"I do relax," Tara repeated with more conviction. "Being overly independent has become a bad habit." She leaned into Bronwyn and kissed her gently on the edge of her mouth.<br/><br/>"Truce?" she whispered.<br/><br/>Bronwyn shivered and inhaled sharply. Tara stepped back, thinking perhaps she had misread the signals, afraid she had overstepped.<br/><br/>Bronwyn's eyes were dark, focused and intent. She clasped her hands into fists and then slowly exhaled, opening her hands. Speaking as if from a distance, she answered,<br/><br/>"Truce. and no you didn't misread. But the day is fast approaching and I will be off. My bed beckons me."<br/><br/>Tara grinned as she turned back to her door,<br/><br/>"A person would think you are a vampire."<br/><br/>Silence met her. Tara glanced over her shoulder, only to find that Bronwyn was gone.<br/><br/>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/><br/>The alarm didn't go off until after noon and Tara groaned her way through the afternoon and evening. She jumped every time the bells on the door jangled, but only legitimate customers came in to register. Keeping busy, Tara flew through the back log of paperwork and when the street lights came on, she rose, flipped the closed sign on the door and let herself out, locking behind her. At home, she changed into a black long sleeved tee shirt and black jeans which she tucked into black lace up boots. She tucked her hair under a black ball cap.<br/><br/>Opening the drawer in her bureau, Tara contemplated the blue handled 357. Quickly, before she could change her mind, she whipped it out, checked the chambers, and tucked it into the back of her jeans.<br/><br/>She hurried out of her apartment, and strolled to the Inn, keeping her head down, making no eye contact with the passers by.<br/><br/>Bronwyn was waiting in the shadows of the Inn, stepped out to join her on the street and they turned right, toward the Riverwalk. The deepening evening enveloping them in anonymity.