Lisa was the one who eventually suggested her best friend from childhood, Poppy, and her family. Poppy and her husband, John, lived outside Wheeling, West Virginia, where the two had grown up and where Lisa’s mother, Carol, still lived.

Next-door neighbors and both only children, Lisa and Poppy had become fast friends at an early age. Both families’ homes had an open-door policy to the other, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to have sleepovers several nights of the week. They shared adventures, secrets, wardrobes, gossip, homework, inside jokes, broken hearts—years upon years of life. Shortly after graduating from high school, Lisa left the area and she and Poppy kept in touch, but not closely, seeing each other only once every year or two when Lisa’s family was in Wheeling to visit her mother. On these visits with the whole families, there were always other dynamics to manage, and the time together was hurried and high-strung. Between visits, Lisa and Poppy managed to speak on the phone every few months, but these calls were always interrupted prematurely by a kid in crisis or someone at the door. They never seemed to get to the stuff that mattered. There was shared history and love between them, and they could still laugh at the same stupid shit, but it was impossible to feel as close as they once had, now that they only conversed in fragments and could rarely complete a thought, much less bare a soul.

In the past year, however, the two had reconnected powerfully following Lisa’s mother’s diagnosis. Poppy still considered Carol a dear family friend, given all the time spent and meals consumed in her home as a child. So when Poppy received word of Carol’s illness, she took on the role of surrogate daughter, since she was local and Lisa was not: transporting and accompanying Carol to appointments, taking notes on the results of her scans, arranging her medications in the weekly pill case, delivering quiches and cakes. During these months, Lisa and Poppy spoke often. Lisa was deeply appreciative and touched by Poppy’s help with her mother’s care. Poppy insisted it was no trouble—she welcomed the opportunity to help and wouldn’t accept a dime from Lisa for the gas, meals, or time.

Scott was at the kitchen table, typing something on his laptop, when Lisa suggested inviting Poppy and her family to Fripp Island as a gesture of gratitude. He didn’t look up from his computer when he said, “The Fords?,” as though they knew more than one Poppy.

Lisa said, “It’s the least I can offer after everything Poppy’s done for Mom. And anyhow, I’d love to be able to connect with their family, I’ve been saying so for years. The kids would get along fine, they always have in the past. Alexis is the same age as Kimmy, remember? And Ryan’s got to be seventeen, headed to college in the fall. Who knows if he’d even want to come. Rae will obviously be fine with or without a buddy. She’ll spend the whole week with her nose in a book either way.”