wake up.” With that, her voice cracked. “I don’t know much, but I know he is not supposed to be in this bed right now.”
He wouldn’t remind her that Jessup had tried to save Jackson right away. He wouldn’t say that it was an accident because that might negate her feelings, and she was certainly entitled to them. Besides, they weren’t here to convince her she was wrong.
They were only here to offer help.
“If you don’t want us to name the regatta after Jackson,” Louisa said, “we won’t. But the community would love to do something to support your family right now. We’d love to have the chance to honor your son.”
Deborah turned away and didn’t say another word.
Louisa slowly stood. She rummaged through her bag and withdrew a blue business card, just like the one Duncan had given him before his first meeting with her.
“Think it over.” She held the card out to Mr. Wirth. “Let us know.”
He took the card with a quiet nod. “We will.”
“It was good to meet you both,” Louisa said.
Deborah remained still, refusing to look at either of them, but Louisa seemed unfazed.
“Thank you,” Mr. Wirth said. “We really appreciate it.”
Louisa shook his hand, radiating warmth as only she could do. “We would love to help.”
He was certain Mrs. Wirth was likely biting back angry words, but she said nothing as the two of them escaped into the hallway.
“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Louisa said. “But I suppose it’s what I expected.”
Cody tucked his hat under his arm and drew in a tight breath. “Do you think she’ll come around?”
Louisa shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t want to push her, so I’ll start looking at alternatives, but I really would love to do something to help their family if we can.”
He studied her for a long moment, thinking that her authenticity inspired him. He didn’t meet many truly genuine people—or maybe he simply didn’t stick around long enough to find out if they were genuine.
With Louisa, there was no question.
“You okay?” She studied him now, her big eyes fixed on him.
“Yep. Good.” He started toward the elevator. “I hope they come around.”
Email to Louisa two days after her visit to Mr. and Mrs. Wirth:
Dear Miss Chambers,
We appreciate your visit to Jackson earlier this week. I apologize if we seemed ungrateful in any way. As you can imagine, there is a lot of emotion to sort through. The truth is, the day before your visit, the doctors told us we were only prolonging the inevitable. Our Jackson is gone. Deborah knows it. I know it. But neither of us is ready to let him go.
I know our anger seems misplaced, and maybe it is. Maybe we are simply looking for someone to blame. Because believing it was human error and not something God allowed to happen to our son is easier.
Because if God simply turned his face in Jackson’s hour of need, where does that leave us?
Anyway, we would be honored for you to name the regatta after our boy. He was so joyful and full of life once upon a time. I think he’d get a kick out of something so cool being held in his honor.
Thank you for your kindness.
Sincerely,
Manny Wirth
CHAPTER TWENTY
IF THERE WAS ONE THING LOUISA KNEW ABOUT NANTUCKET, it was that the people on the island loved a good party. And if there was one thing she knew about herself, it was that she loved to throw one.
Her time at the hotel had helped connect her with the island’s top philanthropists, and that was proving to be very helpful.
As soon as she got the go-ahead from Mr. Wirth, she began to spread the word, and as she suspected, people were eager to help. Crisis and tragedy bonded people together, and while what happened to Jackson was horrible, it seemed the community was willing to unite around his cause.
Now Louisa stood at the back of the yacht club, supervising the decorating for the Coastie auction, part one of her grand plan. They’d sold tickets to the event that night, and thanks to the buzz she’d created around it, they were already in a good place.
She watched white lights being strung over a pergola on the beach and whispered a quick prayer that everything would go off without a hitch. Not only because she truly wanted to do something meaningful for the Wirth family, but also because Eric was going to be there.
Ally had broken the news to her the day before, and