Chase still hadn’t returned when Lily got up the next morning. By now she’d come to recognize that long callouts happened frequently, but that didn’t make the waiting any easier. Having no idea where Chase was and only the vaguest picture of what she might be doing didn’t help either. She wasn’t prone to catastrophic thinking—at least she never used to be—but then anxiety was a foreign emotion too until the pandemic, when uncertainty and apprehension became the order of the day. She’d started to reprogram while she’d been at camp, finding the steadiness that had always come naturally to her. Still, on the third morning with no sign of Chase’s Jeep and no word from her—at least no word to her—Lily was done with waiting.
“Have you seen Sarah?” she asked Alisha, who was curled up in her usual spot on the sofa in the great room with her morning coffee.
“Mmm,” Alisha said. “She walked through a few minutes ago with coffee. Went out the front, so I don’t think she’s in her office.”
“Thanks,” Lily said and hurried to get coffee before starting her search. Besides, she had a pretty good idea where she’d find her.
“Muffins are ready,” Clara called when Lily walked into the kitchen. “Lemon poppyseed.”
“Can I take two?” Lily detoured to the big stainless steel counter and the cooling racks of muffins.
Clara laughed. “Honey, you can take as many as you want.”
Lily wrapped two in a paper towel along with a couple of napkins and walked down the trail to the lake. Despite her never-go-anywhere-without-them boots, she watched the path for any early morning sunbathers. The evenings rarely cooled off more than a few degrees below the sizzling daytime temps, and the wildlife seemed most active in the very early hours.
People too, it seemed.
Sarah sat on the far end of the little dock, facing the lake with her legs dangling over the water. She didn’t turn as Lily approached, though she must have felt her as the dock swayed and creaked with every step.
“Hi,” Lily said as she carefully juggled her coffee and muffins to sit down beside Sarah. “Muffin?”
“Lemon poppyseed?”
“Uh-huh.”
Sarah held out her hand. “Thanks.”
“So,” Lily said, sipping her own steaming cup of coffee, “I was wondering—”
“She’s still up at Bear Mountain,” Sarah said. “Natalie just radioed an update, or I would have told you sooner.”
“Did they get the hikers out okay?”
“Yes—a trio of very lucky tourists who were a few hundred feet farther up the trail when the slide started. They had water with them, luckily, but not much in the way of food.”
Lily sighed. “They obviously never spent a summer at a DEC camp.”
Sarah laughed. “Really—most wilderness adventurers could benefit from it. Of course, we’d need a lot more camps and a lot more counselors and a hell of a lot more money.” She eyed Lily. “And of course, medics.”
“I could be persuaded to volunteer again,” Lily said without a second’s hesitation. She’d never actually considered it until then, but as soon as she’d said it, she knew it was true. Her role had turned out to involve so much more than just tending to the routine illnesses, injuries, and occasional emotional issues that were commonplace in every ER and primary care practice. She’d led discussion groups on topics from career paths to family planning, and learned more from the teens than she could have at any seminar on adolescent medicine. And she’d learned things about herself she’d never guessed at—like her bizarre desire to excel at outdoor activities. With the exception of fishing. That ranked high on her activities-to-be-avoided list. Her excitement at the idea of returning quickly turned to disappointment. “I don’t know how I’d swing the time off, though.”
“You’ll have almost a year to work that out,” Sarah said mildly. “Tonight’s big outing marks our halfway point. In another five weeks the kids will have to start thinking about going back to school—and a couple will be heading off to college.”
“Do you think Chase will make it?” Lily asked, feeling just a little selfish that she didn’t want to spend the Fourth of July celebration without her.
Sarah shrugged. “Hard to know. Natalie said they were still clearing the rockfall, and then they’d have to repair the trail washout. If the ground is dry enough for them to maneuver the Bobcats and backhoes in there.”
At Lily’s blank look, Sarah laughed. “Bobcats are like mini bulldozers. Very agile in close quarters. Great for moving rocks and dirt around.”
Lily thought of Chase’s newly healed shoulder, and the older back injury that had changed Chase’s life. “That’s hard labor.”
“Pretty much everything they do is,” Sarah said.
“She’s amazing,” Lily said almost to herself, thinking about what it must’ve taken for Chase to physically recover to the point she could do this work—despite never being totally pain free.
“Amazing,” Sarah murmured. “Amazingly stubborn, more like it.”
“That stubbornness is what made her incredible recovery possible,” Lily said gently.
“She told you, didn’t she,” Sarah said. “About the fall.”
“Yes,” Lily said simply. “And I’ve seen the damage. I treated her, remember.”
“And seen her naked,” Sarah pointed out.
Lily stiffened but kept her tone mild. “Afterward, yes.”
Sarah grimaced. “Sorry. That was an asinine comment.”
“You’re worried about her. I understand. So am I.”
“I’m not sure you really understand.”
“Then explain it to me,” Lily said. They weren’t talking about Chase now, although she wasn’t certain Sarah realized that. “What are you afraid of?”
“Did she tell you she was climbing a route that had never been free-climbed before? Did she tell you that more than one older, more experienced climber cautioned her against it?”
“No,” Lily said.
“Did she tell you that when they called me they told me she wasn’t likely to walk again, if she lived?”
Sarah’s anger was so palpable, Lily prayed never to experience the fear that must have bred it. She drew a long breath. “I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must’ve been for you.”
“No,” Sarah said on a long sigh, “and what made it even worse was that I always expected it. Something like that, at least. The call in the middle of the night that there’d been a car accident, or they’d found her somewhere at the bottom of some fucking ravine.”
Lily silently waited.
“And you know what’s really the hardest thing of all,” Sarah said, her gaze fixed out over the glassy surface of the lake. “I hate, hate, that she can’t do what she loves to do so much any longer. That she can’t climb anymore, not like she did. It’s like clipping the wings on a bird. As much as I’m glad that she doesn’t free-climb, I hate that she can’t.”
“Of course you do,” Lily said. “You hate that she lost something that she loves, and it hurts her.”
Sarah turned toward her suddenly. “I’ve forgotten how good you are at reading what people don’t say.”
“Occupational skill,” Lily said softly.
Sarah shook her head. “It might make you better at what you do, but it’s just who you are. But you didn’t read all of that. Not what might be the most important part. Chase told you. She never talks about what happened with anyone. I can’t tell which one of you has gotten hooked.”
Lily groaned. “Please—can we not do the fish thing again? Have you actually looked at those mouths with all those little pointy teeth?”
She shuddered.
Sarah laughed, though her laughter held an undercurrent of sorrow. “Something monumental must have happened for Chase to tell you that story.”
“Maybe it isn’t that at all,” Lily said gently. “Maybe Chase’s healed much more than you think.”
“You mean much more than I’m willing to see?”
“Sometimes, we have to let go of our pain—and our guilt—in order to realize that someone else has too.”
Sarah quirked a brow. “Physician heal thyself?”
Lily chuckled wryly. “Touché.”
Sarah gave Lily a quick hug. “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll work on it.”
“Will you let me know when you hear anything more?”
“Of course.” Sarah rose and held out a hand to Lily. “Come on. I’m willing to bet your clinic is empty this morning.”
Lily laughed. “Naturally. No mysterious ailments are in order on the Fourth of July when we have a trip to town and a cruise scheduled.”
Sarah nodded. “If I know my sister, she’ll find a way to make it. Never one to miss a party.”
Lily hoped so. She wanted a few more minutes with Chase when there suddenly seemed to be so little time left.
* * *
Chase rewound the winch attached to the front of her Jeep, backed into a turnaround by the side of the trail, and stepped out, carefully stretching the screaming muscles in her lower back and legs. After three days in the cab in ninety-degree weather, sleeping on an air mattress in a bunk in the equipment trailer, and showering for a minute every twenty-four hours, she was tired, sore, and generally grungy. And couldn’t be happier. The hikers were taking it easy in some hotel somewhere, all medically cleared, the trail was secured and ready to reopen, and she was going to a party.
“I think that’s the last of it,” Tom Perry called to her.
“Yep. Nat wants to wait twenty-four hours until things dry out. Should be good to go by then.”
“Looks that way,” Tom said, pausing beside her as two volunteer assistant rangers, both muddy and bedraggled, trooped past them toward their vehicle. He shook his head. “Gonna be a long summer.”
Chase laughed. “I sure hope so.”
He gave her a look. They all loved summer, despite the increase in their workload, but something in the way she’d said it must’ve caught his attention. She shook her head. She wasn’t about to tell him that she hoped the summer went on forever if it meant that Lily didn’t leave. She didn’t want to think too much about that herself.
Lily was here, and if she could read the signals—which she could—Lily wanted her just as much as she wanted Lily. No point in thinking about anything else—especially when there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about the future. She’d learned that lesson the hard way—along with the even harder lesson that good things always came to an end. She’d enjoy this while she could and try her best to see that Lily did too.
With a wave, she pulled onto the access road for the trek down the mountain and radioed Nat. “Fielder, leaving Bear Mountain trail, over.”
“Copy that,” Nat came back. “I’m headed over to Lake George.”
“Hold the boat,” Chase said.
“Better hurry.”
Chase laughed and kicked up the speed on the Jeep. “I’ll make it.”
She had the best reason in the world to be on that ship—a woman she couldn’t get out of her mind.
* * *
When Chase pulled in at the lodge, she didn’t see a soul, and the lot was empty except for Lily’s BMW. With a curse, she hopped out of the Jeep, took the stairs up to her quarters two at a time, took another one-minute shower, pulled on a clean short-sleeved uniform shirt and pants, grabbed her utility belt, and raced back down to the Jeep. After locking her service weapon in the lockbox bolted behind the seat, she took the downhill tract faster than she should have—counting on skill and luck not to blow a tire or break an axle—and broke a few speed limits getting into the village. As she rounded the turn onto the beach road where the big tour ships took on passengers, she let out a sigh of relief. The William Henry was still in port, although it looked like everyone was boarded and the crew was getting ready to pull up the gangplank. She quickly slotted her department Jeep into a spot that said Official Vehicles Only reserved for village police—hopefully they’d extend her the professional courtesy of not ticketing her—and jogged across the boulevard through throngs of tourists and down the dock to the ship.
“Hold up,” she called when she was twenty feet away. One of the crew had just begun unwinding the chain that moored the end of the wide gangplank to the dock. “Coming aboard!”
The sailor—a young brunette Chase knew from the social scene around town—looked up, saw her coming, and smiled. “Cutting it close there, Chase.”
Chase grinned as she jumped onto the gangplank. “Thanks, Arden. I wouldn’t want to miss this.”
Arden gave her another smile as she worked the opposite chains loose. “Look me up later?”
“Appreciate it, but I’ve got the campers.” She shrugged apologetically.
Arden gave her a look and a knowing nod. “Uh-huh. Some other time then.”
“Thanks again,” Chase said and hustled up the gangplank with Arden, who’d finished releasing the moorings, close behind.
The crew waiting shipside pulled in the gangplank, and the William Henry slowly eased away from the dock with its characteristic three-blast salute from the ship’s booming horn. As Chase made her way forward, the captain’s voice came over the intercom.
“Welcome to the William Henry,” her voice rang out through the loudspeakers. “Our cruising time tonight is three hours and thirty minutes. We will be traversing beautiful Lake George on a route through the picturesque Islands of the Narrows. Weather report says clear skies and sunny all the way. En route, our guides will be informing you of the natural and historic wonders along the shore as we range first up the eastern shore and return along the western shore at sunset. Dinner will be served compliments of our crew in one hour. Enjoy the ride.”
The first level was packed with campers and the majority of their families. Natalie and most of the district rangers not out on call were also present to celebrate one of the favorite evenings of the summer season. Chase wended her way through the crowd, slowing only long enough to return quick greetings, until she spied Sarah on the second level not far from the stairwell.
“Hi,” Chase said as she edged into a place by the rail. “Everything okay? Sorry I’m late.”
“I thought you’d missed it altogether,” Sarah said, giving her a quick appraising glance.
Chase knew the look. Sarah surreptitiously, or so she thought, checking her over. Ever since her fall, Sarah looked for injuries after she’d been out on a call. Before that, she’d been looking for signs of forbidden teen activity. Maybe one day she’d stop trying to protect Chase from herself. Maybe. Chase spread her arms as far as she could in the crowd. “All in one piece.”
Sarah smiled. “Always glad to hear that.”
“Have you seen—”
“She’s up on the top level, toward the bow,” Sarah finished. “She wanted a spot with a view.”
“Thanks. I’ll just go see how’s she’s doing.”
“Chase,” Sarah said.
Chase turned back with a questioning look.
“You know what you’re doing, right?”
“Relax, Sarah.” Chase gave her sister’s arm a squeeze. “We’ve got it under control.”
“All right then,” Sarah said quietly. “Enjoy the ride.”
If Chase didn’t know better, she’d think that was a double entendre, but that wasn’t her sister’s way. Although she fully intended to ride the whirlwind with Lily, for however long that might be.
She found Lily where Sarah had said, facing forward at the bow, one hand on the rail, the other holding a drink. She’d freed her blond hair from its usual clasp at the back of her neck, and shimmering strands floated around her neck and shoulders in the spray wafting up from the water below. She’d chosen a sleeveless, pale green top and white shorts with low-heeled sandals for the evening. Simple, elegant, totally Lily. Chase stopped at the small bar tucked under the captain’s observation deck.
“Any chance you’ve got wine?” she asked the middle-aged bartender whose tailored white shirt and rolled-up sleeves showcased his buff build.
“You’re not wearing a red wristband,” he said with a grin, “but you look like you’re over twenty-one.”
Chase laughed. “Definitely in the rearview. How’s it going, Jimmy?”
“Well, I’d rather be fishing, but this is a close second.” He laughed. “How are the trout running up at Colter’s Creek?”
“Plenty of legal size. Not too many out-of-towners that far up the creek either. You headed up that way?”
“I’ll take a week up at the camp middle of July.”
“Good. Let me know if everything looks okay up that way. I’ll swing by when I can.”
“No problem. There you go.” Jimmy handed her a plastic cup with white wine and a couple ice cubes.
The crowd on the top deck had gotten heavier in the short time she’d been waiting for her drink as sightseers migrated up from the lower levels for the air and the view. Chase angled her way through the jostling, boisterous clumps of teens and families until she made it close to Lily’s right shoulder. She rested her fingertips very lightly on the lower curve of Lily’s spine and said, “I told you it was pretty out here.”
Lily slowly turned and looked up. Her eyes widened with welcome, a warm, sensuous gaze that kindled a fire in Chase’s belly. “I don’t know how you managed it, but you continually surprise me. Hello.”
Chase vibrated with the need to kiss her. The entire time she’d been scaling rock piles and muddy escarpments to reach the marooned hikers and later moving a ton of debris off the trail, she’d been ambushed by images of their night together. Images that churned her up and turned her muscles to jelly. She had to satisfy herself with running her fingertip down Lily’s bare arm, out of view. “I told you tonight was special. Did you think I would miss spending it with you?”
“I think you have an extraordinarily demanding job, this is a very busy time of year, and I would understand if you missed it.” Lily laughed lightly. “After three days with no word from you, I had reconciled myself to seeing the sights solo.”
Chase pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, you wound me. How little faith.”
Lily laughed again, the sound a delighted one. “I doubt very much I’ve dealt a lethal blow.”
“Then let me say that I would be very disappointed to miss you tonight.”
Lily sipped her drink and met Chase’s eyes again. This time her gaze held an invitation that did nothing for Chase’s composure. It was going to be a long night.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t be disappointed that you couldn’t be here,” Lily said.
“Then all my wounds are healed.”
Lily shook her head. “Far too easy.”
“Where you’re concerned.” That earned Chase an eye roll, and she added, “I would have gotten word to you if I could have. I hoped Nat would.”
Lily squeezed her hand. “I know. And Sarah kept me up to date as much as she could.” She paused. “I was worried. I know there’s no need to be—I think it’s mostly I don’t know what you’re doing. I only know it’s potentially hazardous.”
“You don’t need to worry,” Chase said softly. “I had a very good reason to get back here on time and in one piece.”
“I’m very glad for both.” Lily gestured at the campers, parents, and staff crowded along the rails and sitting in the central seating area. “This really is fun.”
Chase nodded. “How are things going?”
“Well, I think. Quite a number of families showed up, and the campers seem happy to see them, which in and of itself is a miracle considering that teenagers usually aren’t keen to spend a night out with their parents.”
“I think when the kid’s been away half the summer at camp, they’re secretly glad, although they probably don’t say so.”
Lily tilted her head toward the far rail where Marty stood with Ford. “Their families didn’t come, but I saw Julia with another woman who I think is also Ford’s security.”
Chase grimaced. “I guess someone thought Ford would be a flight risk if she left camp. I don’t get that feeling, do you?”
Lily shook her head. “I don’t. She seems to have settled in, especially since she and Marty have become friends. The two of them have been doing a lot of the activities together, and Shannon and Ford don’t seem quite as tight any longer.”
“I don’t think I saw Shannon on my way through,” Chase said, “but I wasn’t looking for her either.”
“She was on the first deck with Derek. I think the two of them have a thing going.”
“I’m sure they’re not the only ones.” Chase laughed. “We’ve got a bunch of older kids at camp. That always happens. Usually nothing too heavy.”
Lily shook her head. “I guess it does. Obviously, I missed an important developmental milestone by not going to camp when I was younger.”
“I really would’ve liked it if you had,” Chase said. “I definitely would’ve made a move.”
Lily stared and then burst out laughing. “Oh, and you’re so certain I would’ve just instantly melted?”
Chase looked around and then leaned closer. She still wanted to kiss her, but there was no way she could do that. Instead, she murmured in her ear, “I can be very persuasive.”
“I’ve noticed.” Lily leaned on the rail as the ship steamed through the islands that dotted the lake like green emeralds. “This really is very beautiful. I’m so glad I did this.”
“Did what?” Chase asked.
“Decided to come here for the summer. It’s an amazing experience on so many levels.”
Chase’s stomach tightened. For the summer. She knew that, she’d always known that. She forced a smile. “I’m glad. You seem like you’ve found your direction again.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Lily mused, finishing her drink. “In a lot of ways, it feels like I’ve found more of myself than I’ve ever actually appreciated.” She held out her empty cup to Chase. “Do you think you could get me a refill so I don’t miss the excitement up here?”
“At your service,” Chase said and took the cup. “What are you drinking?”
“That was seltzer, but I’m ready to switch to white wine.”
“Do you have your little red wristband?”
Lily held up her left wrist with the referenced band. “I do, not that I need it.”
“Oh, I don’t know. You’re beautiful enough to raise the question.”
Lily regarded her solemnly for a second. “You know, you’re far more devastating when you’re serious.”
“I’ll remember that, then. Don’t go away.” Chase leaned in again. “There will be fireworks later.”
Lily murmured, “I wouldn’t miss it.”