Dear Miss Chambers,

We appreciate your visit to Jackson earlier this week. I apologize if we seemed ungrateful in any way. As you can imagine, there is a lot of emotion to sort through. The truth is, the day before your visit, the doctors told us we were only prolonging the inevitable. Our Jackson is gone. Deborah knows it. I know it. But neither of us is ready to let him go.

I know our anger seems misplaced, and maybe it is. Maybe we are simply looking for someone to blame. Because believing it was human error and not something God allowed to happen to our son is easier.

Because if God simply turned his face in Jackson’s hour of need, where does that leave us?

Anyway, we would be honored for you to name the regatta after our boy. He was so joyful and full of life once upon a time. I think he’d get a kick out of something so cool being held in his honor.

Thank you for your kindness.

Sincerely,

Manny Wirth

CHAPTER TWENTY

IF THERE WAS ONE THING LOUISA KNEW ABOUT NANTUCKET, it was that the people on the island loved a good party. And if there was one thing she knew about herself, it was that she loved to throw one.

Her time at the hotel had helped connect her with the island’s top philanthropists, and that was proving to be very helpful.

As soon as she got the go-ahead from Mr. Wirth, she began to spread the word, and as she suspected, people were eager to help. Crisis and tragedy bonded people together, and while what happened to Jackson was horrible, it seemed the community was willing to unite around his cause.

Now Louisa stood at the back of the yacht club, supervising the decorating for the Coastie auction, part one of her grand plan. They’d sold tickets to the event that night, and thanks to the buzz she’d created around it, they were already in a good place.

She watched white lights being strung over a pergola on the beach and whispered a quick prayer that everything would go off without a hitch. Not only because she truly wanted to do something meaningful for the Wirth family, but also because Eric was going to be there.

Ally had broken the news to her the day before, and after her initial shock, she remembered that she was a confident, almost-successful business owner. If Eric wanted to show up and watch her be amazing, let him.

At least that was what she’d told Ally. The truth was, it had knotted her insides, knowing she might run into him. She’d mostly learned how to avoid him, though it wasn’t always easy. Tonight it would be impossible.