With a smile, Kate lowered her cup to the counter. “I do.”

When she was finished in the bathroom, Kate opened the door to find the cottage empty. Holding her towel tight to her body, she spied through her bedroom venetians. Kate’s chest tightened. In the convent garden, Tilly was bent over the tomato bushes. She looked angelic. So soft. So warm…

Quickly, Kate dressed and combed her hair. When she returned to the kitchen, so had Tilly. Slicing a ripe tomato onto four pieces of buttered toast, Tilly looked over her shoulder. Briefly, her gaze flickered to the buttons of Kate’s waistcoat, her jeans. Was she surprised? What did she expect Kate to pair with her shirt? A skirt? Victorian brooch? Cardigan clip? Fat chance.

Kate usually skipped breakfast, but when Tilly slid her plate across the bench, she didn’t have the heart to refuse the toast.

“Of course, the sisters have been up for hours,” Tilly said, salting her tomato. “I could smell their breakfast,” she added.

Knowing how Tilly’s mind worked, Kate just couldn’t help herself. She took a bite. “Yeah, it’s amazing how the sisters have learned to cook for themselves without you being around to wait on them…”

Standing in the corner of the counter, toast pinched between her fingers, Tilly’s lips pursed in amusement. She fixed bright green eyes on Kate. “Are you having a go at me?”

Kate shrugged. “Not at you.”

“I never minded cooking for them.”

“I know you didn’t. But that still doesn’t make it right.”

“You make it sound like they used me as child labour.”

“Didn’t they?”

“Hardly.” Tilly’s head tilted as she chewed slowly. “Who cooks for the girls now?”

“The boarders?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sister Ellie.”

“The novice?”

“Yep.”

“She does all of the cooking? Alone? For twenty-five girls?”

Kate nodded. “We usually schedule the Food Technology classes for last period so the girls can help her with the prep before they get their buses home across the causeway.”

“Still, that’s a lot of preparation for one person…”

She could see the cogs turning in Tilly’s mind. “Tilly…you’re here as a teacher. It’s not your job to clean up after the sisters and cook for them and all that.”

“I know,” Tilly said, but it was as if Kate’s comment fell on deaf ears.

“So don’t set a precedent on your first day here, okay?”

“Mmm.”

Kate looked down at her watch. “I want to get the ferry over to Mornington to meet the girls.” It wasn’t a requirement that she chaperoned the boarders, but as housemother, she had always thought it polite to greet the girls and their parents on the boarders’ first day back. “I’ll see you inside at noon for our meeting?” she asked Tilly. “To introduce you to a few of the boarders?”

“Sure.” Tilly smiled. “I’m looking forward to meeting the ladies of St. Joan of Arc.” She turned back to the fridge.

Kate halted in the doorway, holding the screen door open. She could let it go. She could. She almost did. “Til?”