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Prologue

This was the last place she should be The absolute last place She woke up thisoutside of the Dock House while boats rocked in their slips

Her heellot pave in this place and all the memories they had made

The hipped through her hair She hesitated This was all wrong She shouldn’t be here, but she had to know She had to see hiain

She pushed open the door, her heart in her throat, her palms deith perspiration, her breath fevered

Was any of it real, or was it all just a flash of summer heat?

One

Blair

“You have got to be kidding lared at thein front of thee, the island didn’t look like much

Maggie grinned “Yes This is it”

“An entire summer here?” Blair maneuvered the car onto the thin strip of island road “There’s nothing here”

“That’s the point Re out simplicity”

Blair knew they had agreed to spend one last suether before they started work in the fall, but Harkers Island seeination from reality

“Oh my God Is that the post office? It looks like a mall kiosk” Blair slowed the car in front of a tiny brick building The Aer than the only

Maggie leaned against her door, her nose allass “It’s quaint It’s exactly anted Since we graduated lastWe need this”

As the car meandered farther into the depths of the island, Blair pointed across the street “Could that be the grocery store? Is says supermarket and it’s sym? What about a coffee shop?” She didn’t like quaint and she didn’t like reie talk her into this?

Maggie sighed, adjusting her sunglasses The glistening light off the water was blinding “We don’t need coffee shops and we can run every day and do yoga at ho the grocery store is We need this break before we start working You’ll be in Dallas at the TV station I’ll be in Charleston at my PR job I knoe think we’ll see each other, but it’s never going to be the saether”

“Don’t be soto be the last suie’s direction “I can’t believe you talkedwine in France, or partying in South Beach Instead, we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere” She looked down at the phone in the console “Will we even get cell service out here?” What if she couldn’t text or get Snapchat?

Maggie laughed “We didn’t time travel”

Theywheel and stared out the windshield, searching for civilization White clapboard houses aged by salt winds dotted the sides of the roads It was starting to feel htmare and less like a tranquil vacation spot Wasn’t there a horror movie that started out like this?