“Yep.”

Kate watched as she walked the pier. The long skirt of Tilly’s dress danced in the warm wind as she wrapped her cardigan around herself and let the deckhand help her onto the boat. She went straight into the cabin without turning to wave goodbye. Kate sat back in her seat. What the hell was her problem? Kate had never seen her in a mood like that. Had Sister Ruth confided in Tilly that Kate had come out to her? Did Tilly have a problem with the fact that Kate had demanded to be seen? Or had Kate said something, done something that had made Tilly uncomfortable? Oh, God, what if Tilly could see that she was secretly infatuated? Am I that transparent?

By dinnertime, Tilly hadn’t called. It was the longest day Tilly had spent with Declan since she’d been at St. Joan’s. Usually, when she left so early, she was back well before dinner. Kate ate alone, confident that she would be on the last ferry. Of course she would—half the parish from St. Gerard’s was coming to the island for a special mass in the morning, and Kate knew how important it was to Tilly that she be there.

Kate left the cottage at nine forty-five. With Tilly’s sneakers tied together at the laces and slung over her shoulder, she began the downhill walk. Without Lockie at her heels, or Tilly at her side, the walk was strange. As she reached the pier, she inhaled deeply. One day soon, she was going to miss the scent of the sea.

In the night sky, the moon sat high above the end of the pier. Kate wandered down to the end and sat against the corner pylon, let her feet swing off the edge. The ferry was close, its lights bright in the darkness.

Kate waited. And waited.

Confusion gripped her.

As the car ferry continued on, the answer became starkly apparent—the boat wasn’t turning into Lords. Jealousy burned like ice as she watched the ferry cross Port Phillip Bay, headed straight for East Island. Well, she thought bitterly, that’s that.

She turned, eyes flaming in the wind as she marched back up the hill. Tilly had chosen to spend the night with him. Was her impulse to avoid Kate so strong that she had decided to break her moral code? To miss tomorrow’s special mass? Kate was beginning to think that it had less to do with Tilly knowing she had come out to Sister Ruth and more to do with the fact that Tilly was perfectly aware how Kate felt about her. Of course Tilly knew. After their moment in the kitchen on Monday night, how could she not? Maybe Tilly had known for even longer. Something had shifted between them in the backyard of the St. Kilda terrace the moment Tilly had demanded that she didn’t want to talk about their romantic past.

Then there was the consideration that turned her stomach. What if Tilly’s failure to return had nothing to do with Kate? What if Tilly really was attracted to him? What if she’d been so consumed by lust that she’d simply forgotten that Kate would be waiting alone at the pier in the dark? It wasn’t a reach. Perhaps she’d been so tempted that she’d just…stayed.