“No.” Tilly pulled back, trying to regain her breathing. “St. Kilda. At the auction. I bought your house.”

Her heart was like a drum in her chest. “You bought my house?”

“Yes.” Tilly’s eyes searched hers, desperate. “I went to the auction because I thought you’d be there and I wanted to see you, to talk to you. Support you. And when you didn’t show, I just…I knew how much you wanted the house and that you wouldn’t miss it for anything and I knew there had to be a reason why you weren’t there. I asked the agent if she’d heard from you and she said your sister had gone into labour and that you hadn’t organised for anybody to bid for you. That you’d just thrown in the towel.” She paused. “So I bid. I just did it. It went for one point four and I signed a cheque for the deposit. Not that I expect to live there—with you. It’s yours, not mine, so we’ll have to figure out some sort of—”

She pulled Tilly against her, kissed her deeply. Happiness pulsed through her, a fulfillment so rich she felt dizzy with relief. She had trusted her instincts and the universe had rewarded her—rewarded them. Her arm snaked around Tilly’s waist as she pressed her slender frame against the railing. Certainty bloomed inside as Tilly’s heart settled against her own.

Tilly slipped a hand between their bodies and pushed at Kate’s sternum. She pulled back gently, watched as Tilly’s long eyelashes fluttered. “You can’t stay with me tonight,” Tilly said. “I have company.”

Kate grinned. She linked her arms around Tilly’s middle. “I know. I’ll just stay on board and do the loop back to Mornington. I wasn’t really planning on hopping into your bed with Cynthia in the next room. It might give her a coronary.”

Tilly’s lips twisted. “No…I don’t mean Cynthia. The pipes were fixed and she’s already moved back into the boarding house.” She nodded toward the passenger cabin. “There’s a woman inside. I met her in the city…”

It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together. “Bloody hell, Til…”

“I couldn’t help it, Kate. I was tossing away my leftovers from lunch and she asked me for the rest of my sandwich and my heart just broke for her.” She paused. “I bought her lunch and we got to talking and it turns out that she knows the sisters—Sister Ruth invited her to stay years ago—and I thought that since I’m moving out tomorrow she could stay in the cottage for a few days and…” Her eyes scanned each of Kate’s, first the left, then the right, as though one could harbour greater sympathy over the other. “Please don’t be mad.”

“Oh, I’m mad.”

Tilly smoothed her palms over Kate’s biceps. She arched an eyebrow. “You are?”

Kate nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Absolutely livid.”

She dipped her head and captured Tilly’s lips in a slow, promising kiss. Nobody, she thought, could solve a problem like Matilda.