They both changed into swimming things and pulled on shorts and T-shirts. Then Emily gathered up a blanket along with the bucket and spade and walked along the short sandy path that led directly to the beach.

Most of the tourists chose to stay on the beaches close to the harbor, and there was only one other family on Shell Bay.

Emily put the blanket down, and Lizzy stripped down to her swimsuit and started digging. “Can we build a boat?”

Emily would have preferred something a little less challenging for her first sand sculpture, but she gamely set her mind to scooping out the hull of a boat, using her hands to fashion seats and a prow while Lizzy filled and refilled the bucket.

They dug together for half an hour, and then Emily straightened and stripped off her shorts and tee. She dug her hand into her bag and surreptitiously checked her phone, but there were no messages.

Disappointment hovered like a cloud over her happiness.

Lizzy glanced up at her. “Skylar says red is your color.”

“Does she? And what’s your color? Pink?”

Lizzy shook her head and patted down the sand. “Turquoise. Like the sea.”

Close by, the other family was playing a ball game, and when the ball came flying in their direction, Emily caught it and threw it back.

She hadn’t intended to walk to the water’s edge, but somehow that was where she ended up, and she stood with her toes curling into the damp sand, feeling the lick of the tide on her ankles. Ahead of her lay the vastness of the ocean, an infinity of blue merging with the summer sky on a horizon so straight it could have been drawn by a child with a ruler.

The expanse of water made her catch her breath, and she turned her head, needing to see land, and there right behind her was Castaway Cottage, looking over the beach like a benevolent friend. It was impossible to believe anything bad could happen within sight of the cottage and easy to see why Kathleen had bought it all those years ago. It was the perfect Maine beach house, a retreat that most people could only dream of owning.

Lizzy dropped the bucket and ran to her side. “Are you going in the sea?”

“Yes.” Up until that point, she hadn’t realized that had always been her intention. “I am.”

“Can I come? I haven’t swum in the sea yet, but Rachel said I was ready.”

She wanted to refuse. She still wasn’t sure she was ready to do it herself, let alone take someone else with her.

On the other hand, if this was a test, then she might as well make it the ultimate test.

“I want you to use your float.”

Lizzy ran off and returned moments later carrying it.