“He’s here somewhere,” Marissa said.

She frowned. “Here on the island?”

“He arrived this evening. He has a lot of decisions to make. But maybe we should start by making his birthday wish come true?”

Louisa looked down at the paper in her hands. She nodded, unable to contain her joy at learning Cody was here—in Nantucket.

Now she just had to convince him to stay.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

MARISSA TOLD LOUISA SHE WANTED TO SPEND SOME TIME at Daniel’s memorial—alone—and Louisa agreed. She hugged Cody’s mom, thanked her profusely, then rushed back home. The party was still going strong.

Ally raced over to her. “What was that about?”

Louisa found her keys in a small bowl on the table in the entryway. “I’ll explain later,” she said. “Can you hold down the fort here?”

“You’re leaving?”

Louisa smiled, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. “We already did cake. Nobody will even notice I’m not here.”

“It’s your party.”

She took Ally’s hands. “I promise I’ll be back. There’s just something I have to do.” She leveled her friend’s gaze. “You know I wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t important.”

After a beat, Ally’s eyes lit up. “Cody?”

“I’ll be back!” Louisa rushed out, maneuvered her Vespa around the other vehicles parked in her driveway and in front of Seaside, then sped off toward Cody’s house. The place appeared to be empty, but Louisa knocked on the door just in case. As she suspected, there was no answer. If he was back on the island, he wasn’t here.

She heaved a sigh, then hopped back on her scooter and motored back to her own house. After parking, she headed next door to Maggie’s, which, at first glance, also seemed to be deserted. She walked up the steps and onto the porch, fishing her key from her purse. She pushed open the door and called out into the darkness, but there was no answer.

He wasn’t here either.

She was starting to feel discouraged—maybe she should check the party one more time? Or maybe Cody wasn’t on the island like Marissa thought. Maybe he’d planned to come, then realized it would be better not to. Maybe he’d put her behind him once and for all.

There was only one other place she could think to look without launching an all-out search in every restaurant and bar downtown.

Odds were, if he wasn’t home, he was at the station. But that meant driving out to Brant Point and being faced with the realization that their pact was now part of their past—and nothing had come of it. All it was now was a broken promise.