“A little, to Emily. They’ve made a scrapbook together, with pictures and news stories.” His grandmother gave a faint smile. “Positive ones.”

Aware of the rumors that had surrounded Lana Fox’s colorful love life, Ryan wondered how long Emily had toiled to find material suitable for young eyes. He could imagine her, those green eyes serious as she’d searched for images to keep Lana’s memory alive for her daughter.

“I came to see if any of your group need a ride to your book club meeting tonight, apart from Hilda.”

“Emily is picking Hilda up. She offered to take me, too, but I didn’t want to stop giving you a reason to call by.”

“I don’t need a reason to call by.” Ryan frowned. “Emily is making the trip specially?”

“She’s a kind girl. She and Lizzy have baked a blueberry pie for our meeting. But, no, she isn’t making the trip just for that. Once she’s dropped Hilda off, she’s going around to Lisa’s to talk business. She’s put together a plan to save Summer Scoop.” Agnes said it as if it were a sure thing, and Ryan felt a flicker of unease.

“She’s not a magician.”

“No, she’s something better.” Agnes glanced at him over the top of her glasses. “She’s a management consultant. We’ve never had one of those on the island before.”

Ryan refrained from pointing out there wasn’t much of a demand for management consultants on Puffin Island.

Much as he admired Emily’s generosity in offering to help, he was more circumspect about her chances of being able to do anything that would substantially boost the profits of a business that had been struggling from the outset.

“I hope she comes up with a plan.”

“She will.” His grandmother sounded sure. “Emily is a smart young woman, and she is determined to help make the business work. Lisa has a smile on her face for the first time in months. It broke my heart when I heard she’d bought the place, a widow with two young children. Summer Scoop has been struggling to survive since Doris Payne first opened it forty years ago. The whole community has been trying to find ways to help the girl, but there’s only so much ice cream a person can consume without their arteries exploding. If Emily can find a way to sell more of it to the summer crowd, then we’ll all be in her debt. How is the swimming going? That’s assuming ‘swimming’ is all you’re doing in that hour and a half you spend together every night.” She picked up her purse and her keys and took his arm as they walked to the car.

Ryan kept his expression blank. “It’s all we’re doing.”

“Shame.” His grandmother gave him a look. “She’s perfect for you.”