Ally was right. She could do this. She’d done this so many times before. It’s what she did. And she was great at it. She straightened her shoulders and smoothed her dress. “Of course.”

Duncan got the attention of the other men in the room, and the murmurs quieted, all faces turned toward the two women standing at the front. All faces except Cody’s. He seemed intent on staring out the window.

“If you’ve been around Nantucket, you might’ve heard of Louisa Chambers. She’s a private concierge here on the island, and she and Alyssa Martin are here to help us improve our image in the community.”

In the back, a man with dark eyes shifted in his seat. Louisa recognized his face. Aaron Jessup. His photo had been on all the blogs and in the newspaper after Jackson Wirth’s accident. He’d done his job well. But then he’d screwed up.

She knew how that felt.

Nobody asked why they needed to improve their image. It was as if everyone knew, and the tension in the room rose because of it. Charming this crowd definitely wouldn’t be a piece of cake.

“Louisa?” Duncan turned to her as if to hand over an imaginary baton. “You’re up.”

She forced herself to smile, though the nerves pulsing inside her made it very difficult to concentrate. “Good morning, gentlemen.”

Was her voice as shaky as it felt?

Alyssa was passing around the beautiful handout Louisa had made the night before, outlining their ideas for the fundraiser. She stopped and looked at Louisa, a telltale sign that Louisa was not off to a strong start.

Ally gave her a look as if to say, Get it together, and Louisa forced herself to obey.

She closed her eyes for a quick second, drew in a tight breath—a mental reset of sorts—then started in on the pitch she’d practiced.

Within a few minutes, she had the skeptical guardsmen smiling, laughing, and yes, maybe even eating out of the palm of her hand. She was good at this, regardless of whatever XPO Grumpy thought of her. She had a self-deprecating way about her that people appreciated, and given the fact that this crew had saved her life only a week ago, it was easy to make fun of herself.

No matter how much the whole event still haunted her dreams.

“The goal is to increase your visibility in the community,” Louisa said. “To get people to pay attention when you tell them to wear a life vest.” She paused for a ripple of ironic laughter and made a face that let the men know she was their first offender, then continued. “Or to stay off the water. Our plan will foster goodwill on the island, and it will shine a light on the excellent and important work you all do.”