Ally had successfully moved the majority of the crowd away from them, but when he glanced up, he found Warren and JoEllen standing behind Louisa, and his mom and sister standing behind him.

Maggie’s hands tensed and she reached up to remove the mask.

“Maggie, don’t,” Louisa said.

But the old woman wanted to speak, even in her weakened state. She choked out one word: “Enough.” Slowly her gaze moved from Cody’s family to Louisa’s. “Forgive. Before it’s too late.”

Cody didn’t look at the rest of them—he couldn’t. He was too afraid all he would find on their faces was the same stubbornness that had always been there.

A cough silenced her just as two paramedics Cody knew from work rushed around the side of the house and down toward the beach. He stood, waving them over, then gave them her vitals and helped load her onto the stretcher.

“Is she going to be okay?” Louisa asked, her voice breaking midsentence.

“We’re going to do everything we can for her,” the paramedic said. They fastened the belt around Maggie, and Louisa let go of her hand as they wheeled her off.

“I’m going to the hospital,” Louisa told Ally. “Can you handle things here?”

“Of course.”

She ran off, her parents close behind, leaving him standing with his mom and sister.

“This is heavy,” Marley said.

His mom’s eyes had filled with tears. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

For a brief moment, he wondered if she was talking about Maggie or his father.

“Let’s go to the hospital,” he said. “We should be there.”

His mother looked away. “I don’t know if they want us there.”

“Who cares?” Marley said. “Maggie is our friend too. We should be there.”

“She’s right,” Cody said. “Maybe it’s time we start listening to what Maggie said.”

Anger flashed across his mother’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Mom—” he placed a hand on her arm—“aren’t you tired of being angry?”

Her jaw twitched.

“You loved them once. All of them.”

A tear slid down his mother’s cheek. “That was a long time ago.”

“I’m going to the hospital. Are you coming?”

His mother didn’t move for a long moment; then finally she nodded. “Let’s go.”

Louisa paced the waiting room of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Since they weren’t family, none of them were allowed to go back while Maggie was being examined. It was an absurd rule—she was more of a family to Maggie than anyone related to her by blood. And vice versa, sadly.