“Katie?” Dani's voice. “Can I come in?”
Kate grabbed her robe. “Yeah.”
Dani entered and stopped short, taking in Kate's appearance. “You okay?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Because you look like you're falling apart.” Dani sat on the bed. “Katie, when's the last time you did something just for yourself? Not for Pop or the inn or anyone else?”
“I went ice fishing this morning.”
“That doesn't count. You go ice fishing to escape.”
“What do you want from me, Dani?”
“I want you to let me help you. Let Serena help with the inn. Let yourself have something beyond survival.”
Kate sat at her old vanity, a piece their mother had refinished years ago. The mirror was slightly clouded with age, making everything look softer than it was.
“I don't know how to be anything else anymore,” Kate admitted. “I look in the mirror and I don't see Katie. I see Pop's caregiver, the innkeeper, the responsible one. I don't even remember who I was before all that.”
Dani moved behind her, started gently untangling Kate's hair with her fingers. “You were funny. You laughed all the time. You used to steal my lip gloss and flirt with the summer boys at the harbor.”
“That was a lifetime ago.”
“That was you.” Dani found a brush, started working through the tangles more systematically. “She's still in there somewhere.”
Kate chuckled. “Ben thinks she is.”
“Ben's right.” Dani sectioned Kate’s hair and began braiding it loosely. “He sees who you could be if you stopped punishing yourself for being the only one who stayed.”
“I'm not punishing myself.”
“Aren't you? You wear Pop's old clothes. You cut your own hair with kitchen scissors. You haven't been on a real date in five years...”
“I went to dinner with Ben.”
“One dinner where you spent the whole time looking for exits doesn't count.” Dani finished the braid, studied Kate in the mirror. “You're allowed to want things, Katie. To want Ben. To want to feel pretty. To want more than just getting through each day.”
Kate looked at their reflection: Dani polished and confident, herself rough and worn. Sisters who'd chosen such different paths.
“What if I don't know how to want things anymore?”
“Then you start small. A haircut. A new sweater. Dinner with Ben where you don't run away.”
“He says he's not waiting forever.”
“Good. You need a deadline. You're excellent with deadlines.”
Before Kate could respond, they heard commotion downstairs. Pop’s voice raised and angry. They ran down to find him in the lobby with Amy, pointing at Serena.
“Who is this person? Why is she touching Elizabeth's things?”
Serena had been examining the restored chairs, taking photos with her phone. She stepped back, looking alarmed.
“Pop, it's okay,” Kate said, moving between them. “She's Dani's friend.”
“I don't know her. She doesn't belong here.” Pop's agitation was increasing. “Where's Elizabeth? She'll make her leave.”
