Page 80 of Smoky Lake

Waving surrender, Ani plopped down on the couch and allowed Buttercup, Molly and Sam’s dog, to jump up next to her for some pettings. The sheer normalcy of being with her friends again overwhelmed her. For a long moment, she couldn’t speak through the tightness of her throat. She let her gaze wander around the room, from the old whiskey barrel to the anvil in the corner, and the faded dress of that poor murder victim. Frontier Gothic indeed.

“You’re all here,” she managed. “Is everyone healthy?”

“We’re all fine.” Lila curled up on her other side and wrapped her arms around her in a side hug. “Besides being worried about you.”

“I offered up the lodge for quarantine quarters,” Charlie said, bringing her a frosty glass of lemonade. “They said I should stay somewhere else for the duration. Do you know how long that’s going to be?”

“I really couldn’t say. The important thing is to contain the virus.”

“Yes, of course,” said Lila, her violet eyes huge. “I’m sending so much white light to everyone.” In Lila’s world, white light took care of everything. “Is it bad? What do you know about it?”

“Gil came down with it and he was pretty sick for several days. We weren’t able to test him, but we think it was the virus.”

“Gil?” Molly pulled up a footstool and joined the tight little knot of friends. “Do you mean Gil McGowan?”

“The one and only.” Something in her tone of voice had Molly lifting her eyebrows. But Ani didn’t want to talk about Gil at the moment. He was a wound deep in her heart. “How’s Sam? What about Nick and Hailey?”

“Sam’s been flying in supplies for the medical teams. That gives him more exposure, so he wants me to keep my distance,” Molly said. “That’s why I’m staying here.”

“Luckily, Hailey already went back to Arizona to get ready for school. Good timing, otherwise she’d be stuck here for a while.” Charlie smiled as if she had the best secret in the world tucked in her pocket. “But Nick’s still here. We’re, uh, making plans.”

“Plans? What sort of plans?”

“Oh, just…future plans. Where to live, that sort of thing. We’re considering Nick’s place in Chicago, or possibly moving somewhere closer to Hailey.”

Ani’s stomach twisted. In the back of her mind, she’d always assumed she herself would go back to Barlow when she was ready. Her parents lived there, her practice was there. But without Charlie blowing in and out of town…

“Tough decision,” she managed.

Charlie twisted her long blond hair over her shoulder. “Yes, but apparently we have some time to figure it out, since none of us can leave right now. So what else do you know about this virus?”

Ani wanted to laugh. Where would she even start? “What have you been told?”

“To watch out for fever. And that it’s hardest on children and the elderly. We have a lot of those in Firelight Ridge.”

“Luckily, they’re mostly tough old codgers who live out in the woods and are used to being snowed in for days,” said Lila. With a wistful smile, she added, “I miss them, though. Bear closed The Fang, but he’s doing personal deliveries to keep people’s spirits up. The old ones will be fine. I’m more worried for the children.”

“That’s where I’m headed,” Ani told them. “All the sick kids are at the boardinghouse. I volunteered to help out.”

Lila tightened her arms around her. “Of course you did. You’re the most caring person in the world.”

Charlie rose to her feet to get more lemonade. “If you get a chance, could you see if any of the kids are from the Wilderness Alive group? They should be back by now, but I haven’t been able to get through to the lodge.”

“I’ll ask.” Ani knew she should get going, but it felt so good to be with her friends. She rested her head on Lila’s shoulder and soaked in the comfort of her presence.

No one showed unconditional love like Lila Romanoff.

Before her attack, she and Lila had been lab partners at school, that sort of thing, but not terribly close. After the attack, Lila had visited her in the hospital, cheered her up during her rehab, and defended her from teasing against bullies two feet taller than the pixie-like Lila. That was when they’d become best friends.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lila whispered.

“Mmm-hmmm. Just…just trying to…he….he…” She couldn’t complete the word “help,” and instead a sob wrenched out of her. Good lord, she didn’t have time for a meltdown. She had to get to the boardinghouse. “Got…gotta go…”

All of a sudden she was surrounded by friends. Charlie abandoned the lemonade pitcher, and Molly pulled her footstool right up next the couch.

“What’s going on, Ani?” Lila cried in dismay. “Talk to us. You’ve looked like you were about to cry ever since you walked in. Is it Gil?”

That intuitive streak of Lila’s never failed.

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