“I’m fine,” Tilly said.

As Tilly filled the sink, Kate stared at the back of her head. It had been weeks since the surgery and she was slowly getting her appetite back, but tonight, she’d barely touched her meal. “You ate more last night, and the night before that…”

Tilly sighed. “What do you want me to do, Kate? Red meat is heavy and I’ve never been too fussed on it.”

“I know, but—”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry every night that I don’t finish my dinner.” With the pepper, salt, and sauce containers tucked inside the bend of her elbow, Tilly opened the cabinet above the sink. Then, she tried the one beside it. And the one beside that…

Rinsing sauce from a plate, Kate watched on, satisfaction curling inside her at the realisation that, for as perfectly as Tilly fit into the vicar’s home, it wasn’t hers—not yet, anyway. Opening the final cabinet beside the fridge and finding it full of plates and bowls, Tilly sighed. She shrugged shyly. “I don’t really know where anything goes.”

“You’ll have to shuffle things around when you move in,” she joked to ease Tilly’s embarrassment.

Tilly smiled.

“He has a nice home,” Kate managed. Gently, she placed his fine china serving dish on the drainboard. “Could do with a dishwasher, though,” she said playfully. “And a jacaranda.”

With a chuckle, Tilly bumped her shoulder. “We can’t all afford a terrace in St. Kilda.”

“Neither can I.” She bent her wrist and pushed her glasses further up her nose. “So was this place ever in your dream?” she asked.

The levity of the question hummed along with the forgotten stove fan. As Tilly stared back at her, the moment pulsed. The invisible string between them pulled.

“No,” Tilly said softly. “It wasn’t.”

Kate watched as Tilly lifted glasses, one by one, into the cupboard. Her deep navy dress, cinched at the waist and flowing to her knees, was far too elegant for washing dishes. Kate’s eyes dropped lower, to shapely calves tanned by the very stockings Kate had pulled from the clothesline late that afternoon. A surge of longing arrested her. Christ, Tilly had beautiful legs.

Suddenly, a flash of movement in the doorway caught Kate’s eye, and she twisted her neck, her body stiffening as she met Declan’s hard stare. She looked away sharply.

“Matilda, would you like to stay the night?” He took the collection of dried plates from the counter beside Tilly and returned them to the cupboard. “The guest room is ready.”

“Oh.” Tilly’s eyes flickered to Kate at the sink, then back to Declan as he hovered behind. “I didn’t bring any of my things,” she said. “Besides, I couldn’t, we’re heading away early tomorrow.”

“Kate could always stop by in the morning with the students and pick you up.”

Bristling, Kate wiped the sink down.

“Really, it’s very nice of you to offer Declan…” But? “But I still have to pack,” Tilly said.

Kate fought against a smirk. So that overnight suitcase full and ready by the cottage door? The extension already unzipped? There was more to go in there?