Page 27 of The White Oak Lodge

That night, they both slept on the bed in their street clothes, slumbering gently three feet away from one another. It was the best sleep Nina had had in years.

The following morning, Nina and Amos got up at eight and padded downstairs to find several maids cleaning the living room, kitchen, and dining room. It looked as though there’d been a massive party, with beer bottles strewn everywhere, and lamps tipped over, and a curtain torn off its rod.

“What happened here?” Nina asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Ralph had a party after you went to bed,” one of the maids said evenly.

“What? I didn’t hear anything!” Nina cried.

The maid shrugged, as though to sayhe can’t be stopped.

“He won’t be up for another eight hours or so,” another maid said. “I can pass along your thanks if you want to hit the road.”

Nina and Amos returned to Nantucket, realizing that they liked the tamer side of life and could never be millionaires chasing the next party.

They also left with an address. Ralph had written it out on a piece of paper:

77 Madequeum Beach Drive. It was where “Seth Green” stayed when he came back to the island.

Once on the ferry, Nina googled “Seth Green” and found more than five thousand of them. The first ten or so images that popped up looked nothing like her brother. She laughed at herself for even trying.

At ten in the morning, Amos pulled the truck up to the curb and got out to say goodbye. Nina wanted to tell him he didn’t have to, that he could wait in the car, but an urgent and strange part of her wanted him to walk with her to the front door, maybe even to hug her.A kiss feels out of the question, she thought,her heart pounding.But we just spent the night together!Is he feeling what I’m feeling? Am I alone in this?The look in his eyes told her she was not.

They were at the front door and turning to look at one another when they heard sounds from within the cabin. Nina froze with alarm. There was the bubbling of a coffee maker and the television. The boink sound that so often came with cartoons. Her blood ran cold.

Amos had heard it, too.

Nina whispered, “Did someone break into my cabin?”

Her first thought was a drifter, someone who needed a place to spend the night. Maybe he or she had been watching her and realized she hadn’t come home last night.

Amos muttered, “I’m going in first. Get behind me.”

Nina clasped her hands. “Shouldn’t we call the cops?”

But Amos was already using her keys to open the door. Just as he had on her first night, he charged in to find the cabin inhabited. But he stopped dead when he saw who it was.

“Mommy!” Will shot off the sofa and ran to the foyer to hug her. Fiona was hot on his heels, tan and happy with beads in her hair.

With both of her children’s arms wrapped around her, Nina allowed herself a millisecond of joy. It crashed into itself almost immediately.

“Morning!” Daniel wore a violently white smile and stuck his hand out to greet Amos.

Amos looked down at Daniel’s hand, his face green. He glanced back at Nina with an expression likewhat is going on?

“Mommy, where were you?” Will asked. “Why didn’t you come home?”

“I was on another island, honey,” Nina explained in her best and brightest mom voice. “Martha’s Vineyard. It’s right next door.”

“The Vineyard is supposed to be beautiful,” Daniel said. “I’ve only been to Nantucket one other time. Our honeymoon, right, Nina? What a great time that was.”

Nina stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind her. Her eyes were smarting. She looked down at her children and said, “Why don’t you go watch the television in the bedroom?”

“We can sit on your bed?” Will asked.

“Of course,” Nina said.

Will and Fiona slunk out of the room, and Nina hurried to close the door behind them. She glared at Daniel with more rage than she’d ever mustered.

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