Rachelle Hampton

The fancy snacks do remain. Grace also has a new idea for scheduling that she wants to implement. So the shifts everyone worked used to be 48 hours. And if you're on call for your shift, that means that you have to be within 10 minutes of your car. So no hiking, which is a big deal on *** Island. It means that you can't drink any alcohol. Makes sense.

And it also means that you need to have child care lined up in case you get called in. So if you get a call during work, then you're expected to leave. But all of that changed when Grace unilaterally changed the shifts from 48 hours long to a whole week long.

And it also means that you need to have child care lined up in case you get called in. So if you get a call during work, then you're expected to leave. But all of that changed when Grace unilaterally changed the shifts from 48 hours long to a whole week long.

And Grace's justification is that this new schedule allowed more people to be on call at any given moment so that they would never be understaffed for a fire. This causes a lot of grumbling. Because finding childcare on an island of 2,000 people for a 48-hour shift was hard enough, but a whole week? Jeez. It's at this point that I would personally have done a mutiny.

And Grace's justification is that this new schedule allowed more people to be on call at any given moment so that they would never be understaffed for a fire. This causes a lot of grumbling. Because finding childcare on an island of 2,000 people for a 48-hour shift was hard enough, but a whole week? Jeez. It's at this point that I would personally have done a mutiny.

But then I have to remember that half the fire department is either Williams or married to one or related to one. And they're all so proud of Grace for being chief. None so much as Grace's father, Elijah. Elijah Williams has been volunteering for the fire department for as long as Kennedy has been in town. But he has never been in contention for chief because Elijah is kind.

But then I have to remember that half the fire department is either Williams or married to one or related to one. And they're all so proud of Grace for being chief. None so much as Grace's father, Elijah. Elijah Williams has been volunteering for the fire department for as long as Kennedy has been in town. But he has never been in contention for chief because Elijah is kind.

Kind of the fail son of his generation of Williams. Oh, no. Which includes the island's lawyer, four out of the seven members of the island's town council, and several prominent businessmen.

Kind of the fail son of his generation of Williams. Oh, no. Which includes the island's lawyer, four out of the seven members of the island's town council, and several prominent businessmen.

Meanwhile, if you remember, Elijah manages some shitty summer rental properties. He doesn't even own them. They belong to his father, Grace's grandfather, who plans to will them to Grace when he dies and not Elijah.

Meanwhile, if you remember, Elijah manages some shitty summer rental properties. He doesn't even own them. They belong to his father, Grace's grandfather, who plans to will them to Grace when he dies and not Elijah.

Yeah. Elijah's one redeeming quality is that he loves his daughter more than anything else in the world. He is so, so proud of Grace, which is sweet, but... But also means whenever someone starts complaining about all the new changes that Grace is unilaterally instituting on the fire squad, Elijah will just start loudly talking about how he just always knew she'd do something great.

Yeah. Elijah's one redeeming quality is that he loves his daughter more than anything else in the world. He is so, so proud of Grace, which is sweet, but... But also means whenever someone starts complaining about all the new changes that Grace is unilaterally instituting on the fire squad, Elijah will just start loudly talking about how he just always knew she'd do something great.

And did you know she made the dean's list every semester in college?

And did you know she made the dean's list every semester in college?

I agree. But despite the long arm of the Williams family, Kennedy still wouldn't live anywhere else. She loves her husband that she met on the island, one of the few locals who somehow, blessedly, is not in any way related to the Williams. They do exist. Yeah.

I agree. But despite the long arm of the Williams family, Kennedy still wouldn't live anywhere else. She loves her husband that she met on the island, one of the few locals who somehow, blessedly, is not in any way related to the Williams. They do exist. Yeah.

Kennedy loves their adorable preschooler, even though he's going through a sleep regression right now, and Kennedy and her husband are being driven slowly insane from sleep deprivation, which is maybe why Kennedy doesn't care about anything at the fire department enough to be cheap. She just wants to avoid another Eunice Williams barn fire.

Kennedy loves their adorable preschooler, even though he's going through a sleep regression right now, and Kennedy and her husband are being driven slowly insane from sleep deprivation, which is maybe why Kennedy doesn't care about anything at the fire department enough to be cheap. She just wants to avoid another Eunice Williams barn fire.

And even though all of Grace's changes are annoying, none of them are dangerous or feel personal. Do you think our friend of a friend is being wise here? Do you think Kennedy is right in thinking there's not a lot to be done right now?