Crossing the Line

“So,” Vanessa asked her. “How’s your week been so far?”

Elle started to tell them about Dante, but what was there to tell? She was attracted to another man for the first time since her divorce. Big deal. It couldn’t go anywhere. “Nothing unusual.”

“That’s not what I heard.” Julie reached for the pitcher the waitress set on the table along with three frosted mugs and began pouring up the beer. She tilted the glass to keep too much foam from forming.

“What did you hear?” Vanessa leaned forward.

“I heard Elle went into the woods alone on Monday and she came out with a baby and a man.” Julie grinned impishly and slid a mug of beer in front of Elle.

“What?” Vanessa jerked her gaze from Julie to Elle, her dark Latina eyes flashing with interest.

“It was a baby deer.” Quickly, Elle explained how she’d come to find the fawn.

“What did you do with it?”

“Charlotte came and got it,” she said. “The vet she works for has an animal sanctuary. They say the fawn’s going to be fine.”

“Except that he’s an orphan,” Vanessa said gloomily. She’d had a difficult childhood and had the tendency to look on the dark side of life.

Elle studied her two friends who were so different, not only in looks but temperament, as well. Julie was the timid, tenderhearted romantic who saw the world through rose-colored glasses. Vanessa was the bold, sharp-witted cynic with a fiery temper.

And her?

Well, Elle was the center. Neither sweet nor tart. Neither too timid nor too daring. Tepid. Average. Nothing special. Elle supposed that was one reason they were all such good friends. They balanced each other out.

“So what about the guy?” Vanessa asked.

“What guy?” Elle evaded, even though she wasn’t really sure why she didn’t want to talk about Dante. Usually, she told Julie and Vanessa everything.

“The guy from the forest.”Vanessa took a sip of her beer and eyed Elle over the rim of her mug with an assessing stare.