Page 41 of The White Oak Lodge

Maybe Daniel would get the hint to leave them alone forever.

Nina hugged and kissed her children goodbye and promised them she’d be there to pick them up as soon as camp was over. They were sad for about ten seconds before they split off to play with their friends. This left Nina feeling momentarily bereft. But when she got in the car, cracked the windows, and sang the songs on the radio, her heart opened. She had more mysteries to solve. She had Amos to get back to.

She had Nantucket.

Right before she turned north, Nina spontaneously turned into her old neighborhood to fetch a few things from the house she’d recently shared with Fiona, Will, and Daniel. It felt so familiar to pull into the driveway, so much so that it was ludicrous to imagine they’d probably sell the house soon. As she wandered up the walkway, she thought about the plants she’d put in the soil, the lawn she’d mowed hundreds of times, the closets she’d painted and reorganized. She and Daniel had bought the house with the idea, she’d thought, of being there till they were old. Now, she felt like a thief for going inside without telling him.

In the bedroom they’d shared until recently, Nina rifled through her closet to find more swimsuits, extra sundresses, and a couple of hats to block out the sun. It was about to be full-blown summer on the island, and she wanted to look beautiful, sun-kissed, and ready for anything. It was a far cry from her life as an anthropologist, when she’d worn grubby clothes and moved through the world with her ears open and her pen raised.

Just before she left, Nina climbed onto the bed she’d shared with Daniel for years and closed her eyes, half imagining it was a year ago, and she was still sure that she and Daniel would get tenure at the same time. Their children were in the yard playing, and Daniel was whispering into her ear, “I love you, I’ll always love you.”

People lied to one another all the time. But Nina resolved not to be like the rest.

She packed up the rest of her things, locked the door behind her, and got in the car. She didn’t look in the rearview as she drove away.

When she got on the highway, her lawyer called with news. “After thirty years in the divorce business, this is a new kind of story for me,” she said. “The courier reached Daniel’s hutin South America and delivered the divorce papers. He’s been served!”

Nina said, “Wahoo!” but felt her heart shatter all over again.

“I’m thrilled with how well he listened to reason,” the lawyer said. “It was smart to tell the dean about what was going on. Princeton is stronger and more powerful than any old-money dude like Daniel. And there’s no way he wants to ruin his tenure just to get back at you.”

No way he wants to destroy his tenure with some fake underground fortune,Nina thought darkly.

“It’s funny. I thought when he got tenure before me, my life was over,” Nina said.

“Turns out it was a blessing. It gave you the perfect move,” her lawyer said. “Celebrate today, won’t you?”

Nina promised she would. But as soon as she got off the phone, she called Amos. It felt like an instinct, a reflex. She wasn’t sure why.

“Hey! How’s it going?” Amos sounded happy. Nina guessed he was relieved after sharing all those secrets from twenty-seven years ago. He’d carried them around alone for too long.

“Oh, you know. Just wading through unknown territory and praying I make it out alive,” Nina joked.

“Ha. I feel you.”

In talking to Amos, in feeling his spirit on the other end of the phone, Nina felt an expectation within her heart that she didn’t want to fully name.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, she thought.

“I’ll be back around seven,” she said. “I was wondering if you wanted to swing by Seth Green’s place tonight.”

“No rest for the weary, huh?”

“Absolutely not,” Nina said. “When I’m on the hunt, I don’t stop.”

“I’ll be ready at seven,” Amos said. “Pick me up?”

Nina agreed.

Nina stood on the top deck of the ferry with her eyes on Nantucket Island and her heart in her throat. The sun was an orange coin in the evening sky, and the ferry burgeoned with newcoming tourists, far more than had graced the ferry she’d first boarded a couple of weeks back. Tourist season was full speed ahead. As she listened to the families chatter, the little bickerings between married couples, and the giggles of children, she allowed herself briefly to consider Daniel and Angie in that South American mountain hut, Daniel stewing with rage about what had happened here, and Angie none the wiser about why.Get out while you can, Angie, Nina wanted to say to her. But Nina knew that in life, people had to make their own mistakes. There was no saving them.

There had been no one there to save Nina, either.

Nina drove from the port directly to Amos’s house, where Amos was waiting for her in a light blue button-up and a pair of dark jeans. If Nina didn’t know any better, she’d have thought he was dressed for a date. But then she remembered that on the ferry, she’d redone her makeup, smeared on an extra coat of lipstick, and triple-checked her eyeliner in the mirror of the ferry bathroom.Who am I kidding?Nina thought with a smile.I’m into this guy.

It wasn’t like she had to run out and marry him.

She just wanted to get to know him. It was a sign of hope within her soul—proof that Daniel hadn’t broken her down completely.

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