Roland and Elizabeth were unusual guests at the complimentary “high tea” being held late in the afternoon in the four-star, luxury inn on Hilton Head Island. For one thing, Roland and Elizabeth were not guests of the hotel. They lived about twenty minutes away from the inn. Their home was in the wealthiest neighborhood on that island of very wealthy residents. In fact, Michael Jordan, the basketball legend, had lived next door to them. But Michael had stopped visiting the home after his father died.

Roland and Elizabeth had moved south a few years earlier to escape the harsh climate of western New York, near Buffalo. When they finally moved into their posh dream house, they noticed something unusual. They missed one of the very things they had taken for granted: neighbors. Virtually all t…