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know that the “Do Not Disturb” sign had been replaced by a welcome mat? I had assumed that the island’s differentness in the winter was simply because it was winter. But was it the weather that made it so? Was it the lack of summer people? Or, now that Kate had mentioned the high school kids, I wondered if it was the younger generation that binds the community. In the absence of Mariah, three classmates who had graduated with her, and one the year before, only three children remained to hold down desks from kindergarten to eighth grade. And two of them were brothers, slimming family involvement in school activities to a deuce. Did the changing of seasons, the warming of weather and budding of spring, and the return of our five boarding students transform my home into a place I liked better? Or was it just my perception that had changed?
    I was surprised and pleased, though, when Kate followed up on our conversation with a dinner invitation just a few days later. And just that simply, our friendship was born, a three-way bond between the married couple and me. We began spending time in the evenings either at my place or theirs, drinking a bit of wine, maybe stretching into dinner, and always sharing our hopes, dreams, and schemes. We discussed their plans to open a café at their house. The café would be a summer business, and as most of the chocolate-buying holidays were in the winter, the café would extend their profitable months. The café would be a great and much needed addition to the island! It was exciting to listen, and in fact contribute, to the couple’s innovative ideas. Kate and Steve were very supportive of my work and hopes for the future, too. They offered encouragement when I felt less than productive. Their support of my work was so different from my family’s favorable reception to everything. Family support can’t be trusted as it is totally biased! The three of us fell into a fast and easy friendship that felt older than it was. In spite of my earlier, ill-conceived notions, I was happy to have finally added two fingers to my true friend count.
    The dismal tail end of winter lingered as spring threatened and teased with a frustrating game of hide-and-seek. My newfound rapport with the neighbors opened my eyes in a way that made me vow to never spend an entire winter alone like that again. I didn’t know at the time how true to that vow I would be, or why. With the greening of spring, winter was soon forgotten. Prior to the arrival of summer folks and return of high school kids came weekend visits to the island by my sister Bif. She, as usual, accused me of living in a bubble. Naturally gregarious and liked by everyone, Bif has always been someone to whom people talk. She has a knack for charm. Her first night on the island in months, she sat at my dinner table and filled me in on all I had missed during the winter, not a stone’s throw from my front door.
    A teenage girl was pregnant and had narrowed the paternal possibilities down to one of two who happened to be brothers; two couples were separated and headed toward divorce; a newcomer had happened upon the island and taken up residence in a summer home (with or without permission—no one was quite sure) where it was rumored he was manufacturing drugs in the bathtub; a small association of summer residents had managed to pull off a very clever real estate bait and switch; there were reports of domestic violence; two of our fishermen were well on their way to drinking themselves to death; and our hired power company employee had supposedly staged his own death—suicide by kayak. He had disappeared without a trace, and the authorities certainly hadn’t spent any time searching for his body.
    â€œReally, Linny? Do I have to come out here to learn all of this? You’ve been here all winter! And we speak on the phone every day!” Bif teased. The truth was that I had heard bits and pieces of all