“I won’t do this if you don’t want to. And I will take the blame if you want, but think about it. This could be really good for Ann and me.”
“I know it could,” Lila whispered. “But how much will I get hurt in the process?”
“Hopefully not at all.”
Lila clenched her jaw. Heidi was so damn confident while her world was spinning out of control. “A weekend?”
“Just a weekend unless you want longer.”
“You think we can hash this out in a weekend?”
Heidi shook her head. “No, but I think it’ll be a start.”
“I don’t do threesomes.”
“Then that’s off the table, not that I thought it was on it to begin with, but I will make that clear to Ann.”
Lila groaned as she leaned into the hard wooden chair and closed her eyes. “You can’t tell her until we get there.”
“Why not?”
“Ann will flip out when she finds out. This will not come as good news to her, and if you want her to show up atIndigo, she can’t know until we get there.”
“She’ll just flip out while we’re there.”
“Right.” Lila nodded. “Best make it for most of the week, then. I don’t have to be back at work until Monday.”
Heidi blew out a breath. “I’ll see what I can do. I don’t know how I feel about keeping this from her, though.”
Lila thought it over again, but she was pretty sure she knew Ann well enough at that point to know it would be better if they waited. “We need a plan.”
“For what?”
“The week. Here’s the deal, if we go into this without a plan—just sticking the three of us in a house together—it’s going to be very awkward and nothing will come of it. We need a plan.”
“Then let’s make one.”
They spent the next three hours talking everything through. It was nearing midnight when Heidi finally begged to leave. As Lila walked her to the car, she felt like she was on far more even footing than she had earlier that night. She could see how this plan was going to work, how Ann and Heidi would actually communicate for once in their partnered lives. But she still couldn’t stop the raging fear that this was going to end terribly for her in the long run. Sometimes she hated being such a bleeding heart.
CHAPTER16
It was nearingsunset when Ann pulled up outsideIndigoB&B and parked the car. Heidi gasped as she looked through the windshield at the house. Ann knew that sound. She’d damn near made it too when she’d first seen the place. It was stunning, and no one could deny it.
“This place—”
“Is something,” Ann finished for her.
“Yeah.” Heidi turned and grinned. “I’m glad we got here this early so I could see it in the light. Well, sunset, but it adds so much to it.”
“Wait until you see it at sunrise.”
Heidi shook her head. “I can’t even imagine.”
Ann pulled the key from the ignition and stepped out of the car. Lila had said she wanted to drive by herself in case something happened and she needed to leave. Ann understood. It would be insanely awkward for all of them to drive in one vehicle the three hours from home. Besides, car rides, while the perfect place for serious conversations, were not how she wanted to end the trip, especially if it didn’t go well.
She hoped it did. The stakes were high—to mend her relationship with Heidi, to learn something that would be the key to understanding each other and making the connection the both of them so desperately wanted. At least, she hoped Heidi still wanted to. Swallowing down her fear, Ann moved to the trunk of her small sedan and pulled out her bag and Heidi’s. Heidi took it from her and smiled.
“I’m glad you suggested this place. I didn’t know anything like this existed so close to home.”