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“Uh, I don’t have a guest room,” I told Mabel as we entered the house.

I hadn’t thought about that when I invited her over, but I still would have brought her here. It wasn’t like I was going to leave her alone and terrified with the rats scratching overhead. Plus, who knows how long they had been there and how close they were to getting access to the rest of her house.

“It’s no problem, I can sleep on the couch,” Mabel said.

“No, I will.”

“You can’t sleep on the couch, you have to work tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have to work too?” I asked.

“My work is more flexible, I can sleep in and start whenever I get up.”

She paused, her gaze searching. “At the risk of sounding weird, maybe we can both just share your bed? I mean, feel free to say no if that makes you uncomfortable but I’m totally freaked out and I would appreciate not having to sleep alone.”

I was tired enough that it sounded like a good idea.

“That’s totally fine,” I said. “It’s a king bed so there’s plenty of space for both of us. Plus it’s the middle of the night and we’re both exhausted. Let me show you around so we can get some sleep.”

On her previous visit Mabel hadn’t needed to go beyond the living room and kitchen. I showed her the bathroom, including the empty drawer under the sink where she could put her toiletries, then I led her into my bedroom. That’s where the idiocy of this idea became apparent. Having Mabel in my bed only hours after she came so beautifully for me on my desk was going to be torture.

We took turns in the bathroom and since we were both already in our pajamas, we didn’t need to do much to get ready. I got to the bed first, sliding under the blanket and waiting for Mabel to join me. She came in a few minutes later, looking around.

“Where’s Esmerelda?” she asked.

“I set her up over there,” I said, pointing to where I’d put down an extra dog bed I had in the house as well as a stuffed toy and a baby blanket. I might not have pets of my own, but as a vet I always had tons of pet supplies around in case of an emergency.

Her voice turned soft. “Thank you. That was sweet of you.”

After checking on Esmerelda, who was already sound asleep after all the excitement, Mabel walked over to the other side of the bed. Slipping under the blanket, she rolled over to face away from me, at least a foot of space between us.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She flipped over to face me. Since I was on my back, I turned my head in her direction. I could just make out her features in the light coming through the windows.

“I really appreciate you helping me out. If I’d stayed in that house I would have stroked out and died. Or been eaten by rats. Or they would have waited for me to be incapacitated by the stroke and then eaten me. I hear rats are pretty smart.”

I resisted the urge to smile. “I’m glad to help. Seriously.”

Mabel gave me a grateful smile. I got the feeling that she wasn’t a person who was used to having people do nice things for her. It made me sad.

After double checking that I’d set the alarm on my phone, I turned off the bedside lamp and tried to get back to sleep. I thought I’d be awake for hours, but to my surprise, I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up about five minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Groaning, I turned over, almost forgetting that Mabel was there until I saw her sprawled out next to me.

She was sleeping in a strange position, not exactly on her belly or her side, almost like she’d frozen in the process of turning over. Her top knee was bent and on the mattress halfway up her body, the bottom leg stretched out straight, her pillow scrunched up on top of her bent arm. She looked so peaceful in sleep.

As quietly as I could, I slid out of bed. Esmerelda woke up long enough to see what was happening, then went back to sleep. Needing to get to the clinic, I took a quick shower and pulled on some clothes while I brewed a pot of coffee. I filled a travel mug and wrote a note to Mabel, putting it along with a key on the bedside table by her phone so she would see it when she woke up.

I walked over to the clinic, breathing in the cool morning air, and wondering what my next steps should be with Mabel. I had to say, I didn’t mind waking up next to her. I only wished I could have stayed and cuddled with her for a while.

“I hear you had a guest last night.”

I couldn’t help the way my mouth dropped open as my receptionist Elaine called out to me the minute I stepped into the clinic. Elaine was seventy years old and had been working at the clinic long before I came as an intern. She knew everyone and everything that happened in Starlight Bay but this was fast, even for her. I’d brought Mabel to my house less than seven hours ago.

“How do you know about my having a guest?” I asked.

“Irma Jimenez texted me that she was out walking her dog at one-thirty in the morning…”