Kate blinked, trying to keep up as Tilly jumped from one problem to the next. What did she think Sister Ruth had heard? Seriously? Tilly had seen her expression too, had halted right behind her in the bedroom doorway. Christ, Tilly, do I need to spell it out for you? “I think she heard me say that we slept together.”

Tilly exhaled shakily. With her elbow on the windowsill, she held her head in her hands. “What have I done?” she whispered, pained. “What on Earth have I done?”

Heat broke out on Kate’s skin. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Tilly laughed bitterly. “I cheated on my fiancé and slept with my best friend.”

Kate sank back into the seat. Not knowing what to say, she watched as Colin began the slow process of raising the ramp from Lords Dock. She sighed. “It’s more complicated than—”

“I’ve always told myself that St. Joan’s was my home,” Tilly said, lost in a reverie as she stared at the electronic pad of the radio, “but there was always something beneath the surface, you know, as though I always knew it was just a lie I told myself so that it wouldn’t hurt so much to think that I didn’t belong anywhere.”

Kate blinked, a lump growing in her throat as she listened.

“But these last few months, I’ve felt like maybe it wasn’t a lie. I was just starting to feel like maybe I’d really, truly found home here. But now all of your things are gone and it’s just the cottage and I’m here all alone. And now Sister Ruth knows,” she rasped. “She knows what I’ve done and every time I look at her all I’m going to be able to see is that she thinks I’m an entirely different person.” A tear slipped to Tilly’s jaw. “I feel like I’m being pulled in every direction and I don’t know where home is.”

Kate’s eyes burned, but before she could say anything, a knock on the back window startled them both. They twisted in their seats. “It’s just Colin,” Kate murmured. She opened the passenger door and poked her head out. “Yeah, give us a minute, will you?”

He shook his head. “You know the rules, Kate. You can’t be in your vehicle while we’re moving.”

“So turn a blind eye and give me a fucking minute.” She slammed the door closed.

Shaking his head, Colin crossed in front of the car and headed up the staircase.

“We should just go up,” Tilly said, sounding like she was headed to her own funeral.

Kate’s hand covered hers over the seat belt clip. “You could come with me.”

Tilly’s expression blanked. “What?”

She wet her lips. “There’s no real reason for you to stay on Lords.” Especially after what just happened. “There’s room at Mum’s. You could pack up tonight after the mass and drive over tomorrow and spend Christmas Eve with us.” She paused. “And after.”

Tilly blinked. “You’re asking me to move to your mother’s with you?”