Page 15 of Sanctuary

Her phone vibrated with a message from Rosie.

Can you get us a ride home? I’ll be out in a few minutes.

Lori laughed at the poop emoji that she’d once thought was chocolate ice cream before she ordered a Lyft, and then she watched more of Gabe’s videos while she waited.

“Ooh, who’s that hottie?”

Lori had been so engrossed in TikTok that she hadn’t heard Rosie approach. “You remember I told you that Max’s handler from the Army was visiting last week?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask how that went. Sorry.” Rosie retook her seat and huddled alongside Lori for a closer look. “SoldierGabe? More like SoldierBabe. Wow, she’s…really something.”

Lori gave Rosie a sidelong glance. It was clear her friend was desperate to make the obvious comment, but she somehow managed to stay silent. “I know what you’re thinking.”

Rosie backed away a smidge and held up her hands. “I’m not thinking anything other than I can’t wait to get home to put a hot water bottle on my stomach.”

“I’m sorry, honey. Are you in a lot of pain?”

Rosie scrunched up her nose. “About as much as you might expect after you’ve expelled your entire insides. How long until our ride gets here?”

Lori checked her app and saw that the little car making its way to them was only a few blocks away. “Seven minutes. Do you want to wait outside and get some fresh air?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

They took a final sip of their drinks and headed to the door slowly. Lori pointed to a bench on the sidewalk, and they sat down. Rosie drew in deep lungfuls of the warm night air and blew them out noisily. Lori could feel her practically vibrating with the effort of not saying anything about Gabe being exactly Lori’s type and then some. The lawyer had been butch, but she was small fry compared to Gabe—literally. Gabe was about six inches taller and had a lot more muscle. Although that wasn’t saying much since the lawyer had virtually none. Lori found herself wanting to talk to Rosie about Gabe, which wasn’t a good idea because she’d get overexcited and want them to hook up.

“She’s coming to the Sanctuary tomorrow to see Max again,” Lori said as innocently as she could.

Rosie’s head snapped up, and she looked like she might explode with all the questions she was holding in. “I thought she was just passing through.”

“So did I.” Lori ran her thumb across the screen of her phone as the videos she’d just watched played over and over in her mind. Deep, deep sigh.

“But?” Rosie said, her voice raising an octave.

“Turns out that she’s settling in Chicago and opening her own garage with a few of her ex-Army friends. Auto repairs and custom spray jobs, that sort of thing.”

Rosie turned slightly to face Lori. “And she wants to see Max…”

Or you, was Rosie’s unvoiced question. They might have only been friends since Lori moved to Gary seven years ago, but she knew Rosie almost as well as she’d known any lover. “That’s right,” she said. Talking about how insanely attractive Gabe was seemed hypocritical after their earlier conversation, but it was only metaphorical. She had no intention of acting on it. She just couldn’t. She was still gluing her heart back together and couldn’t contemplate putting it in someone else’s hands ever again.

“And you’re letting her?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Lori asked, as much to convince herself that it was for Max as well as Rosie. “It’ll be good for Max’s rehabilitation. He perked up a lot after her visit last Saturday, and he stayed buoyant for a few days after too. I agreed that she could come as long as she came at least once a week and stayed for two hours minimum. Then he’ll have something to really look forward to, you see?”

“I do see.”

Lori would’ve had to be deaf not to hear the amusement in Rosie’s voice. “And if she couldn’t commit to that, then I wouldn’t have agreed to her visiting at all.”

“Of course not.”

A car pulled up curbside with the ubiquitous Lyft sign in the bottom corner of its windshield, much to Lori’s relief. It was killing her not to share her true feelings with Rosie, but she didn’t want to encourage hope where there was none. She helped Rosie to her feet, and they got in the vehicle. “We’ll get you settled at home first and then I’ll get another ride.”

“You’re such a great friend,” Rosie said. “I’m sorry again that I nearly messed that up with my match-making efforts.”

She cuddled closer, and Lori put her arm around her. “I am a great friend, but you can stop saying sorry. I’ve accepted your apology, so let’s just move on, okay?”

“I can say sorry again for tonight being such a bust though, right?”

Lori stroked Rosie’s hair gently and shook her head. “Since it wasn’t your fault, no, you can’t.”

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