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“Exactly. And worth it.” She sent a look over her shoulder and then slipped out of her panties. “Now, I love a new person. But I’m not doing anything physically intimate with her.”
Halo turned his head, doing a sweep of the area. Mary thought he might be making sure that she wasn’t naked in front of strangers. Or maybe he was trying to give her some privacy to get in the water.
“Was she sad?” Halo asked. “Because this woman already knew she enjoyed being with other women, right? Or were two hetero women trying to go lesbian together?”
Mary lay on the sphagnum moss, inching her way backward into the water. It felt like cool silk brushing over her skin. But it was still kind of scary in its opacity. She met her comfort zone when her chest was out of the pool, and her legs floated behind her. She folded her arms and rested her head on a pillow of glorious Labrador tea and sphagnum moss. “She’s a lesbian. And she loves me, but the chemistry isn’t there for her either, so she’s my —”
“Cat lady.”
“Dear friend.”
“Same thing.” Halo smiled down at her.
“You know, in a way, you’re right about that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Okay, I’ve talked about that to the extent of my comfort zone,” Mary said. “Let’s talk about something else. You said you’d just come in from Helsinki, Finland. Tell me something you learned there that you didn’t know before.”
Halo was watching Max. From his posture, something had him braced. Maybe he didn’t like that Mary was in the water by herself.
“Sauna is pronounced sownah. And they would very much like everyone to pronounce it properly. According to our tour guide, it’s the single Finnish word that most of the world knows.” It was a natural thing to think about. He was at work fully clothed in his uniform, guarding a naked woman, the same as he had been back in Helsinki. It was a good reminder of the role he was playing right then.
“Sowna, okay.”
He was glad she was facing downward, though, her bottom sinking under the water. Everything about Mary’s body turned him on, and this was just an inappropriate time and venue. He’d admit it was a struggle to be professionally platonic around Mary. “Also, they are hardcore about their saunas. They are ubiquitous, and by that, I mean everywhere imaginable and unimaginable. For example, I was told that there’s a fast-food chain that has a sauna in it. One can order a burger and go back and steam.”
“Makes sense,” she said, her words came slowly. “You replace the salt from your sweat with the salt on the fries.”
“There’s a Ferris wheel that has one of the cars as a sauna, so you can spin and sweat at the same time.”
“With a lovely view,” she said.
Max lay on the water's edge, the sphagnum moss giving a little under his weight. His gaze was glued on Mary, hard-focused. There was something about Max’s response to Mary, starting when they first saw each other at the airport.
The only time Halo had seen Max respond like that before was at the shelter when Max uncurled from the corner of his crate as a tiny pup, caught Halo’s eye, and began their lifelong bond.
And Halo trusted his dog.
Max had picked Halo out for a lifelong partnership. Had he picked out Mary, too?
There was a peace that settled into Halo’s chest at that thought. And something else, a longing maybe or—yeah, the word “sentimentality” was coming to mind.
The bond Max felt, Halo got that. He felt it, too.
Halo just wasn’t sure how to interpret the intensity and concern Max was displaying right now. Not environmental. It was something about Mary. He untied his boots, getting ready lest he need to go into the water after her. “Not sure about the view. Once you pour the water on the heating element in the sauna, the car fills with steam, hey?”
“And you can’t get out,” Mary said. “That actually sounds nightmarish for a sauna novice. I guess the pain thing would apply there. If you knew that the heat wasn’t going to kill you, maybe it would be relaxing? I just can’t imagine it. You could not get me on the sauna Ferris wheel. Could not.”
“Here’s another point. Public saunas, one wears swim togs. In private saunas, one goes in starkers.” He pulled off his socks and stuck them into his boots to keep them dry.
“I’ve been in a ladies' sauna. We were all naked, going in wrapped in a towel. Then everyone just gives you mental privacy.”
“Yes. Well, As far as I saw, there were no gender separations in the saunas.” He unclasped his backpack.
“There’s more to that story.” She pushed away from the edge of the pool, rolling on her back and floating. Around her, the mirror-like surface reflected the marbled swirl of gray clouds overhead.
“As it turns out, many businesses have their own saunas to help their workers stay relaxed.” When he was doing his planning this morning, he’d done the requisite weather checks, and the radar had been clear. Maybe Max was picking up something in the weather? Halo leaned back to assess. He remembered being on the mountain looking for Mrs. Haze. Halo had looked at the sky and didn’t see anything ominous. Aries looked at the same sky and had furrowed his brow.
