“We’ve been what?” Mac asked, his face red with barely suppressed rage.

“Had, Mac,” Joe said. “It’s a prank. An evil, evil prank.”

“A prank,” Mac said, advancing toward Maddie, who backed up until she encountered a wall. “A goddamned prank?”

“Hi, honey,” Maddie said with a goofy smile. “Did you boys have fun at your party?”

“No, we did not have fun, because we were preoccupied by the thought of our women cavorting with male strippers!”

“What strippers?” Maddie asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

Oh wow, Hope thought, trying not to laugh out loud at Maddie’s innocent act, she’s good.

Maddie hooked her hand around Mac’s neck and brought him in close enough to whisper in his ear. Whatever she said had the desired effect. The tension leached from Mac’s shoulders as he leaned into his wife’s embrace.

“As long as you’re all here,” Sydney said, “we ought to combine these two parties.”

“Is this a massive ploy to get us to do another of those stupid Jack-and-Jill thingies?” Evan asked.

“Not this time,” Grace told her fiancé, patting his chest. “By the way, Syd, who won the pool?”

Sydney consulted the spreadsheet, checked her watch and declared Abby the winner. She handed over the bag of cash. “Maddie owes you two hundred smackers.”

Abby clapped her hands in glee as she accepted the bag of cash and promptly handed it over to Jenny. “Buy dinner on the honeymoon on us—and Maddie.”

“Wait,” Adam said. “You guys were betting on us?”

“Maybe just a little.” Abby went up on tiptoes to kiss Adam. “But we’re so glad you’re here now.”

He scowled at her playfully. “Nicely played, my love.”

Paul sat next to Hope on the sofa. “Can you believe all this?”

“It’s pretty funny.”

“They were going insane at our party. There was no stopping them from coming here.”

“Did it ruin your plans?”

“Nah, I didn’t have any plans other than feeding them, plying them with drinks and making sure Al has a great time.”

With Jenny seated in his lap, Alex was laughing at something Erin was telling them—and nuzzling Jenny’s neck between laughs.

“Mission accomplished.”

Grant and Owen carried in coolers, and Evan followed them with guitars. They ended up on Luke and Syd’s back deck with Owen and Evan playing for them while everyone sang along.

Sydney had created a cozy outdoor living space that included comfortable sofas and a fire pit. The moon shimmered on the surface of the ocean, and the island’s raw beauty only added to Hope’s melancholy. Ethan would be devastated to leave here, and so would she.

Paul appeared next to her with a glass of white wine that he offered her.

“I shouldn’t,” she said. “I’m driving.”