23. Thursday, August 22, 9:35 P.M.

24. Big Swing

25. Single Ladies

26. Thursday, August 22, 9:45 P.M.

27. Day-Drinking in Denpasar

28. Thursday, August 22, 10:05 P.M.

29. The Kitchen II

30. Her

31. The Third Eight

32. Thursday, August 22, 11:00 P.M.

33. Kill Your Darlings

34. Dumped

35. Cruel Summer

36. Friday, August 23, 1:00 A.M.

37. For as Long as We Both Shall Live

38. Thursday, August 22, 8:00 P.M.

39. There Is No Story Here

40. Friday, August 23, 6:15 A.M.

41. The Cobblestone Telegraph III

42. Your One Wild and Precious Life

Acknowledgments

Discover More

About the Author

Also by Elin Hilderbrand

I will end where I began: This book is for Chip Cunningham—with friendship and profound gratitude.

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Prologue

Thursday, August 22, 6:00 p.m.

Rumors about Nantucket Police chief Ed Kapenash’s retirement have been swirling around for the past two years, though when asked directly, the Chief said, “I’m far too busy to contemplate retirement.” However, three days after the Big Scare in February, Ed told his wife, Andrea (from his hospital bed at Mass General), “That’s it, I’m finished, I’ll just stay on through the summer while we find someone to replace me.”

“Another summer, Ed?” Andrea cried out. She was shaken—and for good reason.

Ed had been giving a safety talk in the gymnasium of Nantucket Elementary when his left arm started to tingle. He felt short of breath, his vision splotched—and the next thing he knew, he was being loaded onto a medevac chopper and flown to MGH for emergency bypass surgery.

“You had the kind of heart attack we call the widow-maker,” Dr. Very Important said. “A full blockage of your LAD artery. You were lucky the paramedics were right there. Otherwise this could have ended differently.”

Yes, the fire chief—Stu Vick—and EMTs from his department had been in the school gym as well, waiting for their turn to speak, when Ed hit the floor.

As Dr. Big Shot gave Ed a lecture about exercise, diet, and, above all, stress, Ed gauged Andrea’s reaction to the term widow-maker.

Not good.

“You should retire now,” Andrea said. “You might not survive another summer.” She looked at Dr. Master of the Universe because she needed him to hear the backstory. “Ed has been admitted to the Nantucket hospital three times in the past two years for chest pain. They wanted to send him up here for testing but he refused.”

Ed sighed. He’d married a tattletale. But also, Ed felt guilty. Had he played fast and loose with his health? Yes. Could he just give two weeks’ notice and leave the public safety of the island up for grabs? He could not.

He would retire in the fall.

Now here it is, August 22, and the Chief is celebrating: His last official day of duty is Monday, August 26. His replacement, Zara Washington, was the deputy chief in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, so she understands island life as well as Ed does. Zara has moved into her housing, and after two weeks of shadowing Ed, she is eager to take over. Andrea has planned a big retirement party for Ed at the Oystercatcher in a couple of weeks and there will be some official hoopla arranged by Governor Healey.

But for now, the Chief is enjoying a night out with his people: Andrea; his son, Eric, and Eric’s girlfriend, Avalon; his best friends, Addison and Phoebe Wheeler and Jeffrey and Delilah Drake; and his daughter, Kacy, a NICU nurse who moved back from California this summer.

Kacy had intended to bring her friend Coco as her plus-one but… Coco works as the “personal concierge” for the Richardsons, a couple whom Ed and Andrea (and the Wheelers and the Drakes) became acquainted with this summer, and when Ed opted not to include the Richardsons in tonight’s dinner, the Richardsons turned around and threw a sunset sail on their yacht, Hedonism—and so Coco has to work.

“I guess everyone has abandoned the Richardsons,” Kacy said. “Coco didn’t recognize the names on the guest list—they’re mostly strangers.”

Strangers who evidently hadn’t been warned about the Richardsons, Ed thought. Some weird things had happened this summer.

Back in June, the Richardsons were a hot commodity; they’d nearly become part of “the Castaways,” which is what the Kapenashes and the Wheelers and the Drakes call their friend group (because they all “washed ashore” on Nantucket decades earlier). Part of the appeal of the Richardsons was that they were younger, still in their forties. The Castaways, Ed in particular, had been feeling their middle age.

For tonight’s dinner, Ed chose Ventuno, a restaurant housed in one of the historic residences downtown, and Andrea reserved the entire upstairs for them.

They ascend a narrow wooden staircase and find their table draped with white linen and lit by candles near the windows that overlook the charming brick sidewalks of Federal Street. All their guests have already arrived.

Ed takes his seat at the oval table and reminds himself to appreciate the things that Andrea accuses him of missing: the crystal wineglasses, the low centerpiece of dahlias and roses, the fact that Eric has worn a tie without being asked. The air smells of garlic and herbs; Tony Bennett croons in the background. This is exactly the evening Ed wanted—and yet he can’t help but feel melancholy. The summer is ending, and so is his career.

After Addison assesses the wine list—it’s long been his job to serve as their sommelier—he catches Ed’s eye over the top of the menu.