Kate yanked the towel from where she’d hooked it on the bottom bedpost and rubbed at her wet hair. “You were really out of it.”

A smirk broke across Tilly’s face, half-bashful, half-knowing. She pulled her messy hair around one shoulder. Timid, she looked past Kate to the bathroom, then down at her nudity. A blush tinged her pillow-creased cheeks pink.

Kate held the towel out to Tilly. “Here. You know, in case exhibitionism isn’t your thing.”

With a shy smile, Tilly took it from her. “I can’t thank you enough for the gift of this saturated towel,” she joked.

Kate grinned. “You are most welcome.”

Tilly’s eyes sparkled.

Kate wet her lips. “Would you like me to get your bag from the car? If you have a change of clothes, your toiletries…” she rambled.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

She brushed her lips against the corner of Tilly’s mouth. “Be right back.”

When she returned, Tilly was in a towel, her long hair wet down her back. Kate sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Tilly hunted through her bag one-handedly, the towel pressed tightly to her chest with the other. “Can’t find my damn toothbrush…” Tilly said, scowling. “I’m sorry, Kate, I’m trying to hurry…”

“That’s okay, we have time…”

Holding the softness of Tilly’s cardigan in her hands, a surge of need gripped her, powerful and demanding. Declarations burned on her tongue, begging to be voiced.

“Oh, here it is!” She rushed back to the bathroom, a change of clothes and toiletries in hand.

The hum of the hairdryer was loud in the small cabin. At the far side of the room, Kate stood by the window and looked out, beyond the trees, to the ocean below. It was a dull, cool morning, and streaked with whitecaps, the sea looked turbulent. Desperate for fresh air, she pushed the window all the way open. The wind howled, and unbeknownst to Kate, grabbed the screen door on the other side of the room. Bang!

The hairdryer shut off.

“Kate?” Tilly called out. “Is everything okay?”

Quickly, she closed the window. “It was just the door in the wind.”

In a blink, Tilly was back and dressed in a long, short-sleeved cream dress tied loosely at the waist. Swiftly, she folded last night’s dress into the bag and charged across the room for her heels by the door.

“It’s all right, Til, you can slow down.”

Tilly swiped the engagement ring off the end of the dresser and slipped it into her bag.

Looking away sharply, Kate busied herself pulling up the covers, untwisting the sheets.

“What’s wrong?” Tilly asked.

Kate looked up. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Tilly wrapped an elastic around the tail of her plait. “You look tense.”

Tense? Kate dropped the pillow to the mattress. “I’m not tense.” She exhaled sharply. “I’m just…feeling a lot right now.”

Eyes widening slightly, Tilly nodded. For a long moment, she held Kate’s gaze.

She smiled for Tilly. Tilly smiled back.