Andy woke disoriented. Her body tensed as she took in details in rapid succession: cold outside the blanket, muted rain against the roof, dawn lighting the open room of the small cabin. And Kate asleep beside her, face turned away, red curls in chaos over her pillow.
Andy breathed, stilled her body, and slowed her mind. She felt a peace settle over her, a feeling she only associated with waking up to Kate in bed. She’d missed that feeling. God, she’d missed it. Andy watched the shallow rise and fall of Kate’s back as she breathed, her arms under the pillow, her body pressed down into the bed. When Kate slept well, she slept hard.
Andy fought the urge to stroke Kate’s back with her hand, to press her palm gently between her shoulder blades and feel the soft warmth of her skin. She would let her sleep for now, simply content to have Kate here. As that realization sunk in, surging joy spread up through Andy’s chest. Her heart stuttered, and she smiled to herself. Kate was back. Different, yes. A little. But not in her smile, not in the way she looked at Andy or the way their bodies reacted to each other. Not in the way she loved Andy. That had not changed. Andy felt peace, contentment. She never wanted to lose her again.
Very slowly, still conflicted about waking Kate, Andy moved her hand toward Kate’s back, letting it hover over the warmth of her skin. She held it there for a long time, then very slowly pressed her palm against her back. Andy always felt instant warmth and this rapid-fire rhythm of her heart when she touched Kate. Kate stirred beneath Andy’s hand, a deeper breath, a slow stretch of her spine, and finally she turned her head on the pillow and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and smiled sleepily.
“Andy.”
Kate said her name like a statement of fact, undisputable and solid. Andy ran her hand very lightly up Kate’s spine, feeling her body slowly waking up.
“Good morning,” Andy said quietly, happily.
They looked at each other for a long time, neither in any hurry to talk or move, listening to the very light patter of rain against the roof as it dripped off the tree branches. They were cocooned, and it felt so much like their cabin in Montana that Andy was briefly, wonderfully disoriented.
Kate stretched her whole body, this time from the tips of her fingers down her neck, her spine, hips and legs and right to her toes. Then she let out a long breath and turned on her side, sliding her hand on Andy’s hip, skimming her fingers over the scar.
“So, do you happen to have any coffee?” Kate said, her eyes shining.
Andy laughed. No hesitation, no worry, no need to hide. She just laughed. “Sorry, no coffee,” she said. “If you really need to wake up, we could go for a run.” Kate made a face, and Andy laughed again.
“My attitude towards exercise hasn’t changed that much,” Kate said, burrowing in closer to Andy. “Therapist recommendations or not.” Andy felt Kate’s body stiffen just slightly, then relax again as if she’d considered worrying then remembered she didn’t have to. They both held still, letting the fifty-five days catch up to them and acknowledging with the morning light that things had changed.
Andy touched the tips of her fingers to the soft skin under Kate’s eyes. It was impossible not to touch Kate. Andy loved the reassurance of her presence, the thrill of familiarity. Kate smiled and propped herself up on one elbow, long red curls spilling through her fingers. Andy was aware that time was passing, the sun climbing higher outside the window. Nothing else seemed important. Nothing could compete with Kate in her bed, telling her where she’d been the last two months.
“Does it bother you that I was able to talk to someone else? That it wasn’t you?” Kate’s forehead wrinkled slightly, the worry causing her voice to dip. Andy tugged gently on one of Kate’s curls, wrapping it around her fingers. “That depends,” Andy said. “Was she cute?”
Kate poked her in the ribs, making Andy laugh.
“No, she wasn’t cute.” Kate shook her head. “Isn’t. I’m still seeing her.” Andy heard a question in Kate’s voice now, an uncertainty. It was the same tone she’d had when she left the message on Andy’s phone, the same tone as the night before, telling Andy that she wasn’t better yet, that she was still working on it. Andy wished she could reassure Kate, explain how relieved she was to hear Kate was able to open up to someone. Andy smoothed the wrinkle on Kate’s forehead with her finger, trailed her hand down Kate’s face, and was rewarded with a look of contentment.
“I’d rather be your partner and your lover than your therapist, Kate,” Andy said.
As a cop, the word partner meant something different to her. The word girlfriend had been sufficient in the past, but it had never been quite right with Kate. And for the first time in two months, Andy allowed herself to hear in her head the word she wanted to use. Wife. That’s the word that fit, that adequately summed up how she had always felt about Kate.
Andy didn’t say this out loud, though. It was too soon. Kate was barely back, and Andy was too conscious of not pushing, of not crossing the line. Instead, Andy shifted her arms around Kate and pulled her in closer, thinking it didn’t seem possible Kate would ever be close enough. Kate slid her hips over Andy’s in the easiest, most familiar way and caused a slow, hot sensation to spread through Andy’s core. With her dark red hair creating a curtain around them, Kate leaned down and kissed Andy, very slowly and gently. Andy could feel Kate’s lips curl up into a smile as they kissed, like her own joy was impossible to contain. Andy knew exactly how she felt.
A light but insistent knock at the door made them both freeze. “It’s probably Kurtz,” Andy said as Kate slid off, covering herself with the blanket.
Andy pulled on her cold sweatshirt and running pants, her feet chilled against the floorboards. With a quick glance back at Kate, who was mostly hidden by blankets, she opened the door. Tara stood on the porch in a bright yellow slicker, her long braid tucked back under her hood. She smiled knowingly and held out a basket when Andy opened the door.
“Thought you two might be hungry,” Tara said as Andy took the heavy basket. She could feel something warm against the tea towel draped over top. Tara also pulled out Andy’s radio from a large pocket in her jacket. “And your radio started squawking about half an hour ago. Kurtz broke into your room to get it. And just so you know, the cabin isn’t booked until New Year’s, so feel free to stay. Just let me know, and I’ll stock the kitchen.”
“Thanks, Tara,” Andy said gratefully.
Tara left again without another word, her dirty boots thumping across the porch. Andy closed the door and carried the basket over to Kate who sat up with the blankets tucked under her arms. Andy handed her the basket and knelt in front of the fireplace, shifting the still hot coals and adding a small piece of wood. Kate sorted through the basket, giving the occasional exclamation of surprise.
“Oooh, biscuits. They’re still warm! And I’m guessing this is coffee. And some jam and butter. Here’s cream and a little sugar. This is amazing.”
Andy finished with the fireplace and found two mugs in the kitchen cupboards. She poured them each a cup from the silver thermos, adding cream and sugar for Kate and keeping it black for herself. She handed over the mug and watched Kate sipping and sighing contentedly. Andy gave a silent prayer of thanks to no one in particular for the simple pleasure of watching Kate take her first sip of coffee in the morning.
Sitting on the bed at Kate’s side, Andy broke open a warm biscuit, spread butter on both halves then held up the jam, waiting for Kate’s nod of approval before spreading it on and handing it over. Kate bit in happily and closed her eyes, savouring each bite. Andy prepared another and handed it over before making one for herself. They ate silently, contentedly, until the static squawk of Les’s voice on the radio interrupted their breakfast in bed.
“Camp Depot to Sgt. Wyles. Andy, you around?” Les seemed calm enough, no note of urgency in her tone. But as Andy picked up the radio, she felt the weight of responsibility settle back on her shoulders. She remembered she had a job to do. They both did.
Andy pushed down the button as she spoke into the radio. “Wyles here. How’s camp, Sgt. Manitou?”
“All cadets accounted for. And instructors, for that matter. Our camp medic, however, is itching to get the heck out of Dodge. Any thoughts on your ETA? She’s hoping to make the ten thirty bus out of Kamloops this morning.”
Andy stood up from the bed, rummaged on the floor until she found her watch. 8:37 a.m. They could make it if they hurried. “Tell Ms. Stinson to be packed and ready to go, we’ll be there in forty-five minutes.”
“We?”
Andy smiled at Kate. “Dr. Morrison arrived last night. I’ll bring her up to camp with me.”
There was a long pause, and Andy wondered why the sergeant was taking so long to respond. “Sorry, Sgt. Wyles. I believe your transmission cut out. I’ll tell the medic you’ll be here in time to get her on the noon bus out of Kamloops. See you in a few hours. Camp Depot out.”
Andy shook her head, put the radio on the bedside table, and picked up her coffee. Kate seemed to have eaten enough, and was sitting up in bed. She looked fully awake and alert, her brown eyes bright and full of questions.
“So, tell me about the cadets,” Kate said, wiping crumbs from her fingers and taking a sip of her coffee.
“What information have you already been given?” Andy said, hedging.
Kate summarized the background of the troop as a whole, the cadet’s tragic death, the money, the question of drugs, and the troop’s unique ability to close rank. “But I don’t know much about the cadets themselves. Staff Sgt. Finns only said your role was to get to the bottom of what was going on. Mine is to make sure everyone remains healthy and uninjured. And I assume my presence is also insurance against future lawsuits.” Andy had always appreciated the way Kate could see past any bullshit, right to the core facts of a situation. “So, are you going to tell me or what?”
Andy thought about it. “No,” she said and laughed at Kate’s expression. “But for a good reason. I don’t want to bias you, I want to know what you see without my impressions. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, I guess it does,” Kate said grudgingly. “But I’ll need to see their files, their medical information. How about I see each cadet individually, do a baseline physical, and read the relevant information then? If we do that today, I could give you my first impressions tonight and you can fill me in on the rest.”
“Yes, but let’s make it a team meeting tonight with you, me, Sergeant Trokof, and the three instructors. We haven’t had the chance to sit down formally, so let’s do that tonight.”
Kate suddenly looked nervous, and she put down her coffee cup and leaned forward. Andy could see the long arc of her naked back down to her hips, but she concentrated on the expression on Kate’s face, noticing with an ache in her chest the way Kate stopped when she tried to work through whatever she was thinking by worrying the ring now gone from her left hand.
“How is this going to go? How do we work together?”
“The way we always have,” Andy said steadily.
Kate immediately shook her head again, like she was frustrated she couldn’t get the words out properly. “But I did it badly, navigating our relationship and everyone else while we worked together. It was one of the things I just left up to you.”
Slow, slow, think. “And yet you signed a permanent contract with the RCMP,” Andy said quietly. To her surprise, Kate grinned.
“I know, ass backwards isn’t it?”
Andy couldn’t help but smile at the expression on Kate’s face. But she didn’t comment, waiting for Kate to explain.
“I realized I needed to start making actual decisions about my life, no more coasting. And I knew I needed to think about the choices I had and what I wanted to do with my career.” Kate hiked the blanket up higher on her body. “I liked working with the RCMP, but I wasn’t ready to leave the ER. When Superintendent Heath gave me the flexibility of part time, it seemed like the perfect fit. But I knew I had to make the decision not knowing if you would take me back.”
“So right now you’re wondering if we walk into camp in an hour holding hands?”
“Exactly,” Kate said, clearly relieved.
“Here are my thoughts, let me know what you think. We don’t hide our relationship but we certainly don’t flaunt it. I figure if Staff Sergeant Finns wouldn’t make out with his wife at the office, why would I?”
Kate tilted her head back and laughed, a delighted sound that echoed off the walls of the cabin. Andy shifted in close to Kate, slid one hand around the back of her neck and kissed Kate’s throat.
“But just so you know, it’s going to be next to impossible not to touch you. You, Dr. Kate Morrison, civilian consultant with the RCMP’s E-division, are going to be the most incredible distraction.”
Kate had her eyes closed, and her whole body shivered at Andy’s touch. “But we can do this,” Kate said, somewhat breathlessly. It was both a question and a statement.
Andy pulled back and waited for Kate to open her eyes. “Yes,” she said simply.
Kate’s brown eyes sparkled. “Then we should probably get going. I’m on probation for the next three months so we better put on a good show.”
Andy gave Kate one last kiss, leaving them both breathless.
“We always do.”
*
When they arrived, camp was quiet. They could hear the low rumble of voices coming from the meeting hall, and Andy recognized the even, steady pitch of Constable Meyers’s instruction. It was raining steadily and it wasn’t supposed to let up for the next few days, according to Kurtz. She’d driven Kate and Andy up to camp, wanting to check out the state of the temporary road and make sure there was no risk of wash-out during this soggy, wet season.
“The instructors are probably in the kitchen,” Andy said to Kate. Wood smoke mixed with the smell of wet pine, wet rock, and burnt toast as Andy pulled open the door .
“Good morning, Sgt. Wyles,” said Sergeant Trokof. Impeccably dressed, he sat ramrod straight with a triangle of lightly blackened toast and a coffee in front of him. Zeb and Les were also at the table, Les looking through a stack of marking, Zeb peering down the cracked barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun, its bright orange stock identifying it as a non-lethal or bean bag round. Andy had to assume the medic was hiding in her cabin.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Kate Morrison, civilian consultant with E-division and our new camp doctor.” Andy didn’t stop the swell of pride at introducing Kate to her new team.
Kate stepped forward and shook hands with the instructors. As Les sat down again, she shot Andy a quick, questioning look. Andy just smiled and Les gave a subtle thumbs up, grinning.
“How are things going this morning?” Andy said, dropping Kate’s medical kit next to the door and taking a seat. Kate sat across the table, her expression open and curious.
“We did roll call at six this morning, ran them in the rain, which they hated, and then gave them ten minutes to dry out. They’ve been in the classroom ever since,” Zeb said, twisting the barrel of the shotgun in his hands, looking annoyed. “These fucking things are going to be the death of me,” he grumbled, untwisting it again and peering closely at the grooved threads.
“Constable Zeb,” Trokof admonished, putting down his coffee.
Zeb looked up, confused. “What?”
“That’s unacceptable language with ladies present.”
Andy, Les, and Kate looked at each other, amused.
“Really, Sergeant?” Les said. “To which ‘lady’ might you be referring?”
Trokof looked between the three women. “Well, we don’t know Dr. Morrison, do we? We should be showing her our best side, even out here at Camp Depot.”
Kate shook her head, a perfect, mischievous smile on her face. “There are a lot of things you can call me, Sergeant Trokof, including Kate. But I’m afraid ‘lady’ isn’t one of them.”
Les laughed out loud, smacking the top of her pile of marking with her palm. Zeb grinned and even Trokof managed an amused shake of his head.
“Well, let’s just keep our language in check, shall we? We are peace officers, and we have an obligation to maintain a sense of duty and decorum at all times.” Sergeant Trokof paused, and then he dropped his voice, the Newfie accent once again emerging. “Even when we don’t fuckin’ want to.”
Andy gave a shocked laugh at hearing Sergeant Trokof, the toughest bastard at Depot, dropping the f-bomb. She caught Kate’s eye and grinned.
Just then the door to the kitchen cabin opened and Constable Meyers walked in. Andy quickly introduced Kate, and he shook her hand politely.
“I’ve given the cadets a quiz,” Meyers said in his quiet, assured voice. Andy wondered if anything ever worked the man up. He had the most even temperament of anyone Andy had ever met.
“Aren’t they going to cheat?” Kate said to the tall officer as he poured himself a coffee and sat down.
Meyers shrugged. “It’s a warm up quiz, doesn’t count for anything. So I gave them five minutes to cheat, then they’re on their own.”
Andy checked her watch and saw it was just after ten. She was going to have to leave soon to take the still-missing medic into town.
Trokof noticed her check her watch. “What’s the plan, Sgt. Wyles?”
Andy looked around the table, the members of her new team looking back at her expectantly. “Are the cadets in class all day today?”
“All day,” Les said.
Andy indicated Kate with a quick nod of her head. “Dr. Morrison would like to do a physical on each cadet. We’re going to set up the spare cabin as an examination room. If you could release the cadets from class one at a time to see her, we should get through the whole troop by the end of the day. Then tonight, I’d like to have a team meeting, gather impressions and information and see where we stand with Troop 18.”
Trokof and the instructors all gave their agreement. Kate shifted in her seat and leaned forward, waiting for a nod of approval from Andy to speak.
“I just want to clarify one thing,” Kate said to the group, her voice quiet and confident. Andy knew not everyone could address a room full of uniformed cops and have the assurance their opinions mattered just as much. It was one of the things Andy had always loved about Kate. “It’s been made clear to me by Chief Training Officer Lincoln that a physical exam is a requirement of the cadets. If they refuse, they could have their training agreement cancelled.”
Kate waited for any questions before carrying on. “Normally, when a patient walks into my exam room, I automatically assume a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement, both ethically and legally. The cadets have, to a degree, waived that right, so any information I gain which is pertinent to their mental or physical performance level or that I believe makes them unfit to continue their contract, can be shared with this team.”
Andy rolled this piece of information around in her head, trying to see it from all angles, to figure out the advantages and disadvantages of what Kate had just shared. There was no question that Kate was right. She would know the legal boundaries of this better than anyone else in the room.
“This isn’t new to the cadets, I take it,” Les said, her expression thoughtful.
Kate shook her head. “No. They would have signed something to that effect when they accepted the contract at Depot. But I will make it clear to each cadet as they walk through the door today, just so there’s no confusion. I am not their family physician. Information shared with me may not necessarily be kept confidential.”
“But then they’re less likely to admit anything to you,” Zeb said, frowning.
“True,” Kate said. “But ethically, I need them to understand the situation. And besides, it doesn’t exactly sound like this troop would willingly give me any information, confidentiality agreement or not.”
She was dead on as usual and Andy saw that none of the instructors opposed this statement.
“So then will you be willing to also share your impressions of the cadets, Dr. Morrison?” Sergeant Trokof said.
Kate smiled at Trokof. “I’ll be happy to share my personal observations on who is compliant, who’s a pain in the ass, that kind of thing.”
Tension eased out of the room a little as Kate skilfully smoothed over any snags, creating a sense of team and trust and absolute confidence. Andy felt her heart kick and suppressed a foolish grin of pride. She had always loved to watch Kate at work.
Meyers checked his watch and lifted his mug to drain his coffee. “Five minutes is up,” he said, then he checked in with Andy for any last minute directions.
“Class and physical exams are what we’re focusing on today,” Andy said. “I’ll take the medic back into Kamloops, and I’m guessing I’ll need to get groceries, so give me your requests now. Then tonight, let’s say nine o’clock, team meeting. Questions?”
Andy surveyed the room, checking for any signs of dissent or disapproval. As the team broke up, back to their individual tasks, Andy caught Kate’s eye, and she knew with absolute certainty what that look was. Together, Kate’s eyes said. We’re back together.