Chapter 41
Forty-One
Delilah followed Cassie up the narrow path.
The sky was a gorgeous deep indigo, not a cloud to be seen, but all Delilah could focus on was the small cabin ahead of them.
Weathered timber, a sloping roof, a single lantern casting a soft glow by the door. Almost self-consciously simple, it felt pointed. As if it were whispering: Welcome to Camp Tennis Cult, surrender your personality at the door. There is only tennis. You are tennis.
But that wasn’t what was bothering her.
Her fingers clenched and unclenched at her sides as she stepped onto the porch.
Cohabitation with Cassie was more than she’d bargained for.
They weren’t friends exactly, though clearly much more than acquaintances, and not totally like colleagues.
Delilah didn’t quite have the word for what they were.
But this? Sharing living space? It was a jump of at least five levels above their current status, such as it was.
Cassie pushed the door open, stepping inside first. Delilah paused at the door to look. There were bunk beds pushed into the corner, a small dresser, and a window looking out onto the dark trees beyond. A door at the other end implied a bathroom. And that was that.
Delilah glanced toward Cassie, who was already dropping her bag by her bed and loosening the laces on her trainers.
She looked up. ‘You coming in?’
Delilah laughed at herself and crossed the threshold, shutting the door behind her. ‘Well, this is…’
Cassie gave a short nod, glancing up. ‘I know. I think it’s meant to discourage lingering.’
Delilah searched for a compliment. It was a struggle. ‘It looks very clean,’ she eventually said.
‘Can I take the top bunk?’ Cassie asked.
‘You want the top bunk?’ Delilah asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Nobody wants the top bunk.’
‘I do.’
Delilah narrowed her eyes. ‘What’s next, you’ll fight me for the smaller pillow?’
Cassie gave her a half-smile, dumping her bag on the top bed and beginning to unpack.
Delilah watched her for a moment. She realised there was something else she needed to say. ‘Thanks. For doing all this. For the camp, for… everything. I know it can’t be easy.’
Cassie stopped unpacking and turned, meeting her eyes with a flicker of something softer. ‘You’ve already thanked me.’
‘I know, but…’
‘You’re working hard. That’s the way to thank me,’ Cassie told her.
‘I guess I just feel like I’ve asked a lot of you since we started. Too much,’ Delilah admitted.
‘You deserve to get to the point you want to be at. And I think you can do it,’ Cassie said.
Delilah’s gaze dropped to her hands, fiddling with the hem of her T-shirt. ‘Well, I guess it’s bedtime,’ she murmured.
Cassie nodded. ‘It would have to be, wouldn’t it? The place only has beds.’
‘Do you mind if I take the bathroom, get a shower? My clothes are ready to walk off by themselves.’
Cassie nodded. ‘Be my guest.’
Delilah headed for the bathroom, trying to set aside her nerves. It all depended on these two weeks. She couldn’t afford to let anything else matter.