Page 25 of The White Oak Lodge

Amos nearly had a heart attack. But Nina took it in stride, saying, “Right, it’s still new, but it’s so good to be out there again. My ex-husband was having an affair, and you know, he ignored me a lot over the past several years. I felt invisible.”

Amos knew that Nina had played along with what Ralph thought for reasons unrelated to attraction to him. But the fact that she hadn’t immediately said,What? Him? No!warmed his stomach. His smile felt loose and easy. He wondered if he’d ever spent so much time with such a beautiful woman. He fought the urge to reach out and touch her hand, which sat so wonderfully on the table, her fingers long, her nails shining.

“Hats off to you, Amos,” Ralph said. “You’ve got yourself a class A girl.”

“I know it,” Amos said.

“Don’t mess it up like I did,” Ralph said, showing all of his teeth.

Amos remembered what Calvin had said about taking Ralph out, which was why he suggested they go to a swanky bar just outside of Chilmark for the night. Ralph was electrified. “Do you know the last time I went out? It’s been months!” He ran upstairs and emerged five minutes later in chinos and animmaculate white button-down shirt. His incredibly expensive cologne was almost overpowering.

Ralph’s driver took them to the bar and dropped them off. Amos knew they’d have to find a place to spend the night on the Vineyard, but suspected that Ralph would offer them a room if they didn’t enrage him later on.Probably just one room, Amos thought, both panicked and excited.

The bar was incredibly ornate and usually reserved for the upper-upper-elite of Vineyard celebrities who graced the island every year. Because it was still rather early in the season, and because Ralph was a beloved and wealthy local, they were given a table on the veranda right away. It was nearly seven thirty, and Ralph ordered them expensive tapas and another round of drinks, plus a bottle of champagne. “We’re celebrating!” he called, but Amos had no idea what they were celebrating. Maybe Ralph’s life was one big party.

It wasn’t till the tapas were scraped clean and the bottle of champagne was empty that Nina tapped a napkin over her mouth and said, “Ralph, I was hoping you could answer a question for me.”

Ralph’s eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands. “Anything, my darling. I want to talk about it all.”

Nina reached for her purse, pulled out a thick academic book, and opened it to reveal the photograph. The minute it rested on the table between her and Ralph, Ralph’s eyes shifted, and his smile fell. He picked it up and studied it for a long time before he said, “Where did you get this?”

Nina tilted her head and lied. “I found it at a flea market in Boston.”

Ralph arched his eyebrow in a way that suggested he didn’t believe her. “Who told you it was me in this photograph?” He tapped on the young man displayed in 2002—a man pre-four-divorces, pre-wealth.

“A friend recognized you,” Nina lied. “A friend from Nantucket. I’m from there originally.”

“I see.”

Nina seemed unprepared to give away her last name.

“This was a wonderful day,” Ralph said, giving himself over to nostalgia. “We took the boat out for several days and camped on the beach. We were like one big family. Oh, and see this woman here?” He pointed at a blond woman on the right-hand side. “She became my first wife. She took a big chunk out of my money when we broke up. C’est la vie, huh?”

“She’s beautiful,” Nina said.

“They all were.” Ralph brought the photo closer to his face, then said, “You didn’t want to see me just to return an old photograph.”

“No. You’re right,” Nina agreed. “I wanted to see you because I think I know one of the men in the photograph, and I’d like to find him.”

Ralph put the photo down and said, “What’s his name?”

Nina looked momentarily panicked, then put her finger right above maybe-Jack’s image and said, “Him.”

Ralph’s eyes stirred with questions. “You mean Seth Green.”

Nina didn’t give away any disappointment. “I mean Seth Green. Have you seen him around lately?”

“I haven’t seen him in maybe five years,” Ralph explained. “Back when this photo was taken, he was traveling all over the place for work and, you know, not making our friendship much of a priority. I always knew he was on his way out.”

“What was his job?” Nina asked.

“He did a little bit of everything, that guy,” Ralph said. “I think he had a lot of bosses above him, people who had him surveying the imports and exports of things. Gosh, who knows how anyone makes a living in this day and age, huh?”

Amos’s heart thumped. Seth Green, he wanted to say aloud to Nina. It isn’t him. But then again, if Jack wanted to fake his own death and take on a new name, wasn’t Seth Green sort of fake-sounding?

Ralph snapped his fingers. “But if I remember correctly, he’s got a place in Nantucket still. A place he holes up in from time to time.”

Nina tilted her head forward. “Where is that place?”

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