

“He said he was on the east coast for an appropriations meeting.”

“Uh-huh.” Tory rubbed her hand up and down Reese’s back. “So what did he say about it?”

Reese sighed. “What you might expect. He repeated the military’s stance on homosexuality, warned me that I was putting my commission at risk, and argued that there was no point in doing that since our marriage had no legal standing anyhow.” She pressed her lips to Tory’s forehead briefly. “He was very reasonable and rational.”

“He didn’t threaten you with any kind of official action again, did he?” Tory was struggling to remain calm despite her fury that her lover should have to face this kind of irrational discrimination from her own father.

“No.” Unconsciously, Reese tightened her hold on Tory.

“I take it he isn’t coming?”

Reese laughed humorlessly. “Ah, no. ‘Fraid not.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Tory felt impotent, unable to offer her lover the one thing that Reese provided her so effortlessly. Comfort.

“It’s okay,” Reese murmured, closing her eyes and savoring the aroma of the sea and the delicate sun-kissed meadow scent that was uniquely Tory. “It’s not important whether he comes or not. What’s important to me is you and Regina.”

Tory heard the undercurrent of concern in Reese’s voice and had the sudden sickening sense that there was something even more serious at stake than Reese’s military position. “He came for some other reason too, though, didn’t he?”

Reese hesitated. “Nothing definite.”

Tory shook her head. “Don’t do that with me. Don’t try to protect me. I love you for it, but it’s not what I need.”

“I know.” Reese nestled her cheek to Tory’s. “He was circumspect because he had to be, but his message was clear. What we’ve been hearing about the unrest in the Middle East is only the tip of the iceberg. The situation is much worse than we think. That rumbling in the distance is war coming.”

“War.” Tory turned the word around in her mind. She didn’t remember much about the Vietnam War. Desert Storm had been over so quickly and, due to the strange immediacy of being able to watch it unfold nightly on CNN, had seemed almost unreal. “What does that mean?”

“I got the impression from the general, although he wouldn’t say anything specific, that a significant mobilization and deployment is likely within the next year.” Reese took a long breath. “If that happens, my reserve unit will be one of the first called. No matter what the situation, the Marines, especially the military police, always go in first.”

Tory shivered. They were sheltered in their little hideaway, and the air was still warm, but she couldn’t remember ever having felt as cold inside. “Do you really think this is going to happen?”

“I don’t know.” Reese heard the unsteadiness in Tory’s voice, and her heart ached. Tenderly, she stroked Tory’s shoulders and arms, cradling her lover against her chest, “But I think so. High-ranking military personnel like my father often know about these things well before anything is made public.” She felt Tory tremble. “Still, anything could happen.”

“Would you go?”

“Tory, I’d have to go.”

“Would you want to go?”

Reese thought about the question, the same question that had been in her mind since her father had warned her that her military career might be derailed by this wedding just as the opportunity for-significant advancement was around the corner. “All my life, Tor, I’ve trained to serve my country. When the call comes, it’s not something a marine thinks about. It’s just something that we do.”

“I think I understand,” Tory said quietly, “but you’re going to have to give me a while to absorb all of this. I never expected to be married to a marine.”

“I know. And I never expected to have a wife and a baby, either.” Reese worked the tail of Tory’s blouse from her slacks and slid her hand over the warm flesh of her back. She murmured softly as Tory, mirroring her actions, loosed her shirt from her trousers and pressed her palm to Reese’s abdomen.

“Would it have made a difference?” Tory asked softly “If you’d always had us or even had us ten years ago?” ;

“I don’t know. Nothing could have diverted me from my course when I was eighteen or twenty-five. Now, the one thing I’m certain of is that I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Tory found the entire conversation surreal. She had anticipated; many things for their future, but never that Reese would not be by her side. At least not for decades. As a physician, she understood in her rational mind that life was fickle and that anything could happen, but it was human nature to believe that those things would not happen to you or the ones you loved. And she was human, just like everyone else. She had visions of sharing the milestones of Regina’s life with Reese and growing old with her. Even the inherent dangers of Reese’s job as a law enforcement officer didn’t seem as ominous or frightening as the possibility of her going off to some foreign land to engage an enemy whom Tory could not even bring into focus in her mind. It just didn’t seem possible.

“I don’t want you to go anywhere.” The words were out before Tory could censor them. Before she could even imagine their impact on her lover. All she knew was that she would do anything within her power to keep her family intact, and that Reese was the very heart of her life.

“We don’t know that’s going to happen,” Reese whispered. She’d told Tory about her father’s predictions because she couldn’t keep something of that magnitude from her lover. But she understood the vagaries of politics and power as well and appreciated that in six months, the world picture could be very different. “We don’t have to worry about it now.”

Tory inched closer until she was stretched out on top of Reese, braced on her elbows with one thigh between Reese’s. She could see Reese clearly in the moonlight and thought she had never looked more beautiful. “Is there any possibility that you could get out of going? If you decided that?”

“Not unless I resigned. And I’d need to do it soon. Once something happens and we’re officially at war, that won’t be possible.”

“Would you do that for me?”

Reese threaded the fingers of her left hand through Tory’s hair and pressed her right to the small hollow at the base of Tory’s spine. She could feel Tory’s body all along her own not just against her, but inside of her. This woman was her life; she was the reason Reese lived and breathed, hoped and dreamed. There had never been a need in her life as powerful as the one she had for Tory. She would give anything to her, do anything for her.

“Yes.”

“I cannot imagine a day without you,” Tory murmured, leaning down and brushing her lips over Reese’s. “I need you. Regina needs you. You’re everything for both of us.” She slipped her hand beneath Reese’s shirt again and smoothed her hand over the hard planes of her abdomen and the gentle curve of her ribs until she found the softness of her breast. There, she stilled her hand and simply held her.

“Tory”

“I love you so much.” Tory claimed Reese’s mouth, exploring gently at first with the tip of her tongue over the silken surface of Reese’s lips before dipping into the sweet heat beyond. She pressed her hips down when she felt Reese rise beneath her, gently rocking into her. The wind was all around them, and in the distant silence, the threat of thunder hovered.

When Reese lifted her arms to clasp Tory to her, Tory caught her wrists and pressed Reese’s arms back down, holding her forearms close to her shoulders. She moved her mouth from Reese’s lips to her jaw, then along her neck, and finally to the soft hollow between her collarbones where her heart beat so close to the surface. Closing her eyes, Tory felt the precious life pulse through the vulnerable vessels just beneath the skin. The power and the wonder that was Reese filled her, and that flood of love rushed through her, heating her blood and stirring her desire.

“If what we talked about ever happens,” Tory murmured against Reese’s throat, “I’m likely to say almost anything to keep you with me. But I want you to remember what I’m going to tell you now.”

She let go of one of Reese’s hands and unbuttoned Reese’s shirt, then pushed up the light silk tee beneath it to expose Reese’s breasts. Pressing her face to the inner curve of one small, firm breast, she heard Reese gasp as her lips found a tight nipple. She kissed the erect nub gently. “I’m not going to ask you not to go. I’m not going to ask you to resign. 1 know who you are, Reese. I love you for every single thing about you your bravery, your valor, your dedication. I want you to do what you need to do, whatever that is.”

“Tory” Reese’s voice was husky and low, her body quivering beneath Tory’s. “Whatever you want”

“No. Just remember what I’m saying now, because if there ever comes a time when you need to go, I don’t think I’ll be strong enough to say it then.”

As she spoke, Tory loosed the buckle at Reese’s waist and opened her trousers. She pushed herself down between Reese’s legs until her face was against the taut abdomen. Then she splayed her fingers along the arch of Reese’s rib cage, her thumbs meeting in the center as she massaged the trembling muscles. Reese shifted restlessly beneath her, her hips lifting rhythmically against the weight of Tory’s body.

“Lie still, darling,” Tory whispered as she kissed the soft hollow where Reese’s abdomen joined her thigh. She caressed and tormented the delicate skin at the base of Reese’s belly until Reese was moaning continuously, and then she grasped Reese’s trousers and tugged them down far enough to press Reese’s legs open. Continuing her kisses along the inside of Reese’s thigh, she tasted Reese’s desire. When she closed her lips gently around the prominence of Reese’s clitoris, Tory moaned with wonder and helpless longing. She’d made love to Reese hundreds of times, but every time she was struck anew by the overwhelming splendor of their passion. Beneath the star-filled night sky, surrounded by the wonder of the land and sea that nurtured her, Tory paid homage to the love that had resurrected her life and defined her destiny. As Reese’s cries drifted to her on the wind, the sound as primitive and wild and achingly beautiful as the roar of the sea beyond, Tory closed her eyes against her tears.

Soaring, Reese threaded trembling fingers through Tory’s hair and through glazed eyes watched the stars dance overhead. As Tory brought her steadily and exquisitely to orgasm, she melted beneath Tory’s lips and surrendered to the demands of Tory’s mouth, knowing that she had never been so perfectly loved. For those moments out of time, all that she was belonged to Tory.

“You need a ride somewhere?” Randy asked KT.

KT hesitated, then nodded. “I wouldn’t mind a ride into the center of town. I can get a cab, though, if you’re not going that way.”

“Nothing in this town is out of the way,” Randy noted as he locked the front door and indicated a black Mazda Miata parked in the far corner of the gravel lot. “It’s no problem.”

It took less than five minutes to reach the center of town, where KT climbed out, thanked Randy for the ride, and headed toward her temporary home. Along the way, she replayed her conversation with Tory, recalling Tory’s assessment that Pia was not her type. She couldn’t help but wonder if Tory really believed that she could only be interested in a shallow sexual relationship with a woman.

When KT considered what her life had been like the last five years or so, she supposed that conclusion might seem valid. She’d had no long-term relationships since Tory, and even her affairs had been relatively brief. But as attractive as she found Pia, the thought of a night or two in bed with her left her feeling unsatisfied. That in and of itself was a departure for her.’ Casual liaisons had been her staple, providing both a release from stress and a diversion from introspection. For whatever reason, that wasn’t what she was looking for with Pia. They’d already shared more than she’d shared with most of the women with whom she’d slept in recent years.

The entire train of thought left her uneasy, because she wasn’t certain why she felt differently about Pia or if it was even wise to try to find out. She’d had a difficult conversation with Tory, her arm ached, and she’d forgotten both lunch and dinner. She felt around in her pants pocket for the last pain pill she’d counted out that morning the one she should have saved until midnight and swallowed it dry. Then she detoured down the sidewalk to the Pied for something to wash it down with and for a little company to help turn her thoughts from her past mistakes and future uncertainties.

Two hours later, she’ d had two drinks and had turned down one very promising offer to spend the evening with an extraordinarily attractive, but very young, art student from Brown who was spending the fall semester painting on the Cape. As lovely and eager as the young woman had been, KT was simply not interested. She left a ten-dollar tip on the bar and decided it was time to go home. When she eased down from the bar stool, she was nearly overcome by a sudden wave of dizziness. She staggered back a step and clutched the curved edge of the bar with her right hand to ‘ steady herself.

Two drinks. I only had two drinks. I can’t be this drunk on just two drinks. Must be because 1 didn’t have dinner:

She blinked and tried to focus on the faces across the room. Unfortunately, the room and everyone in it were spinning.

“Looks like you could use a little air,” a smooth voice murmured in her ear as a firm arm came around her waist.

“Dizzy,” KT muttered. “Just a little dizzy.”

“I can see that, darlin’. Now come on outside with me.”

Too disoriented to argue, KT allowed herself to be led through the bar and onto Commercial Street by the willowy brunette who guided her. She shook her head and tried to focus on the woman’s face, but found it impossible. She could tell, though, that she was beautiful. As beautiful as her mellow voice with its soft Southern accent,

“I’m okay,” KT stated emphatically, trying to walk a straight line and failing. “1 just live up the street a few blocks.”

“Well, it’s a nice night for a walk, so why don’t we head that way. What’s your address?”

KT had to think for a minute, but she was finally able to recall the numbers on the front of the guest house. She shook her head, but it didn’t clear the cobwebs from her brain. Must be tired. Too much stress.

“What’s your name?” the brunette asked.

“KT. You?”

“Allie. You must be new in town, KT, because I don’t know you, and I can’t imagine that I would have missed you. I don’t usually miss good-looking women like you.”

KT would’ve laughed at the pick-up line that should have been hers, but she suddenly felt as if she might vomit. She concentrated on controlling her heaving stomach and remained silent. Ten minutes later they turned down the driveway toward the rear entrance to KT’s building. KT had draped her arm around Allie’s shoulders for support, and the smaller woman still guided KT with an arm around her waist.

“That’s it,” KT muttered, indicating the rear stairs. “Up there.”

“Well, I brought you this far. I’m going to make sure you get inside.” Carefully, Allie guided KT to the stairs. “Besides, I’m getting kind of fond of you.”

From the shadows of the porch across the way, Pia watched the two figures come arm in arm down the path and climb the stairs to KT’s apartment. As soon as they disappeared inside, she got up, entered her own small, tidy home, and closed the door gently behind her.

Chapter Eighteen

“Keep going,” Pia said to the teenager who sat on the weight bench doing straight leg lifts with a three-pound weight strapped to his ankle. “Four more reps and then stop and we’ll ice it.”

“We’ve got a big game coming up next week,” the handsome boy said. “Am I going to be able to play?”

“I think so, but the final word will be up to your surgeon. You’re seeing him on Wednesday afternoon, right?”

“Yeah. But he won’t let me do anything unless you say it’s okay”

“Well, I’ll give you a written report to take with you to the office visit, just like always. I think if you agree to stretch out before the game…” She saw the fleeting look of disdain cross his face before he quickly squashed it. “I know, I know. It’s not considered cool to stretch, but if you don’t, you’re going to be right back here again with another ligament tear and that will be the end of your football career.”

“I hear you.” He sighed, then met her gaze fully. “I promise.”

“And ice it as soon as the game is over.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

She smiled and wrapped an ice pack on the knee in question. “Let me see you Wednesday morning for a half-hour session.” She checked the appointment book that she kept on the small desk under the windows overlooking the garden. “Eight thirty.”

At his nod of assent, she began to pencil his name into the book when the phone rang. Distractedly, she reached for it. “Pia Torres.”

“Pia? Tory King.”

“Tory? What’s up?”

“I have a strange request.”

“Go ahead. What do you need?” Pia held up a hand signaling five minutes to the boy, who nodded and leaned back as if he were about to take a nap.

“KT O’Bannon is renting a place from your mother, right?” At the mention of KT’s name, Pia stiffened. She’d gone to bed the night before and awakened that morning with a lingering image of KT and the strange woman arm in arm. There was no earthly reason why the sight of KT with any woman should have bothered her, because well, because, there was nothing between the surgeon and herself to have warranted her being upset. And KT with a woman shouldn’t have been a surprise. Pia had heard the same rumors that most of the town had heard namely, that KT was a high-profile Boston surgeon known to be friendly with the ladies, with the emphasis on ladies plural. She also happened to know, though it wasn’t common knowledge, that KT had once been Tory’s lover. “Pia?”

When she realized that Tory was still waiting for an answer, Pia quickly said, “Yes. The condo unit in the rear.”

“Would you mind very much checking to see if she’s there?” Tory gave a self-conscious-sounding laugh. “I’m probably overreacting, but she was due at the clinic an hour ago, and she hasn’t shown up or called. She doesn’t answer her cell phone, and I don’t know of any other way to reach her. I suppose she might have left a message with our answering service that I never received, because messages have been known to slip through the cracks, but I just want to make sure there’s not a problem. If there’s one thing I know about KT, it’s that she’s never late.”

“I don’t mind checking, but she probably just overslept” And considering the way she arrived home, completely wrapped around that woman, there’s probably a good reason for it.

“That’s great. Thanks. I’m sorry to bother you with this.”

“It’s no bother. It’s right next door, and I was just ending a session. Really, it’s no trouble.”

“If she’s there, have her call me. Thanks again.”

“Will do. Bye, Tory.” Pia replaced the receiver and crossed the room to the town’s star quarterback. She removed the ice, gently ranged his knee, and mentally approved of the absence of swelling or tenderness. “You’re finished for the day, Rocko. Do we have a deal about you taking care of your knee before and after the game?”

Wordlessly, he nodded.

“All right, then. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

After bidding the boy goodbye, Pia climbed the stairs to the rear deck of the main building and knocked on the screen door to KT’s condo. When she got no answer, she opened the screen and knocked harder on the inside door. She was about to turn away when Tory’s remark about KT never being late for anything repeated itself in her mind. Feeling foolish, and slightly intrusive, she cupped her hands around her face and pressed against the glass window. There was a light on in the kitchen, a set of keys on the breakfast bar that she recognized as the ones she had given KT for the condo, and a single shoe lying on the tile floor, abandoned. The rest of the kitchen appeared neat and tidy, as if nothing had been cooked or eaten in it since KT moved in. Typical bachelor fiat.

“If her keys are inside, then she must be, too,” Pia muttered, wondering what to do next. From everything she’d gleaned of KT as a surgeon, it seemed completely out of character for KT not to have gone to work for any reason even a particularly hot liaison with a woman. And certainly not without having called the clinic to let someone know. Still, she hesitated, loath to walk in on KT in the midst of a tryst. You don’t really know that she ‘d call in. She could be too involved. She could be in there right now romping with some woman and just not answering the phone.

Still, Tory King was not a woman to jump to conclusions or to be overly dramatic. Tory had asked her to check on KT, and that was reason enough to be concerned. Pia twisted the doorknob. It turned easily and the door opened. She took one step inside and called, “KT? It’s Pia. Sorry to bother you.”

Her voice echoed oddly in the apartment; were it not for the keys on the counter, she would have thought the condo empty. Her sense of disquiet increased, and she moved further into the kitchen, listening carefully for any voices or sound of movement. “KT?”

She was familiar with the layout of the apartment and started down the hall toward the master bedroom at the far end. It was then that she heard a soft moan. Oh God, she really is with someone. How humiliating.

About to beat a hasty retreat, she heard the unmistakable sound of retching and then a groan. In less than a minute she passed through the empty bedroom to the bathroom. KT, shoeless and in a rumpled, half-opened shirt and wrinkled trousers, was on her knees, arms braced on the toilet, gasping for breath.

“Oh my God,” Pia murmured, bending down to brush the sweat-drenched hair from KT’s face. “What’s wrong?”

KT turned her head, her eyes glazed. “Pia? Hell. What are you doing here?”

“Tory called.” Pia stood and ran cold water on a washcloth, then wiped KT’s face with it. “You’re supposed to be at work,”

“Fuck,” KT whispered weakly. “What time is it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Pia said, taking in KT’s ashen pallor, the sunken appearance of her eyes, and her trembling hands. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Need to.” KT attempted to push herself upright and failed, sinking down again with her back against the commode. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, both hands lying limply in her lap.

Pia noted absently that KT had kept her splint on. As she turned back to the sink to rinse out the washcloth, she saw for the first time the open container of prescription medication sitting on the counter. The empty container. Her heart sank and her stomach seized. She picked it up and read the label. Oxycontin. Oh God.

“How many?” Pia was astounded at how calm her voice sounded when inside, she was screaming. “How many did you take?”

“What?” KT opened her eyes and struggled to make sense of the question. When she saw the pill bottle that Pia held in her hand, she wanted to laugh, but she was too close to vomiting again. “None of them.”

“The bottle’s empty, honey,” Pia said gently, squatting down beside KT. She picked up KT’s right wrist and felt for a pulse. It was rapid but strong. KT’s skin, however, was clammy and damp.

“Maybe you don’t remember taking them. Try to think. We have to know how many you took.”

KT shook her head, which immediately caused her to retch again. She turned her head and vomited what little remained in her stomach. When she caught her breath, she said hoarsely, “Threw them out. Down the toilet.”

It took a moment for Pia to compute the significance of that statement, but then suddenly the scene in the bathroom made horrifying sense. What she had at first taken to be the aftereffects of too much alcohol mixed with pills wasn’t the case at all. KT was demonstrating all the signs of narcotic withdrawal dilated pupils, increased respiratory rate, vomiting, sweating. “How are the muscle cramps?”

“Tolerable,” KT mumbled.

“We should get you to the hospital.”

KT’s head snapped up, and her eyes suddenly focused. Her voice was surprisingly strong. “No. I’ll be all right in a few hours.”

“You won’t be all right by then, and you know it.” Despite her words, Pia’s tone was tender. She used the washcloth again to wipe KT’s face and neck. “Let me get you into the shower and then to bed. We’ll talk after that.”

“Go away. I don’t want you here.”

“I know.” Pia eased her arm around KT’s shoulders and gently guided her to her feet, switching her grip to encircle KT’s waist once she was standing. “But you can’t do this by yourself.”

“There’s nothing to do. It’s not that bad.” Despite her best efforts, KT shivered violently, and her teeth chattered. “I’ll just sleep it off.”

“Shower first. Let’s warm you up.”

KT leaned her back against the wall and held her good arm out straight, keeping Pia at a distance. “I don’t want you to take care of me. I want you to go.” She took a breath, her eyes pleading, “Pia, please,”

“All right,” Pia said quietly. “I’ll call Tory.”

“Oh, Jesus,” KT moaned. “That’s all I need.” She struggled not to shake, but a surge of nausea and dizziness swept over her. She figured she had about thirty seconds before she fainted.

Surrendering, she turned her hand palm up. “Help me get to the bed.”

“I’m so cold.”

“Here, honey,” a soft voice said. “Let me hold you.”

KT turned her face to the comforting warmth of the woman beside her and wrapped her arm around Pia’s solid strength as if she were a life preserver in the raging sea. Still shivering, her stomach rolling, KT moaned quietly. A hand brushed over her hair and massaged the muscles in the back of her neck.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” Pia murmured.

Fully dressed, Pia sat half upright with her back braced against the headboard and KT against her side. She drew the other woman closer, encircling her shoulder with one arm as she pulled the blanket higher over them with her other hand. KT’s cheek rested against her shoulder. After she’d gotten KT to bed, she’d called the clinic with the excuse that KT had a stomach bug and wouldn’t be in for at least a day. She hadn’t intended to do any more than stay until KT was settled, but after an hour of seeing the semiconscious woman toss and turn and shiver and shake, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She’d climbed onto the bed to hold the struggling woman, and the instant she had, KT had quieted. Fortunately, she had no other appointments herself until the next afternoon.

“I’m sorry,” KT mumbled, dizzy and disoriented. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

“You’re doing fine,” Pia whispered, resting her chin against the top of KT’s head and rubbing her back soothingly. “You’re going to be all right.”

In a moment of clarity, KT lifted her head, finally able to focus on the woman who comforted her. “You should go.”

Pia merely shook her head and smiled gently. “You should close your eyes and get some sleep.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” KT confessed as she dropped her head once more to Pia’s breast and closed her eyes.

When next KT awoke, the room was completely dark except for a small lamp burning on the dresser. Pia stood in the doorway, a tray in her hands. KT blinked at the light.

“What time is it?” KT croaked, her throat unbelievably raw and sore.

“Nine o’clock.”

“When?”

Pia set the tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of room-temperature water on the bedside table and eased her hip onto the mattress next to KT. “Same day. You’ve been sleeping on and off for about eight hours.” If you could call it sleeping. Mostly you’ve been thrashing and moaning.

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

Pia nodded.

“Why?”

Pia regarded KT curiously. “Because I wanted to be.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you?” Pia slowly reached out and brushed the back of her fingers over KT’s cheek. “You need to eat a little bit, and then we should get you into the shower.”

KT grimaced. “You’re right about that. I’m disgusting.”

“How do you feel?”

“Pretty ragged.” KT tried to take the bowl of soup that Pia extended to her but was unable to manage it. Her left hand was useless and her right hand shook so badly she couldn’t even hold the spoon. With a sigh, she dropped her head back against the pillows. “I’m not really hungry.”

“Yes, you are. Besides, you need to get something into your system after everything you’ve tossed out in the last eighteen hours.” Pia spooned up a small amount of soup and brought it to KT’s lips. “Come on.”

Obediently, KT sipped. After a few minutes, she lay back, exhausted. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Pia set the bowl aside. “Think you can make it to the shower?”

“Probably. Yeah.” KT rested her fingers on Pia’s knee. “I don’t want you to stay any longer. I appreciate everything you’ve done. Another twenty-four hours and the worst will be over.”

“It’s going to be a difficult twenty-four hours.” Pia saw no reason to pretend other than the truth. KT knew what was coming, and she knew that Pia knew. Addiction to pain medication was not that uncommon, especially in patients whose physical injuries required prolonged physical therapy and whose pain level was high for extended periods of time. Fortunately, the withdrawal from such drugs was intense, but short-lived. Thirty-six to forty-eight hours was usually the extent of the severe symptoms, and KT was almost halfway through.

KT was about to say she would be okay when her stomach gave a warning rumble.

“Oh, fuck,” KT muttered as she pushed off the bed, swayed unsteadily for a few seconds, and then lurched into the bathroom to lose the small meal she’d just eaten. She held one hand behind her back to ward off Pia’s assistance. “Stay out there. I don’t want you to see this.”

“KT,” Pia protested gently from the bathroom doorway.

“Just give me a few minutes. I’ll be out as soon as I get cleaned up.”

When Pia finally relented and closed the bathroom door, KT pulled off her clothes and dropped them on the floor. She turned on the shower, staggered into the stall, and leaned against the wall, shivering beneath the hot spray. When she’d managed to wash her hair and soap away twenty-four hours of sickness, she stepped out and brushed her teeth. Finally feeling clean, she reached for the robe that usually hung behind the bathroom door and realized that it was somewhere in the bedroom. It was almost impossible to wrap a towel around her body one-handed, but she finally managed to cover the essentials. When she reentered the bedroom, she saw that Pia had changed the sheets on her bed.

“Thanks,” KT said, heading toward the bed. The slight effort of getting cleaned up had exhausted her.

“Here,” Pia said, lifting up the top sheet so that KT could slip inside. She held out her hand, “Let me have that towel. It’s wet and you can’t get into bed with it.”

KT hesitated, and then realized that there was no point in being modest. Pia had already seen her humiliated and pathetic. Naked was the least of her concerns. She pulled the towel off and held it out to Pia

Carefully, Pia kept her eyes on KT’s face as she took the towel. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but look down as KT settled onto the bed and tried to get her injured arm into a comfortable position. The quick glimpse of the nude form confirmed what Pia had felt as she’d held KT in her arms. KT was muscular and firm, with subtle curves at her breasts and hips. Her body was every bit as beautiful as her striking face, and Pia knew that the image would stay with her always.

“Try to get some sleep,” Pia said as she placed a pillow beneath KT’s splinted left arm. “This hand has been dependent too much of the time for the last day. Your fingers are swollen. How do they feel?”

“Without the benefit of the Oxycontin, they hurt like hell,” KT confessed. She was too damn tired and too damn sick to pretend she didn’t hurt. “Once my stomach settles down, I can try taking some nonsteroidals.”

“That should help some.” Pia stood and stretched the sore muscles in her back. “I’ve got some ibuprofen at the house. I’ll bring it over for you.”

“Go home now, Pia. I’m going to be all right.”

“I just want to stay until you fall asleep.” You ‘re going to have a difficult night, and I’m not going to be able to sleep worrying about you.

“It’s not”

Both women jumped at the distant sound of a knock on the door.

“I’ll go see who that is,” Pia said.

A minute later, she pulled open the door and came face to face with a very surprised Tory King.

Chapter Nineteen

“Tory!”

“Pia?”

“Uh, hi.” Pia stood in the doorway, uncertain of what to do next. She saw the questioning look in Tory’s eyes, saw her gaze travel from the damp towel that Pia still held in her right hand to the rumpled appearance of her clothing, and saw an uncomfortable expression cross Tory’s face. Although KT hadn’t said so explicitly, Pia had gotten the definite impression that KT did not want anyone at the clinic to know what was wrong. Awkwardly, she asked, “What’s up?”

“I stopped by to see how she’s doing.” Tory knew from personal experience that subterfuge was not something that Pia was very good at, and Pia’s discomfort was apparent. From the look of things, it seemed that she’d just interrupted an intimate moment, and although she didn’t doubt KT’s powers of seduction, she couldn’t quite believe that KT had managed to get Pia into bed. Still, something was obviously going on. Feeling that she needed to explain her presence, although not entirely clear why, she said, “She didn’t look sick yesterday, so I was concerned.”

Pia considered her options, which were few. She could lie and say that KT was asleep and doing fine, or she could let Tory evaluate the situation for herself. Her better judgment suggested the truth, because she feared that KT would need more than a comforting hand before this ordeal was over, and Tory was a physician as well as a friend. She pulled the door wide. “Come on in. She’s in the bedroom.”

“Thanks.”

Pia led Tory to the bedroom. “KT? Tory’s here.”

KT made an effort to sit up, and failing that, tried for a smile.

“Hey. Making house calls now?”

Tory hid her shock as she approached the bed, her clinical eye swiftly taking in KT’s obvious weakness and debilitated state. Considering her fragile physical condition and the fact that Pia had obviously been there all day, it didn’t require much deductive reasoning to conclude that there was more than a stomach virus at work here. She looked from KT to Pia. “What’s going on?”

Pia backed toward the bedroom door. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“KT?” Tory repeated again as she reached down and rested her hand against KT’s forehead. “You look like hell.”

“Thanks, Vic.”

“Don’t try to put me off,” Tory said sharply. “You’re sick as a dog, and I want to know what’s going on.”

“Would you believe” KT was suddenly taken with another round of severe cramps and began to shiver, barely able to finish her sentence. “A really…bad…hangover?”

“No.”

Shaking violently, KT gasped, “Too much Oxycontin. Time to quit.”

“Like this? Are you crazy?” Tory looked closely at KT’s eyes and then pressed two fingers lightly to her carotid artery. “Your heart rate is at least 120. Are you having any chest pain?”

“No,” KT said with a groan. “Just muscle cramps.”

“When did you last take any kind of medication?”

“I don’t know. About twenty-four hours ago.” Moaning, KT curled on her side. “I think I’m going to vomit again.”

Hurriedly, Tory looked around the room and grabbed the wastepaper basket just in time. Supporting KT’s head while she vomited, she called over her shoulder, “Pia!”

Pia appeared almost instantly. “Oh, no. Again?”

“How long as this been going on?” Tory asked abruptly.

“Since last night.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Tory eased KT back against the pillows, watching her rapid breathing with a frown. “She doesn’t have to suffer like this.”

“She didn’t want me to call.”

Tory whipped her head around, her eyes flashing, “Do you really think she’s capable of making that decision?”

Before Pia could answer, KT grasped Tory’s hand with unexpected strength. Although her voice was weak, her tone was forceful. “Tory, let it go. It’s not Pia’s fault.”

“God damn it, KT.” Tory covered KT’s ringers with her own, rubbing the back of KT’s hand with surprising gentleness. “You are so frigging hardheaded.”

A faint smile curled KT’s lips as she took a shuddering breath. “Yeah. You just noticed?”

“I’m going to go back to the clinic for some Catapres and a couple of bags of saline,” she said, turning to Pia. “Can you stay with her until I get back?”

“I wasn’t planning on leaving,” Pia replied evenly.

“I’m sorry for jumping on you.” Tory met Pia’s eyes. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but for a few seconds there, I forgot just how stubborn she is.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Pia glanced at KT tenderly, unaware of just how revealing her expression was, before giving Tory a smile. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here. Maybe between the two of us we can handle her.”

“Maybe. Just.” As Tory passed Pia, she grasped her hand and squeezed lightly. “I’m honestly sorry.”

Pia shook her head, her voice low as she walked out into the hall with Tory. “It’s really all right. It’s hard, seeing her like this.”

“Are you okay?” Tory asked gently. For the first time, she noticed the circles under Pia’s eyes.

“Yeah.” She pushed a hand through her hair and shook some of the tension out of her shoulders before leaning back against the wall. “I’ve been watching her carefully. I would have called you if things had gotten worse. She’s just…so proud, you know?”

The corner of Tory’s mouth lifted into a weary smile. Another barrier that she had tightly constructed around her heart to bury the memory of what she had once felt for KT fell away. Surprisingly, the only thing she now felt was gratefulness that Pia had seen past KT’s facade. “Yes, I know.”

“This is all so terrible for her the damage to her hand, the constant pain, and now this.” Pia’s eyes drifted back to the bedroom. “I just didn’t want to make it any worse.”

Tory realized with a sinking feeling that she had seen KT every day for weeks and hadn’t noticed what she had been going through. Hadn’t really allowed herself to see KT’s struggles or her pain. My God, I missed a drug addiction in my own colleague, A woman I once knew as well as I knew myself. Is that what my anger has done to me?

“You haven’t made anything worse. On the contrary.” Tory slid her arm around Pia’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “I think you being here is just what she needs.”

Pia blushed, suddenly aware that they were discussing Tory’s ex-lover. “I’ll wait until you get back. Then if you want to stay with her…”

“Actually, Reese is picking Regina up from Kate’s, so I’ve got a little time. I’ll get the things from the clinic, and then we can decide.” She tilted her head and regarded Pia seriously. “Do you need a break?”

“No. I just want to stay with her.” As it was, even being out of the room was making Pia uneasy. What she really wanted to do was climb back onto the bed and hold KT. She didn’t bother to analyze her feelings. She was too raw emotionally to even try. All she knew was what she felt, and what made her feel right was having KT in her arms.

“Then you should stay. You can always call me if there seems to be a problem. Once she’s hydrated and we counteract some of the adrenergic symptoms with the Catapres, she’ll be more comfortable.”

“I hope so. I can’t stand seeing her like this.”

Tory gave Pia’s hand another squeeze. “Go on back to her. I’ll run over to the clinic and get what we need to make her comfortable.”

“Thanks,” KT said quietly as Tory finished taping the intravenous line to her right arm. She looked down and lifted both hands an inch off the bed before letting them fall back. “Well, now I’m well and truly fucked.”

“As soon as a second bag goes in, Pia can put a cap on this IV line, and you’ll be able to use your arm a little bit more freely.” Tory began removing the detritus left on the bed from the containers that had housed the IV tubing, intravenous catheters, and the bag of normal saline. She stopped moving when KT caught her wrist.

“I guess you’re pretty angry, huh?” KT asked.

Tory finally looked up into KT’s anguished eyes, “Why in God’s name didn’t you come to me? Do you have any idea how bad this could’ve gotten, especially if Pia hadn’t come by today? What were you thinking?”

KT winced under the verbal onslaught. Despite the intravenous hydration and the sedative that Tory had given her, she hurt all over, her stomach threatened to revolt at any second, and her head reeled with dizziness. On top of that worse than that, really was the knowledge that both Tory and Pia had seen her so helpless and pathetic. She didn’t think things could get much worse. “I didn’t know. I should have, but I didn’t. I just…since the accident…I just wasn’t thinking.”

Carefully, Tory sat on the bed, her hip against KT’s. ” I should’ve noticed.”

“It’s not like I’ve been walking around stoned, Tory,” KT pointed out wearily. “But the damn drug sneaks up on you. I definitely had a physical addiction, and I’m sure the psychological dependency wasn’t far off.” She leaned her head back against the pillows and sighed. “If I hadn’t almost OD’d after two drinks last night, I probably wouldn’t have figured it out until it was too late.”

“God,” Tory murmured, reaching out to stroke KT’s cheek. She stopped herself with a jolt just before her fingers made contact and quickly drew back. “I’m sorry. If I had been paying more attention, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Bullshit,” KT said with as much conviction as she could manage.

Tory smiled wanly. “I’ll stop by in the morning to see how you’re doing.”

“Make Pia go home.”

“When pigs fly.” Tory laughed. “I could barely get her to go home for something to eat and a shower. I don’t think she trusts me to look after you.”

KT smiled softly. “She was great today.”

“I’m glad she was here,” Tory said, surprised at just how much she meant that. It had shaken her badly to see KT so debilitated and frightened her even more than she wanted to admit to realize that KT might have succumbed to an overdose. She stood up and gathered her gear. “Pia should be back any minute. I’m going to head home.”

“You won’t tell anyone about this, will you, Tory?”

“God, of course not.” Tory looked shocked. “This isn’t your fault. And I know you well enough to know this isn’t going to be a long-term problem.”

“I should have seen it coming. And…it didn’t help to add alcohol on top of the meds.”

“No, it didn’t,” Tory agreed. She brushed her fingers over KT’s arm. “But you recognize that now, and you’re more than paying for that mistake. I trust you not to repeat it.”

“Thanks.” With a sigh, KT closed her eyes.

Tory made her way quietly through the house. “When she stepped out on to the back deck, Pia was just climbing the stairs. “I think she just fell asleep.”

Pia leaned against the railing, a book under one arm. “Good. What should I do tonight?”

“If she wakes up before morning in pain or agitated, you can give her another dose of Catapres. Keep the IVs running at the present rate until the second bag is in. Hopefully in another eight hours she’ll be able to keep something down. If not, we’ll give her a third liter of saline. Can you handle that?”

“Yes. When I used to work at Boston Hospital, most of my patients were in the ICU or step-down units. Changing IV bags was something I did routinely in the physical therapy department.”

“Good. And don’t let her tell you that she doesn’t need the medication. She’s going to be very uncomfortable as it is. Without it, it’ll be hell.”

Pia’s hands tightened on the book she held. She hated the thought of KT suffering. “Don’t worry. I won’t let her pull that macho stuff.”

Tory laughed. “How is it that you’ve got her figured out so quickly?”

“I don’t know that I do, but it’s not very hard to tell how much she’s been hurting.” Pia looked at Tory kindly. “Inside and out.”

“What happened between KT and me is ancient history. I told you that when we first met,”

“Yes, I remember.” Pia smiled. “In fact, you told me that the first night we had dinner together. I didn’t believe you then.” She squeezed Tory’s arm affectionately. “I do believe you now.”

“It’s easier to give up the anger now. When I think of Reese, I can’t imagine being without her. Looking back, I’m beginning to think it might not have been all KT’s fault that we didn’t work out.”

“Does it matter who was at fault?” Pia asked gently.

“I don’t know.” Tory leaned her back against the building opposite Pia and shook her head. “I’m beginning to think it doesn’t. I look at her now and my memories seem to be from a different lifetime.”

“Maybe that just means that the past is finally becoming the past for you.”

“And what about you?”

“Me?”

“And KT?”

“Ah,” Pia said softly. “I like her.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“What can I say that you don’t already know? She’s smart and funny and gorgeous. And so sexy it’s criminal.” Pia laughed. “What’s not to like?”

“Uh-oh. Sounds like more than like to me,” Tory teased gently, realizing that it didn’t bother her to think that Pia, whom she’d always had a fondness for, was interested in KT. And seeing the way KT had looked at Pia that evening had made her forget why she’d been opposed to the idea when KT had first mentioned Pia’s name the day before.

“Well, until KT is back on her feet and we finish our therapy together, like is all it’s going to be.”

“Uh-huh.” Tory saw no point in reminding Pia that KT O’Bannon was not the kind of woman who sat back and waited for much of anything, especially a woman in whom she had an interest. And if the looks that had passed between Pia and KT throughout the evening were not an indication of strong mutual attraction, Tory couldn’t imagine what was. The two of them were deep in denial, but she didn’t think that would last much longer. “I’m going to go home to my own gorgeous, sexy woman. Call me if there’s any problem at all. Any time.”

“Thanks, Tory. I will.” Pia waved good night and let herself into the condo. It was after 11 p.m., but she wasn’t tired. The anxiety and worry of the long day had hyped her up to the point where she wasn’t sure she would be able to sleep at all. When she reached the bedroom, she stepped quietly to the chair that she’d drawn up to the bedside earlier.

“Tory leave?” KT asked drowsily.

“Yes. How are you doing?”

“Better. You?”

“Fine.” Pia lifted the book. “If you don’t mind the light, I thought I’d just sit here and read for a while.”

“You don’t need to stay. Go home and get some sleep.”

“We’ve had this conversation before.”

KT sighed. “And Tory called me frigging stubborn.”

Pia laughed quietly. “Comparatively speaking, I think I just qualify as plain stubborn.”

“You and Tory are pretty good friends, huh?”

“Yes, we are.” Pia settled into the chair and inched it forward until she could see KT’s face as they talked. Unconsciously, she reached out and stroked KT’s hair. “You really should sleep.”

“Did the two of you used to…date?”

“Very briefly, a long time ago.” Pia rested her hand on KT’s shoulder, rubbing her fingers lightly over KT’s skin. “How did you know that?”

“Something about the way Tory yelled at you. There was a certain degree of familiarity to it.”

Pia laughed. “Very observant.”

“So what happened?”

“Tory was still in love with someone else.” She spoke gently, her fingers drifting to KT’s jaw.

“Did she break your heart?”

“No,” Pia said with conviction. “No one broke my heart.”

“So why”

“You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“Just tell me what you’re waiting for.”

Pia sighed, and had she not been so exhausted from the day, she might no have answered. But KT’s skin was so soft beneath her fingers and her face so unguarded that Pia forgot her usual caution. ” I want the woman I’ll spend the rest of my life with to be the only one.”

“Forever,” KT said drowsily.

“Yes “

“I screwed up pretty badly back then,” KT murmured.

“That’s between you and Tory.”

KT turned her face until her cheek rested against Pia’s palm. The cool strength of Pia’s fingers gave her comfort. “Do you think I’m a lost cause?”

“No,” Pia whispered. I think you are beautiful, in every way. “Go to sleep now, honey.”

Nearly asleep, KT asked what she never would have let herself ask had she been fully m control. “Would you hold me again like you did this afternoon?”

Pia didn’t stop to think what it might mean-that KT asked or that she couldn’t for one second imagine saying no. She set her book aside and eased onto the bed. In a motion hat felt a natural to her as breathing, she settled KT’s head against her breast.

Chapter Twenty

“Why don’t you go check on her?” Reese said quietly as she drew the soft strands of Tory’s hair through her fingers. It was just after 5 a.m., and the room had begun to lighten as the sun rose over the harbor. She knew Tory was awake, even though she hadn’t moved her head from Reese’s shoulder where she’d fallen asleep the night before. There was a stillness in her body that wasn’t there when she slept and a tightness in her muscles that belied her restful pose.

“Have you always been able to read my mind?” Tory touched a kiss to Reese’s shoulder while tightening her hold around Reese’s waist.

“Not at the very beginning.” Reese moved her hand from Tory’s hair to the center of her back and massaged her gently, the movement pressing Tory’s bare breasts to Reese’s chest. “I didn’t realize for the longest time that you lusted after me.”

Tory laughed. “I should think it would have been obvious to you when I couldn’t keep my hands off you, even when you’d been shot.” Recalling that night, and her terror, she tensed.

“Freak accident,” Reese murmured, turning until Tory lay beneath her. She braced herself on her elbows and framed Tory’s face in her hands. Then she kissed her forehead. “If you’re worried about KT, you should go see her.”

“Pia is with her. She would have called me if there was a problem.”

Reese nodded. “I know. But you’re still worrying.”

Tory smiled, softly and opened her legs so that Reese could settle more comfortably between them. She loved being able to hold her while they talked, about anything, it seemed. Reese made it possible to discuss the really hard things because she never allowed distance to come between them, no matter what had transpired. Tory counted on that, in the moments when she was most uncertain. She caught the thick hair at the base of Reese’s neck and tugged Reese’s head down until their mouths met. She took her time with the kiss, because it was the first of the day and it might be hours before they could share a moment as private and wholly theirs as this one. The baby would awaken soon, needing to be fed and readied for her day at Kate and Jean’s, Reese would leave for the early-morning class at the dojo, and she would head for the clinic after dropping Regina off. None of those thoughts was foremost in her mind, only the distant sense of urgency to connect, to renew herself through the love that sustained her. She didn’t notice when her grip on Reese tightened, or when she hooked her heels over Reese’s tight thighs and arched her pelvis into her lover. She wasn’t aware of her heart beating wildly or the soft undulations of her hips or the sudden tension in Reese’s body. As she stroked her tongue over Reese’s, she savored the warmth that began in her heart and settled deep in the core of her, transforming with each second from the quiet comfort of belonging to the sharp edge of pleasure. When she felt the first hint of the pressure coalescing between her thighs, she drew her head away with a gasp. “Oh my.”

Breathing fast, her eyes the navy blue of the sunset over the dunes, Reese grinned. “Yeah. Oh my.”

“Do we have time?”

Reese shifted enough to allow a hand between their bodies and smoothed her fingers between Tory’s legs, coating her fingers with the evidence of Tory’s desire. When Tory arched her back with another sharp gasp, Reese groaned quietly. “Plenty of time.”

“And it’s about time.” Tory moaned as she caught Reese’s hand and pressed Reese’s fingers inside.

“Tor?” Reese said anxiously.

Already contracting around Reese’s fingers, eyes nearly closed, Tory shook her head restlessly. “Eight weeks, sweetheart. Eight weeks and I’ve missed you so much.”

Reese could feel Tory’s orgasm gathering and couldn’t have abandoned her then for any reason. She rested her forehead against Tory’s shoulder and carefully moved within her, following the demanding thrust of her lover’s hips with gentle replies of her own.

“I love you.”

“So good,” Tory whispered, digging her fingers into Reese’s strong back. “So good, so good.”

Reese closed her legs tightly around Tory’s as she stroked Tory to climax, feeling her own release build swiftly through her trembling limbs. When Tory threw her head back and convulsed around Reese’s fingers, Reese exploded. She cried out once before burying her face in Tory’s neck, coming hard and deep.

“Oh my,” Tory sighed after a moment.

“Uh-huh.”

“I think that was a record.”

Reese laughed, then shifted some of her weight off her lover and rolled onto her side. Gently, she eased her fingers out but kept her hand cupped lightly between Tory’s thighs. “You’re wonderful.”

Tory leaned her forehead against Reese’s, tracing her fingers along Reese’s jaw. “I realized something last night. Something that should have occurred to me a long time ago.”

“What?”

“That you’re the person that I belong with. Just you. Always you yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”

“Tory,” Reese murmured reverently. She drew Tory close, fitting their bodies together until nothing separated them. “I’ll do everything I can to always be here for you.”

“I know.”

“About what my father said the other day”

“No.” Tory put her fingers gently to Reese’s mouth. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

“All right.” Reese kissed Tory’s fingers. “What about KT? Is she going to be all right?”

“It depends on what you mean.” Tory sighed. “I don’t think she’s going to have a long-term problem with substance abuse, but she’s so…” She struggled to express what she hadn’t wanted to admit but what had been so clear to her the night before. “God, she is so lonely.’”

“I was lonely too, before I met you.” Reese rocked Tory unconsciously. “It took meeting you for me to know that. Maybe it works that way for some people.”

“Oh, baby,” Tory said gently. “Sometimes, you break my heart.”

Reese frowned. “Why?”

“Because I worry that I won’t be able to love you well enough.”

“Oh yeah,” Reese responded with a laugh. “That was pretty obvious a few minutes ago.”

Tory slapped her lightly on the shoulder. “I wasn’t talking about that.”

“The only reason it happens the way it does the reason that I can’t hold back when we make love, is because you love me just the way I need to be loved.” She kissed Tory softly. “Don’t ever doubt it.”

The faint sound of fretful, waking noises came to them through the baby monitor next to the bed. Both turned instinctively toward the sound.

“Guess the other reason I’m so happy just woke up.” Reese kissed the tip of Tory’s nose and drew away. “I’ll get her and bring her in here for breakfast.”

Tory caught Reese’s hand before she could get out of bed. “Thanks for being so good about KT. A lot of women wouldn’t understand,”

“If I thought she could or would hurt you, I’d feel differently.”

There was an unwavering edge in Reese’s voice that made Tory realize that for all of Reese’s gentleness, she would fight for anything that threatened what was hers Tory, Regina, and, Tory knew in her heart, her country.

“Go get the baby, sweetheart,” Tory whispered, refusing to think about what that might mean for their future.

KT opened her eyes to the absence of pain for the first time in over thirty-six hours. She lay still, aware of Pia’s arms around her and Pia’s shoulder cushioning her head. She hadn’t awakened with a woman in months, and none in her memory other than Tory whom she’d wanted to remain next to after their few hours of mutual release, Pia’s chest rose and fell with comforting regularity beneath her cheek, and the curve of Pia’s breast pillowed her face. She never wanted to move.

“Pia,” KT finally whispered.

“Mmm?” Pia stretched and sighed. As she came more fully awake, all of the events of the long night came back to her. The middle-of-the-night shower after KT shivered and sweated and soaked the bed linens as well as the two of them. The retching that finally ended in dry heaves. The apologies that KT had managed to make despite being barely able to stand. Reflexively, Pia tightened her hold and drew KT closer in an unconscious attempt to protect her. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay. You?”

“Stiff,” Pia admitted, moving carefully, not wanting to disturb the woman in her arms. In my arms. God, how did this happen? Twenty-four hours ago I woke angry with her for sleeping with another woman. She was suddenly flooded with an even more irrational surge of anger. “How could she have left you in that condition?”

“Who?” KT rested her palm on Pia’s abdomen, over the thin white tank top Pia wore. She noticed that Pia’s legs were bare beyond her pale blue bikinis and that she herself wore nothing at all. Holy Christ, we’re practically naked in bed together. Despite her abysmal discomfort, she felt a twinge of desire.

“The woman you were with the other night. How could she have just left when you were so sick?”

KT struggled to follow the question. “Woman? What woman?”

“The woman you brought home the night before last,” Pia said quietly. “I saw you with her.”

“Oh, man. I remember. She walked me home and came up here, and”

“I don’t want to hear the details.”

Frowning at the clipped tone of Pia’s voice, KT tried to raise her head to see Pia’s face, but the sudden movement made her stomach lurch dangerously. She rested her cheek against Pia’s breast again. “I sent her away.”

“What?”

“I said thanks and sent her on her way. I didn’t sleep with her.”

“You don’t have to expla…”

“Pia,” KT said gently, “I didn’t want to sleep with her. Even if I’d been able to, I wouldn’t have wanted to. I’ve been trying to tell you it’s you I wa…”

“Hush,” Pia said, stroking KT’s cheek. “Not now.”

“God, you have wonderful hands,” KT sighed. “Why not talk about it now? You said there isn’t anyone else, and you know there’s something between us. I just have to look at you and I get”

“KT,” Pia interrupted, “I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“Not talking about sex.” KT’s head throbbed just enough to make her brain a little slow. “Well, not just sex. I want to go out with you date, you know.” She frowned, snippets of the previous evening’s conversation coming back to her. I want the woman I’ll spend my life with to he the only one. The only one. Forever. “Holy Christ.” KT finally managed to sit up enough to look into Pia’s face. “You were telling me you aren’t sleeping with anyone until what you get married?”

Pia held KT’s gaze. “Yes.”

“And you’ve never?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

“Does Tory know?”

“Why?” Pia asked, confused.

“Because she was so sure you weren’t my type.”

Pia flushed. “Oh really?”

“It wasn’t a comment about you,” KT said gently. “It was a criticism of me. I’m not worthy, in her eyes. Not of that kind of trust.”

“She didn’t tell you”

“Hell, no. Tory is the soul of discretion.” KT laughed, and even though her throat was so parched she could barely swallow, it felt good. Good to feel something besides pain. “She just intimated that you were too good for me.”

Pia smiled and threaded her fingers into KT’s hair before gently pulling KT’s head back down to her chest. “Being a virgin doesn’t make me a saint.”

“It makes you some kind of miracle.” KT sighed. Rather than being challenged by the prospect of a new conquest, she felt oddly intimidated. “You weren’t kidding about forever, were you?”

“I don’t kid about the things that matter to me,” Pia murmured, her voice low and husky. As they’d talked, she’d slowly become aware of KT’s bare leg against hers, of the heat of her body, of the press of KT’s hand to her abdomen. Her stomach tightened beneath KT’s fingers, which lightly stroked up and down and around her navel. Everything about lying next to KT felt good, and talking about sex made her acutely conscious of the fact that she was practically naked with a gorgeous woman who was naked and who, sick or not, made her heart race. She flashed on the memory of KT standing nude beneath the shower spray in the middle of the night, water sluicing over her breasts and belly, the dark triangle between her thighs standing out in stark contrast to her smooth, pale skin. She’d been too worried about KT’s health then to do more than register in an abstract way how beautiful she was. Now, with that soft skin against hers and a firm breast molded to her side, she couldn’t think of anything else. Except the tingling in the pit of her stomach and the unmistakable pressure between her thighs. When KT’s fingers drifted to the bottom of her tank top and onto her bare abdomen, Pia’s legs trembled and wetness slicked her center. She tried to dampen her desire, reminding herself that KT was ill, that they hardly knew one another, and that KT was a woman who was easy about sex. All you had to do was look at her to know that sex was as natural to her as breathing.

And Pia wasn’t. Breathing. Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.

Looking down, she watched KT’s fingers stroke the strip of skin just above her bikinis. She should have left her jeans on, but they were soaked from helping KT get in and out of the shower, and who would have thought…KT traced a fingertip beneath the waistband of Pia’s panties and her hips lifted involuntarily. Pia’s fingers tightened in KT’s hair.

Oh my God. If she touches me, I’ll die. If she doesn’t…

“Pia,” KT said softly.

“Mmm?”

“Can you tell how much I want to make love to you?”

“KT,” Pia whispered, her voice tinged with regret and longing.

“I’ve wanted to since that first night we had dinner. Every day, seeing you, feeling your hands so gentle, so sure”

“Oh,” Pia caught her bottom lip in her teeth, holding back a moan. Her nipples hardened painfully, and all she could think was that she wanted KT’s mouth on them. When KT shifted and pressed her pelvis against Pia’s hip, Pia thought she might whimper with the need that rode roughly over her defenses. KT’s body was hot; hers was nearly in flames. She couldn’t think now why it mattered to wait for anything, not when just being next to KT made her melt. “KT…oh, I”

KT rubbed her cheek over the prominence of Pia’s nipple, loving the soft moan Pia made in response. “I want to feel you move under me. I want to brush my lips over your breasts and lick my way down your belly and taste you. Jesus, I want my mouth on you.”

Pia’s fingers fisted convulsively in KT’s hair; her breath tore from her chest; her clitoris pulsed with each beat of her heart, aching and so, so ready. She turned, wanting KT’s body against hers everywhere, shivering when she felt KT’s skin meet hers along her legs and abdomen.

“How can I be so aroused when you haven’t touched me?” she whispered.

“Because,” KT drew her fingertip over Pia’s lips, swollen with desire even in the absence of kisses, “I’m about to explode from wanting you, and it’s catching.” She touched her lips gently to Pia’s mouth, closing her eyes at the incredible softness. She trembled and drew away. “Get up, Pia.”

Pia’s eyes were dazed, her mind clouded with pleasure. “What?”

“Get out of bed, baby,” KT murmured against Pia’s throat. “I can’t move very well right now, but I can touch you, and I will in just another second so you have to get up.”

“I want…oh, I want you to touch me. Put your fingers on me.” Pia’s voice was a plea.

“No.” KT couldn’t help herself. She closed her lips over the taut nipple tenting the thin cotton. She groaned, desperate to slide her fingers beneath the silk and into Pia’s heat. When she heard Pia’s cry of pleasure, she pushed herself onto her back, panting. “No, you don’t. Pia, this isn’t the time.”

“Are you crazy?” Pia gasped in disbelief.

“Yes. ” KT gritted her teeth and ignored the painful pressure in her depths. “Fuck.”

Pia fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling, every breath an effort. “No, you ‘re not crazy. I am. You can’t even stand up, and I’m trying to have sex with you.”

KT laughed shakily. “I can do it pretty well lying down, too.”

Pia turned her head, her face flushed. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, man. So am I.” KT met Pia’s eyes. “Don’t be sorry for wanting me to touch you, okay? Please?”

Pia cupped her fingers under KT’s jaw and ran her thumb over KT’s chin. “Let’s neither of us apologize, okay? It’s been a crazy few days.”

“Okay,” KT replied, aching in every cell to caress her again. “I’m going to want another chance, though.”

With a shake of her head, Pia rolled away and feigned a control she didn’t feel. “Let’s get you back on your feet first.”

“I’m gonna need one more day for that,” KT said wearily.

“I know.” Pia stood, aware of the lingering stir of arousal, and averted her eyes from the line of KT’s hips and thighs beneath the sheets. With effort, she banished the image of KT on top of her, between her legs, so gentle and fierce. “I…I’m going to rearrange my patient schedule today so I can stay.”

“Pia” KT protested.

“No,” Pia said definitively. “I’m not leaving you.”

KT watched her cross the room and disappear down the hall, replaying those words and wondering why they both terrified and thrilled her.

Chapter Twenty-One

“You could’ve taken a few more days off,” Tory said quietly when she came upon KT leaning back in her office chair, eyes nearly closed.

“Nah.” KT smiled wanly as she straightened up. “I can feel crappy at work as well as I can sitting in my condo. My brain is working all right. It’s just going to take another week or so for my body to catch up.”

“You could have done half-shifts.”

“I’m okay.” KT held up her left arm. The awkward, heavy splint was gone, and in its place was an elastic wrist wrap with thin, flexible bands attached to each injured finger, holding them in a safe, flexed position. “Look Pia finally let me go to a wristlet. I’ve been to therapy every day except for those few days I was… indisposed last week.”

In truth, KT had insisted on returning to therapy even when Pia had wanted her to wait a few more days. Despite some muscle cramping and a persistent headache, she needed the return to routine. She needed to feel in control again, and most importantly, she needed to get her relationship with Pia back onto familiar ground. Even though Pia had stayed with her most of the day after they had awakened in one another’s arms, she had been distant and cautious, and KT had found the distance maddening. They’d gone from a degree of intimacy, both physical and emotional, that KT hadn’t experienced in years to careful formality in a matter of minutes, and she was left with an empty feeling that it seemed only Pia could fill. At least during therapy, Pia was relaxed and easy with her. They’d resumed their casual conversations as well as their frequent debates about the speed and direction of KT’s therapy, verbally sparring over how much KT could do and how quickly. KT found that she enjoyed the power that Pia wielded with surprising gentleness. In fact, there was nothing about Pia that she didn’t enjoy.

“Indisposed,” Tory said dryly. She noted that KT’s eyes were clear despite the fact that she looked exhausted still. “How are you handling the pain?”

KT blinked, and a muscle jumped on the edge of her jaw. “Not with narcotics, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Tory kept her voice even. “What I’m asking is if you’re doing all right without them.”

“Sorry,” KT said quietly. “It was rough for the first week or so. Besides feeling like I was going to puke any second, my hand felt like it was going to fall off. I’ve started to take Tegretol and that, along with the Naprosyn, is keeping things to a tolerable level,”

“Good. Are you staying well hydrated, because you look a little shaky. That’s easy to fix, you know.”

“Don’t even think about coming near me with an intravenous needle. That lasted about seven hours the last time, and when I managed to dislodge it in the shower by accident, I thought Pia was going to kill me.”

“Really?” Tory raised an inquisitive eyebrow and was astounded to see KT blush. “Well, well.”

“It’s not like that, Tory.” KT sounded defensive even to herself and laughed softly. “I can’t believe I’m explaining that I’m not sleeping with someone.”

Tory checked her watch, saw that she had at least five minutes before the next patient, and settled into the chair across from KT. “It sounds to me as if you’re defending her honor.”

“Pia’s honor doesn’t need defending.”

“You sound like that matters to you,” Tory remarked neutrally. It was an odd experience discussing an intimate relationship with a woman with whom she had once been intimate herself. To her amazement, she felt no animosity, jealousy, or even criticism, probably because she had never heard KT sound the way she did now at once protective and perplexed. “She really has you confused, doesn’t she?”

“She’s got me pretty much in a tailspin, yeah,” KT admitted ruefully. She regarded Tory cautiously. “You’re not mad?”

“About what?”

“About me being…interested…in Pia.”

Tory sighed. “Pia is an adult. So are you.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“God, you are relentless.”

“You’ve forgotten?”

Tory laughed quietly. “There were a lot of things about you I had forgotten. A lot of things that I liked.” She regarded KT steadily. “A number of things that I loved.”

Caught off guard, KT jerked. “Christ, Tory, I made a mess of things back then. I’m sorry.”

“So am I. And it wasn’t all your fault.” Tory smiled, feeling a hard, cold place inside of her break apart and drift away. “And you know what? I’m tired of talking about it. It was a long time ago, and we’re both different people now.”

KT sat forward, resting her good arm on the desktop. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

“Thank you.”

Tory nodded, wondering if it wouldn’t be possible for them to someday be friends. She wasn’t ready to declare that immediately, but as each day passed, she grew more comfortable with the woman KT had become in the years during their separation. “So, about Pia.”

“I don’t want to talk about Pia,” KT replied evenly. “She wouldn’t like it.”

“Well. That says a lot all by itself.”

KT looked confused. “It does?”

“Even when she’s not around, you’re thinking about what’s important to her.”

“Oh,” KT moaned quietly. “That sounds bad. Very bad.”

Amused, Tory said nothing. She had very rarely seen KT O’Bannon when she wasn’t completely on top of her game, any game. Oh, this is going to be fun to watch.

“Why are you smiling?” KT asked suspiciously.

“No reason,” Tory said lightly as she stood. “No reason at all.”

“A little advice wouldn’t hurt,” KT called after her.

“Afraid not,” Tory called back. “Where’s the pleasure if you don’t suffer first?”

KT tilted back in her chair again and closed her eyes, thinking of Pia’s skin beneath her fingers and Pia’s sounds of pleasure when she’d touched her. She had no doubt of the exquisite pleasure making love with Pia would bring, nor did the throbbing in the pit of her stomach leave any doubt as to how much she was suffering right that minute. What she wasn’t certain about was whether she dared, or even had the right, to seduce Pia away from her dream of forever. Because forever was something that KT no longer believed in.

“And then I thought I’d sell the business, move to Trinidad, and find a tireless young lover.”

“That’s nice,” Pia said absently.

“Of course,” Pia’s mother mused as she nibbled on a corner of a sandwich, “I haven’t talked to your father about the idea yet.”

“Talk to Daddy about what?”

“About where you’ve been for the last ten minutes,” Elana noted conversationally.

Pia blushed. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Elana sipped her tea and regarded Pia thoughtfully. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No!” Pia sighed. “Sort of. Not exactly. I’m not sure.”

“Well, I can see why you’re preoccupied, then. Is it Dr. O’Bannon?”

Pia stiffened. “Why do you ask? Are people talking?”

“No, but there aren’t that many new faces in this town, other than tourists, and forgive me for saying so, but I’ve never known you to have a…fling.”

“That’s what it would probably be with KT. A fling.”

“Why do you say that?” Elana asked with interest.

“I don’t think she’s the type to settle down.” Pia tried to keep her tone light, but her eyes were sad.

“People change, Pia. Or maybe they just reach a point in their lives when they want something different.” Elana stood and began to clear the dishes from the table. When Pia rose to help, she waved her down, “Don’t worry so much about who she was, and concentrate on who she is with you. That’s all that matters.”

“Can I ask you something personal?”

Elana laughed. “We haven’t been talking about personal things?”

“This is about you and Daddy.”

“All right.” Elana set the dishes in the sink and leaned against the counter, her large dark eyes compassionate and curious. “Go ahead.”

“Did you ever regret not having other lovers?”

“I won’t ask why you think I haven’t had others,” Elana said with a small smile. “I was eighteen when I met him and totally in love from the first moment. There’s never been anything that I could have wanted in that regard that I haven’t had with him.”

“I always sort of got that feeling.” Pia rose and walked to the door that led out to the deck. Her parents’ home stood on one of the highest points of Pilgrim’s Heights, and from there she could see the wetlands, the dunes beyond, and just a sliver of the bay. It was a beautiful view and one of which she never tired. “I never consciously decided to wait not at first. It just seemed right.”

“And now you’ve changed your mind?” Elana joined Pia in the doorway and slid her arm around her daughter’s waist.

“I’m not sure.”

“But the very attractive Dr. O’Bannon has you reconsidering.”

Pia rested her head against her mother’s shoulder. “She makes it hard for me to think at all.”

“Ah, well.” Elana rubbed Pia’s back much the way she had when Pia was small, in comfort and companionship. “What’s she like? Other than sexy, that is.”

Pia laughed. “Very intense. Aggressive. Focused. And…” She took a long shaky breath. “And she hurts inside, and I want to make that go away.”

“How does she make you feel?”

“Beautiful. Competent. Interesting. Sexy. Aggravated and annoyed.” Pia smiled self-consciously. “Wonderful.”

“You haven’t brought anyone home for a long time,” Elana remarked. “And I can’t remember the last time you sounded this excited about anyone. Bring her to dinner tomorrow night so I can get a look at her.”

“Mom.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be subtle.”

“All right. I’ll ask her.”

“There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind about the things you want in life.” Elana gave Pia a firm hug. “I just want you to be happy with whatever choice you make.”

“I know.” Pia kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’m just not sure if what makes me happy now is going to make me happy down the road.”

“That’s something we sometimes need to take on faith.”

Faith, Pia thought. Trust and faith. She remembered the way she had felt with KT in her arms and with KT’s hands on her body. More than she’d ever wanted anything, she wanted to believe that those things were possible with the only woman who had ever touched her so deeply, or stirred her so completely.

“Come on, you should dance with me,” Allie said.

“Again? We just danced,” Bri complained. It wasn’t that she minded dancing. She loved dancing with Carre. Except then, it was more about feeling Carre in her arms the way Carre’s body fit just right into the angle of her belly and thighs, the way Carre’s breasts molded to hers, and the way Carre’s leg fit so naturally between her own. She always got hot when they danced, and more than once, she’d sweet-talked Carre into discreetly easing her discomfort in a dark corner of the bar or the backseat of the car because she couldn’t wait until they got home. Carre always seemed to know when she really needed her, and she never said no. Jeez, I miss her so much.

“We can’t look like we’re just sitting here spying on people,” Allie pointed out reasonably while settling her hand on the inside of Bri’s thigh a few inches above her knee. She caressed the firm muscles beneath the soft leather, stopping a few decorous inches below Bri’s crotch. Leaning close, she whispered in Bri’s ear, “And we’re supposed to look like we’re, you know, a couple. So it’s good if we dance, since you don’t want to make out.”

Allie laughed when Bri gave her a cutting look. “Come on. I’ve been good. This is our third time out together, and I haven’t put the moves on you once.”

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Bri mumbled. Neither her father nor Reese had explicitly said that she and Allie couldn’t check out the area bars for signs of drug dealing or some word about the candy-bowl parties, but she had a pretty good idea that her father would be pissed. She thought maybe Reese would be proud of their initiative, and that helped ease her guilt a little bit. What wasn’t helping her guilt was the fact that dancing with Allie tended to make her homy. She consoled herself with the thought that that was natural, but it still made her feel a little unfaithful. It also made her a lot uncomfortable, and taking care of things herself was getting old pretty fast. “Maybe we should try another place.”

“This place is perfect. It’s a nice mix of gays and hets with plenty of money. You know these guys are looking for easy marks who are going to drop a bundle without thinking twice about it.” She took Bri’s hand and tugged her up from the bar stool. “Come on. I like this song.”

It was one of those songs that you could dance to either fast or slow, and when they made it to the edge of the crowded dance floor, Allie wrapped her arms around Bri’s neck and snuggled into her.

“Mmm, you really are a good dancer,” Allie purred.

“Cut it out,” Bri hissed.

“What?”

“You know what. The thing you’re doing with your hips in my crotch.”

Allie laughed. “Jesus. Carre better come home soon, or you’re going to burst into flames. I’m just dancing”

“That’s not dancing, that’s practically fucking.”

“You wish.” Allie laughed again but eased away until there were a few inches between them. “I must be crazy to cut you a break when you’re in such a weakened condition.”

Bri grinned, “Yeah, yeah.”

Allie was about to make another smart remark when someone pressed close to them in the crowd.

“Hey, you girls looking for a little something to spice up the ride?”

Instinctively, Bri stiffened, but Allie just turned slightly in her arms and regarded the preppy-looking guy with studied disinterest. He was dancing with a woman whose face she couldn’t see. With casual coolness, she replied, “If you’re volunteering, we’re so not interested.”

He laughed, his gaze traveling to Bri’s face and darting quickly away. “Do I look crazy? I can see you two don’t need any help in that department.” He leaned over, his voice low. “I was thinking more along the lines of chemical enhancements.”

“We’re not in the market,” Bri said sharply, moving them away from the interloper. To Allie she said, loud enough for him to hear, “Come on, baby he could be a narc.”

“Hey! No, no!” He followed them persistently. “I’m not trying to sell you anything. I just thought you might like some party favors. You know, an exchange of gifts, so to speak.”

“Sorry,” Allie said regretfully. “We didn’t come prepared.” She hooked her fingers over Bri’s belt and smiled at her seductively, then licked her neck. “But we like to play, don’t we, baby.”

Bri slid an arm around Allie’s shoulders protectively and narrowed her eyes at the man who watched them. “We don’t share some things, got it?”

“I’m telling you, that’s not what this is about.” He slid a business card from his pocket and tucked it into the back pocket of Allie’s tight jeans. He very carefully kept his fingers from touching her body. “There’s a phone number on there. Call it Wednesday night at nine o’clock and ask for Jimmy.”

“And then what?” Allie asked, bumping her hip rhythmically between Bri’s legs in a distinctly proprietary move. She directed her question at the stranger but kept her mouth on Bri’s throat. She looked as if she was about to swallow her whole. .

“Then we’ll party.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pia leaned over and curled her fingers around KT’s forearm. “Doing okay?”

KT looked over her shoulder toward the kitchen to be sure that they wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t know. Am I?”

Laughing, Pia nodded. “Beautifully.”

“Your father hasn’t said more than two words to me all night,” KT said in a low, anxious voice. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so compelled to make a good impression. Maybe when she’d been interviewing for medical school. Actually, thinking back, that hadn’t been half bad. This was much worse.

“That’s one more word than he usually says before he’s finished dinner and read the newspaper.” Amused by KT’s obvious dismay, Pia shifted closer still and kissed KT lightly just below her ear. “Relax.”

“Oh, that’s really going to help,” KT muttered as she turned her head and sought Pia’s mouth for another quick kiss. She nearly jumped out of her chair when Pia’s mother spoke from behind them.

“I can save this dessert until later, if you’d like,” Elana said.

Slowly, holding KT’s gaze, Pia drew away. She wondered if her own eyes were as heavy and hot as KT’s appeared right then. She certainly felt that way inside, as an indolent, simmering heat stole through her limbs and coiled in her core. “No. We should have it now. I’ll take some in to Daddy.”

KT wanted to protest about being abandoned but couldn’t find an acceptable way to do it. A second later, she found herself alone in the dining room with Elana Torres. “Dinner was wonderful. Thank you very much for inviting me.”

“I’m very glad you could come.” Elana poured coffee and inquired with a raised brow if KT would like some. At KT’s nod, she filled another cup. “Do you mind me asking what happened to your hand?”

“Pia didn’t tell you?”

Elana shook her head. “No, only that she was working with you in therapy.”

“Yes. She’s the only thing that’s keeping me going, I think.” KT blinked, stunned at her own admission. “I mean…” She was very aware of Elana watching her carefully with a kind, gentle expression, and it was the complete lack of judgment in her face that allowed KT to voice the thought she hadn’t yet fully admitted to herself. “She has a way of making me believe that I can make it back to the way I was before.”

“I would wager that she makes you work pretty hard for that, too.”

KT laughed. “Oh yeah. She can be pretty tough.”

“Where is it that you want to get back to?”

“My life,” KT said automatically. Then, with a frown, she amended, “I’d like to be able to operate again.”

“I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you not to be able to.”

“It is, but I’m so busy at the clinic that most of the time I don’t think about it.” KT was surprised yet again. Her days were so full that she rarely had time to miss the adrenaline-charged, high-pressure world of the trauma unit. “I can’t believe I just said that, but it’s really true.”

Elana cut a wedge of the deep-dish apple pie she’d made earlier, set it on a plate, and slid it across to KT. “So you’ll go back to Boston when your hand is healed?”

“Yes,” KT said absently, her mind still turning over the fact that she didn’t miss her life in Boston nearly as much now as she had a month ago when she’d arrived. Although her nights were too long and her bed far too lonely, she’d settled into a routine that actually suited her, and she was frighteningly content. She enjoyed her work at the clinic; seeing Tory every day had restored a huge part of her past that she had been forced to deny because it had hurt too much to acknowledge; and, as each day passed, she was more and more drawn to Pia. She counted on seeing her each morning for their therapy session and considered it a victory when Pia agreed to have lunch or dinner with her. She hadn’t touched her again since that morning in the bedroom, and that was something she couldn’t entirely explain. Because she wanted her in the natural, instinctive way she’d always been drawn to beautiful, passionate women. She loved the way the light shimmered over her ebony hair in the sunlight, and the full, throaty sound of her laughter, and the tender, knowing touch of her hands. Desiring her because of those things made sense to KT, and perhaps if that had been the entire basis for her attraction, she would have pursued Pia with her usual vigor. But it was Pia’s unwavering belief in her, and what they could accomplish together, that held her captive most of all. Without intending it, she had come to count on that strength and, without realizing it, had allowed Pia’s faith to become hers. It was precisely because Pia meant so much to her that she hadn’t tried again to seduce her.

KT emerged from her musings to find Elana still studying her quietly. “Pia is something of a miracle worker.”

“What a nice thing to say.” Elana smiled. “I can certainly see why she finds you so charming.”

To her utter consternation, KT blushed. Even worse, she was suddenly tongue-tied, aware that she was speaking to the mother of a woman for whom her intentions might be considered less than honorable. “Uh…”

Laughing, Elana rose and squeezed KT gently on the shoulder. “I’m sorry. I promised Pia that I wouldn’t put you on the spot, and I’m afraid that I have.”

“No, you haven’t.” KT grinned. “I’m just out of practice. It’s been an awfully long time since I’ve been taken home to meet the family.”

“Really? How long?”

“About twenty years.” KT stared at Elana, stunned at her reflexive admission. Twenty years ago she’d been practically an innocent. A lifetime had passed since she and another young college student had discovered the wonders of passion in a dorm room late one Saturday night. Tory. So long ago. So young both of us.

“Well, if that’s the case, then Pia must be special.” Elana spoke softly, with calm conviction.

“She is.”

“Good.”

“Mrs. Torres” KT began, suddenly needing to tell her that Pia was more than special and that she would do everything she could to be worthy of Pia’s affections.

“Mom,” Pia said from the doorway. “You’re not interrogating her, are you?”

“Absolutely not.” Elana patted Pia’s cheek affectionately as she passed on her way into the living room to join her husband. “We were just chatting.”

Pia looked after her mother with fond exasperation and then turned back to KT. “I’m sorry. I got caught up talking to my father about some business things,”

“No need to apologize. Your mother is terrific.”

“I was going to get myself some coffee,” Pia said. “How about I refill yours, and we can have it out on the deck?”

“Sounds great.”

A minute later they stood leaning side by side against the railing. It was a typical early-fall evening the air just crisp enough to be invigorating and the ink-black sky overhead littered with thousands of stars. KT was acutely aware of Pia’s bare arm lightly touching hers.

“Cold?” KT inquired quietly.

“A little, but I don’t mind. It’s so beautiful.”

“It is.” KT put her coffee cup on the railing and slid her arm around Pia’s waist. “So are you,”

Pia rested her cheek against KT’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming tonight.”

“I like your parents. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet your brother.”

Pia laughed softly. “Believe me, if he’d been here with his brood, it would’ve been chaos. My mother and her questions were probably enough to subject you to for the first visit.”

“She was fine. I think she just wanted to make sure I was worthy of your affections,” she said lightly.

“I already told her that you were,”

After shifting until Pia was in front of her, KT threaded both arms around her waist and held her loosely against the front of her body. With her cheek caressing the side of Pia’s face, she murmured, “I’m really not.” She kissed the angle of Pia’s jaw. “But I’m hoping you won’t notice.”

Carefully, Pia cradled KT’s left hand in her own, supporting it against her body. “Be careful with this.”

The tenderness of the gesture made KT want to weep. Brushing her lips over Pia’s ear, she tightened her embrace. “It’s okay. I have it on very good authority that it’s nearly healed.”

Laughing, Pia turned her head and nuzzled KT’s neck. “That’s not what I said. What I said was that you are beyond the danger of delayed rapture and that you could start resistive exercises on Monday. That does not equal ‘nearly healed.’”

Suddenly, KT’s head was filled with the sight and sound and scent of Pia. Her next conscious thought, striking KT as swiftly and undeniably as anything in her life ever had, made her want to flee. I’m falling in love with you. Then she was no longer thinking at all. Her breasts and belly ached where they pressed against Pia’s body, longing for more contact, desperately seeking a deeper connection. Her thighs trembled, and she struggled not to push her pelvis into Pia’s firm backside. Her stomach was in knots and her heart was a mass of confusion and joy. Wordlessly, helplessly, she buried her face in the curve of Pia’s neck.

“What?” Pia asked gently, rubbing her hands up and down KT’s forearms as they crossed her midsection. “What is it? KT? You’re shaking.”

“I love the way you feel.”

There was something in the quiet urgency of KT’s voice that struck at Pia’s heart. Turning carefully within the circle of KT’s arms, she wrapped her own arms around KT’s neck. “Mmm, I like the way you feel, too.”

Then, leaning back against the deck railing, Pia drew KT to her until their bodies joined. With one hand behind KT’s neck, Pia guided KT’s head down until their lips met, and then she treated herself to a slow, luxurious exploration of KT’s warm, clever mouth.

It was the first time they had kissed, really kissed, and KT lost track of time. She lost all awareness of the brisk sea air and the distant roar of the surf and the brilliant glitter of the stars overhead. Everything was heat and thunder and a raging peace that stole through her like the breathless calm just before the heavens opened. It was wondrous and wild and far, far too long since she had been touched so deeply. Groaning, she edged her hips between Pia’s thighs and pressed hard into her, her good hand smoothing up Pia’s side to the undersurface of her breast. When Pia quivered and moaned tremulously, KT froze. It wasn’t just that they were standing on Pia’s parents’ deck, ten feet from the brightly lit kitchen, that brought her up short, but more the fact that she was about to cross a line from which she would never be able to turn back. Until now, the promise of Pia’s body had been only a dream. Once she had felt her, flesh on flesh, she would never be able to banish the wanting.

Shuddering, KT pushed away. “Dangerous territory.”

“Touching me?” Pia asked, her breath short and ragged, “Or touching me out here?”

KT grinned weakly. “Both.”

Pia stroked KT’s face, her fingers shaking. “Why did you really stop?”

“I seem to have an embarrassing lack of self-control where you’re concerned,” KT murmured, taking Pia’s hand in hers. “Translated, that means I can’t seem to keep my hands off you.” She grimaced and lifted her left hand. “Well, one hand anyway.”

“Is there some reason that you think you should?” Still leaning back against the railing, Pia swung their joined hands in an easy arc between them.

“You don’t understand.” In the moonlight, KT’s face was a study in sharp planes and angles. Her voice held an edge as well. “I don’t want to stop, and every time I touch you, it gets harder. One of these times, I’m not going to be able to stop.”

“And one of these times, I won’t want you to.”

“That’s not what you said you wanted, Pia.” KT closed the distance between them and cupped Pia’s chin in her hand, tilting her face up until their mouths nearly touched. “Forever, you said.”

Pia’s vision blurred as she tried to hold KT’s fierce gaze. The energy pouring off KT’s body slammed into hers and lightning streaked through her depths. “I still want that. I always thought I would have forever with someone I wanted as much as I want you. Maybe I won’t. Right now I don’t care.”

“I care. Damn it,” KT muttered as she took Pia’s mouth again. I care.

The force of KT’s kiss stunned Pia almost as much as her subsequent turning and walking away shocked her. “Where are you going?”

“To thank your mother and father,” KT said without turning around. “Then I’m going for a walk.”

“KT,” Pia called after her, but she had already stepped through the doorway into the kitchen and did not turn back.