Page 47 of The White Oak Lodge

Amos was waiting for Nina on his boat, which he’d calledCynthiaafter his mother. This was touching to Nina, especiallybecause she now struggled with a brand-new sensation. She didn’t know who her mother was. Charlotte said she wasn’t sure but had a few potential ideas. They were going to get to the bottom of it together.

Amos and Nina greeted one another with an initially awkward hug followed by a passionate kiss that made a sailor three boats away wolf whistle. Nina’s cheeks were hot. But she didn’t want to feel ashamed for feeling again. Amos told her to make herself comfortable as he untied the ropes and sailed them out of the harbor. Nina took a photo of him when he wasn’t watching, a memory only for herself. And just before she tucked her phone into her purse to forget about it for the day, she received a message from her lawyer.

HE SIGNED. I have the divorce papers in front of me. I just have to file everything, and it should be over in just a couple of weeks! One of the fastest divorces I’ve ever dealt with. He’s SCARED of you. Ha.

Nina’s heart fluttered. She thought,wow, perfect timing.

“What are you smiling about?” Amos asked.

The boat was emerging from the harbor and into the turquoise light.

Nina didn’t want to bring Daniel into her new life out here, so she said, “I’m just happy.” She got up, teetering slightly on the shaking ground, and wrapped her arms around Amos’s muscular torso. Amos’s smile was infectious. She kissed him again.

Not long after that, Amos dropped anchor and opened a bottle of champagne. “As promised,” he said, pouring her a glass.

They clinked glasses, gazing into one another’s eyes. Nina said, “To the future,” because right now, she didn’t want to focus on the past. There would be plenty of time for that down the road—plenty of time, as the Whitmores revealed themselves. But asan anthropologist, she knew better than to let the past destroy her. She knew how to further her own story and build a life that, maybe, people in the future would look at and describe as “fulfilled.”

Love was the answer. Love was what was lost when the lies stacked up.

Hand in hand, Amos and Nina leaped from the sailboat and into the turquoise blue, plunging deeper than Nina had thought possible. As she swam to the surface, she let her eyes open for the briefest moment to see Amos just a few feet away, making sure she got back to oxygen all right. When they were back on the surface, they laughed and swam like people with nothing to lose. Maybe that was the secret to everything.

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