“And what do you think?” Kelsey spoke for the first time, and they both looked at her as if they’d forgotten she was there.

Skip sighed again and balanced the megaphone on one knee. “I think she fell and drowned. I think she was wandering around the cove where she shouldn’t have been, and she slipped, and the tide came in. I don’t want to be a pessimist or anything, but it’s happened before, people taking chances on the beach after dark. We’ve just been lucky and found them, that’s all.”

Kelsey looked startled, staring at Skip while Donna tried to pull her away.

“Come on, Kelsey, miles to go before we eat.” Her tone was light, but Kelsey didn’t miss its undercurrent of concern.

“So I’ll see you later, right?” Skip stretched, trying to catch Donna’s parting remark as the girls took off through the crowds.

“If you’re lucky!” Donna smiled companionably at Kelsey and once again linked arms with her. “He never changes. Impossible since the day he was born. Oh, well, I’m stupid for being so determined, I guess.”

“Did you go away to school, too?”

Donna shook her hair back from her eyes. “No such luck. I go to school on the mainland. Skip went there, too, till he had to go away.”

Kelsey looked up. “Had to?”

“Well, he’s hardly turned out to be the model son,” Donna chuckled. “His father finally got tired of bailing him out of trouble and thought boarding school would help straighten him out. It didn’t, of course, he kept flunking out. But when you’re as rich as Skip, people can be persuaded to make exceptions. Mr. Rochford paid this last school a bundle to keep him, just so Skip could graduate.”

“How on earth do you know that?”

“Skip told me. But just between you and me, I think he was actually glad to stay at this school ’cause Justin was there.”

They slowed down, the crowds thinning out at last, and Kelsey cast Donna a sidelong glance.

“So what happens now—now that Skip’s graduated?”

Donna scuffed her shoes through the sand, laughing. “If you’re referring to the ongoing saga of Skip and Donna, your guess is as good as mine. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’d love for him to come to his senses and realize just how right for him I am. Goodness, we know each other too well—no one else could put up with us!”

“What…about Justin?” Kelsey tried to sound casual, but Donna looked at her knowingly. “I mean…is he…involved with anyone?”

Donna smiled. “Justin’s too shy to get involved with anyone. Of course,” she added slyly, “there’s always a first time.” She gave Kelsey’s arm a hard yank and raced ahead to where a yellow shuttle bus was just loading passengers. “Come on! This is where we get on!”

For the next few hours Donna gave Kelsey such an insider’s view of the island that she fell totally in love with it. It wasn’t just the beach and the village and the festive atmosphere that she found so fascinating—it was the friendly attitude everyone seemed to have. Donna made sure Kelsey visited every store, and afterwards they stopped in at Donna’s restaurant and got ice cream to eat on their way back to the beach. As they walked, Donna recalled hilarious moments from her and Skip’s childhoods, making Kelsey laugh till she hurt. For the first time, she felt glad to be there, but as they came out through some trees onto a rocky embankment, she saw the cliffs towering close by, and her mood changed abruptly. Suddenly it didn’t seem right, she and Donna having such a wonderful time, while somewhere…forgotten…Beth was—