When someone you love is taken from you—in an instant—how do you cope?Laurel Beach is one of the last old-fashioned villages in the West Florida panhandle, one that has, so far, escaped commercial over-development. It presents both a haven and opportunity, and, this summer, it plays host to a varied cast.Grief has nearly destroyed Hudson DeForest. He's barely been going through the motions, teaching in a Memphis girls school, writing about film, talking to the dog. He's hanging on by a thread. It's been two years since Kate died, two years of grappling with profound loss, with the impact of the marriage of a lifetime cut short.Hudson's friend Charlie Brompton, the successful developer and restaurateur, is facing a different loss. He's growing old. It's time for him to let go of his most beloved enterprise, the mecca of fine dining known as the 26-A after the panhandle highway where it sits. And of its funky adjunct, The Blue Bar. With no immediate family as heirs, Charlie's considering