“See?” Kate called out to Lexi as she watched the two of them board. “It isn’t so hard.”

Kate glanced across the slipway. A few yards away, Tilly and Grace were seated on the bench, chatting away. When Kate approached, they both looked up. “Grace, may I talk to Tilly for a sec?”

Grace reached across the seat for her backpack. “Sure.”

As Grace wandered off toward the car ferry, Kate sat down. The heat of Tilly’s arm was warm against her own. “How’s the rash?”

Tilly smiled. “You make it sound like I contracted a venereal disease.”

Kate raised an eyebrow.

Her eyes widened. “Okay, I just heard how that sounded.”

Kate grinned. She looked up to the second level of the car ferry. A group of her Year Eight boarders were outside, leaning back against the railing—out of earshot, but close enough to see if Kate took Tilly’s hand in her own. “By the way,” she said softly, resisting the urge to reach out, “that’s not anything you have to worry about.”

“Okay.” Tilly looked to her feet. “Thank you.” She paused. “I’m going to put my ring back on,” she said solemnly. “In case the sisters see and ask. Or one of the girls.” She looked up. Their gazes locked. “But I wanted to tell you that’s why. I want you to know that’s the only reason.”

Throat tightening, she nodded. What could she possibly say when Tilly was reading her face with a bottomless intensity, as though what Kate felt and thought was all that mattered? It fuelled her with relief.

As Tilly slid the band back onto her finger, the hairs rose on the back of Kate’s neck. For as right as this was, how they were going about it possessed an undeniable element of deceit. They’d been living in their blissful bubble all day—it was the reason they hadn’t returned to Lords earlier—but once reality set in, it wasn’t going to take much for guilt and shame to squirm their way into the equation. “Til?”

She looked up.

“Until you tell him, I think maybe we should—”

“Stop?”

“No…but I think we should sleep in our own beds.”

“Because I’m being unfaithful?”

If only my moral compass was that strong. “No. Because I don’t want to pressure you, Til. I think we need to take it slowly. I don’t want this to become too much, for you to suddenly start feeling…like it’s wrong or something. I don’t want you to regret this.”

“Oh,” Tilly said softly. “Okay.”

The moment hung, suspended.

“Thank you for today,” Tilly said.

“You’re welcome.” She took Tilly’s arm. The rash had calmed from its angry pink. Lightly, Kate trailed her short nails over Tilly’s arm.

Tilly’s eyes closed. A long breath slipped from her lips. “That feels nice.”

“I should have taken you to the lighthouse,” she said jokingly. “I bet it’s sunflower-free.”

Tilly’s eyes opened. “Cape Schanck lighthouse?”

She nodded. “It was on the list.”

Tilly stared at her the same way she had the night before in the cabin as she’d placed her ring on the dresser. Kate’s stomach flipped. She glanced up to the ferry. The girls had gone inside. “I’m sorry today was spoiled,” she said.