"We should all try and be like her starting this very minute!" Rebecca said.

"Dinner is ready!" Byron called.

Huey took Rebecca's arm to lead her to the dining room, saying, "How in the world will I-I mean how will the world be without Miss Olivia?"

We gathered in the dining room around the table, which was set for seven people. We were just six. I didn't have the heart to correct Byron or to point it out to Huey. It was a good thing I had the sense to keep my tongue in my head because it was Byron whom Huey seated in his mother's place. Finally, the obvious dawned on me. Huey was not alone. His discretion had probably, no most definitely, been for his mother's sake.

I hid the fact that I was slightly aghast and then chastised myself for being aghast when I saw how seriously Byron took the occasion. He knew it was a serious statement and was not the least bit flippant that evening or ever again. It was Huey who provided the stand-up routine from that moment forward. Byron was all propriety.

Julian and I went back to our house, thanking Byron for another excellent meal and offering Huey our shoulder or our heart if the mood struck at any hour.

In the car I said to Julian, "Did you know that Huey and Byron were a couple?"

"Sure, I did."

"Well, I surely did not! I never even considered it!"

"Does it bother you?"

"No, of course not. But the deception does. I mean, I've been everywhere with Huey and never saw an inkling of anything between them!"

We pulled in my driveway and got out.

"People see what they want, Abigail. Come on, let's get us a glass of wine and go look at the stars. Maybe we can see Miss Olivia shooting across the sky. By the way, I met a fellow down in Charleston who's looking for a good lawyer. His wife ran off with his best friend and..."

"Shhh! We can talk about that tomorrow."

The moon, almost full, hung over the Atlantic, causing it to sparkle like millions of crystals, glittering, floating on the water, all there for anyone to behold. You could almost scoop them by the handful, put them in your pocket, string them tomorrow, make a necklace or a bracelet with mystical powers that made you invincible.

"Where do you think she is, Julian? Miss Olivia, I mean."

"Right here in our hearts, sweetheart. Just like you've always been since I met you years ago. Love never dies. People do, but love doesn't."

Hearing those words and being there with Julian was enough for me. Pawleys had transformed me, like it did for most people who went there.

This island was a place where you figured things out, made sense of your life and learned to live with yourself, forgive yourself, all the while humbled by its astonishing power and beauty. You didn't need jewelry with mystical powers to have that. You just needed some time on Pawleys to find the truth of your own heart and to be grateful again for life.

Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. She is a nationally recognized volunteer fund-raiser for the arts and education, and an advocate of literacy programs and women's issues. She resides in the New York area with her husband and two children. Visit her website at www.dotfrank.com.

Titles by Dorothea Benton Frank.

PAWLEYS ISLAND.

SHEM CREEK.

ISLE OF PALMS.

PLANTATION.

SULLIVAN'S ISLAND.