“Not at all,” she said. “But I do think you’re afraid, and because of that, you’re imagining the worst-case scenario, which isn’t likely to happen.”

There was a grim look in his eyes. “Don’t be so sure. Nearly half of stroke victims have a second one within five years. Did you know that? And the vast majority of them don’t survive. And I’m pretty sure none of them had to confront news like this. If you put it all together, what other conclusion is there to reach? My father is strong—he’s the strongest man I know—I just don’t know if he’s strong enough to get through this.”

Amy tilted her head toward him as waves crashed along the beach. She smiled supportively but said nothing. She figured it was better to commiserate in silence than to keep on talking and pretending she had any answers. Because she didn’t. The truth was that she didn’t have the slightest clue what Ryan should do. She understood the dilemma and felt sympathy for him. She understood why he had borrowed the money, and she couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep it a secret. But had he really needed to leave it so long? By waiting until the last minute, until the bank was literally breathing down his neck, had he not made the problem exponentially worse?

She reached down and pulled a shell out of the dune, and as she emptied out the sand and turned it over in her hands, her thoughts turned to the weather and how cold it was getting. The wind was blowing harder and no longer carried any trace of music. Had the festival come to an end? Was it that late already? She then wondered, rather despondently, whether that meant the evening would soon be coming to an end too. She also wondered about her dad. Her phone still hadn’t made a sound. No messages, no missed calls. Despite reminding herself again and again that there must be a reasonable explanation for this continued radio silence, the unsettling feeling in her stomach surrounding his disappearance was only getting worse.

Then, from out of nowhere, she heard something—voices—the sound of an approaching crowd. Amy looked down the beach and spotted a large contingent of people emerging from out of the darkness.

“Oh wow,” Ryan said. He had just seen and heard them too. “I don’t believe it.”

“You know who they are?”

“Of course. You don’t?”

“Should I?” She frowned as she gave the moving mass of shadows a closer look. There must have been hundreds marching up the beach, raucous and fizzing with excitement, wielding flashlights with great enthusiasm.

“Look where they’re headed,” Ryan said as he pointed to the lighthouse.