Now, sitting in her office, she tried to focus on whatever Ally was talking about—a client wanted to add a few events to her family’s vacation itinerary, and she needed help. On a normal day, Louisa would be excited by the challenge, but as she peered at her phone—and its taunting lack of new text messages or phone calls—she felt anything but excited.

“You’re doing it again,” Ally said dryly, closing her notebook and giving Louisa a pointed look.

Louisa glanced up from her phone.

“Why don’t you just call him?”

“I can’t,” she said.

“I’m sure he would love to hear from you.”

Ally didn’t understand. After what Louisa’s father had admitted, she was certain any chance of taking back her original request to “pause” their relationship was out of the question. If he wanted to see her, he would’ve seen her by now. The end of their relationship was as plain to her as the lighthouse at the edge of the island.

“Louisa, I need to ask you a question.” Ally folded her hands in her lap.

Louisa stiffened. Her friend was often serious—it was what made her so good at her job—but she still found it unnerving. “Okay . . . ?”

“Are you going to give up the business now that you don’t need the money?”

Louisa snapped back to reality. “No way.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Ally said. “It wouldn’t be unheard of. People who come into money don’t need to work. You have money. You don’t need to work.”

“But I like this work,” Louisa said.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said. “Because I don’t have money. And I like the work too.”

Louisa tossed her an amused look. “But your part of this business is so boring.”

“I’ve always been better with numbers than with people,” Ally said. Then, after a pause, “So what are you going to do with the money?”

Louisa shrugged. “I can’t decide. Maybe just leave it in the bank for a while?”

But she knew it was meant for more than that. She didn’t care about being rich or wearing designer clothes. She didn’t even care about having a big, fancy house or eating in the poshest restaurants on the island. She loved her work because she loved making other people happy.

“Ally?”

Her friend glanced up from her phone. “Hm?”

“I just got an idea.”

If anyone had told Louisa a month ago that she’d be welcoming McKenzie Palmer into her office with open arms, she would’ve laughed. But McKenzie, like her or not, was an influencer—and right now Louisa needed an influencer.