Betsy wiped her eyes and took in the group gathered before her. “Thank you all so much for seeing me. I know it was difficult for you to relive what was a terrible day for you, too, but I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. I won’t take any more of your time.”

“Don’t go.” Linda took the other woman’s hand before she could rise. “You’re welcome to stay for as long as you’d like. We’ve got plenty of room, and we’d love to have you.” She glanced at her husband.

“Please do stay,” Big Mac said. “The island is a wonderful place to recover your footing.”

“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” Betsy said.

“It would be no inconvenience,” Linda said. “We’d love to have you.”

“A change of scenery would be a welcome relief,” Betsy said. “Since Steve’s memorial service, I’ve been rattling around in my house, feeling aimless and lost.”

Linda smiled and squeezed Betsy’s hand. “No need to be lost and alone when you can be among new friends.”

“You’re all very kind. I appreciate your offer, and I accept your hospitality.”

The front door slammed shut, and Stephanie came rushing in, looking teary-eyed and dismayed. She found Grant in the group and came right over to him.

“Someone called you,” he said, surprised to see her. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that one of his brothers would’ve thought to call his fiancée. Grant had never been so happy to see her.

She sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around him, telling him everything he needed to know without saying a word.

Relieved and a little less burdened than he’d been earlier, Grant held on to her for dear life.

After Grant left with Stephanie, Dan asked Mac to take him down to the docks so he could see Kara. Reeling after what he’d learned about the accident, he needed to be with her.

“You should come to Luke’s tonight,” Mac said as he drove down the hill. “It’d do you good to be among friends.”

“I’ll see how I feel a little later.”

“Can I say something?”

Dan liked Grant’s brothers a lot, and had become closer to them since he’d lived on the island. “Can I stop you?”

Mac uttered a quick laugh. “I don’t know you very well, but I can guess how I might feel after hearing what you just heard.”

“And how’s that?”

“Guilty, overwhelmed, questioning why you lived and he died, wondering how you possibly go forward from here knowing what you now know.”

“Pretty accurate assessment.”

“Here’s the deal. He died. You lived. There’s no changing that fact. So it would seem to me that there isn’t much point to beating yourself up over something you had no control over.”