“It was fine. . . .” Amy dug the tips of her boots into the pavement, looked away from Carol Anne. “Hey, where do you think time goes?”

“What in the living tennis ball are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Nothing.”

“Okay . . . Amy, you’re worrying me now. And you haven’t told me anything about your weekend at the lake. I know you need to tell me. And I know I need to hear it.”

“It was fun. Molly fell off the Jet Ski and scared me to death, but we had fun.”

“Fun. Okay . . . that’s all I’m gonna get from you? You spent a weekend with the same stud who broke your heart and all you can tell me is ‘fun.’ ”

“Not a big deal. There’s no reason to worry about a man who ditched me almost thirty years ago—never came back, never called, never contacted me, and now has a daughter who’s dating my son.”

“Life is weird.”

“Yes, it is. But we’re all married now with kids, family.”

“I wish I could’ve been there.”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

“Yeah, look at you, darlin’. Always wishing you knew what happened to Nick Lowry. Here you go.”

It felt as though someone were sitting on her chest; she wanted to tell Carol Anne about the mysterious telegram she never received, about her dreams and distraction, yet she couldn’t figure out how to string together an explanation.

“By the way, what are you doing here?” Amy asked.

“I called the house this morning looking for you. Phil told me where you’d be. I knew you needed me.”

Amy looked at the woman she had known for almost her entire life. “Thanks for having Joe check on the buyer for Oystertip. It’s truly great. Maybe the committee will actually think I’m worth something if I get the name of the buyer.”

“Obviously they think you’re worth something if they have you on the committee.”

“Yeah, but only for the house, not for the big stuff. They really want to find out who the developer is so we can confront him—get the media all over the issue, maybe convince him not to develop the land. But he’s hiding behind numbered accounts and the Eldrin clan, who own the island.”

“Well, no guarantees, but Joe will definitely try.”

“I think Phil was mad. I told him Joe was helping, and he got a little pissy. Said I shouldn’t involve everyone I know.”

“Did you tell him we offered?”

“Yes. I’m so irritated about the whole thing I don’t even think I can talk about it. He just doesn’t seem to care about this stuff like I do.”

Carol Anne grabbed Amy’s hand and laughed.

“What’s so funny?”