Her best friend jumped out of the car and came flying down the road. They met halfway, hugging and laughing. Rose's heart was in her throat, but in a good way—the best way ever. Jessica had tears in her eyes, and so did Rose. She wiped them away, laughing so hard, feeling all the sadness of missing her best friend melt into the summer sky.

“I can't believe you're here!” Rose said.

“I can't believe I am, either!” Jessica said.

Rose held her hand, tugged her down the steps into her great-grandmother's beautiful yard. She was so proud to show her friend where her family came from—the cozy shingled cottage, the stone wishing well with the magical arch spelling out Sea Garden, roses everywhere, and the sparkling Sound spreading out from the long, sloping rock ledges.

“Hi, Dr. Neill,” Jessica said.

“Hello, Jessica,” he said. “It's nice to see a friend from Cape Hawk.”

“It's nice to see you,” she said.

And then Rose's mother came around the car with Marisa and another woman—both as tall as Rose's mother was tiny. Patrick walked beside Marisa, and Rose noticed that they were holding hands.

“Well, you must be Marisa,” Maeve said.

“I'm so glad to meet you, Mrs. Jameson,” Marisa said. She reached out her hand, as if to shake Maeve's—but Maeve pulled her close in a hug.

“This is my sister Sam,” Marisa said.

“Hello,” the redheaded woman said.

“Thank you both for coming,” Maeve said. “It means so much to us.”

“I wouldn't miss it,” Sam said. “He did the same things to Marisa and Jess as he did to your granddaughter. . . .”

“Jessica,” Maeve said, turning toward her. “Do you like gardening?”

Jessica nodded. “I planted a rosebush in Cape Hawk. It's like the one we had in our garden back home, in Weston.”

“Well, that's wonderful,” Maeve said. “Clara and I thought Rose might like to help us plant these rosebushes while her mother takes care of business . . . would you like to help us?”

Jessica glanced at her mother a little anxiously. Rose knew that she was probably feeling the same way she felt about her mother's going to court, so she squeezed Jessica's hand. That made her friend smile.

“Sure,” Jessica said. “I want to help.”

Rose ran into the house and got the gardening gear her grandmother had bought. Now she knew who it was for! She put one of the straw hats on her head, and stood on tiptoe to put the other on Jessica's. They waved their trowels, shiny silver spades with glossy wooden handles.

“Ready!” Rose said.

“I'm ready,” Jessica piped in.

The adults all looked at each other. The two older women, dressed in their messy garden clothes and straw hats, and the five grownups in their court clothes—Patrick and Marisa and Sam, and Rose's mother and Dr. Neill.

“Are we ready too?” Patrick asked with his big Irish grin.

“Yes,” Marisa said.