Page 8 of The White Oak Lodge

Some of her wondered if he’d married her just to get to the bottom of her story, as though he was studying her like any other anthropological site. But she swiftly brushed that thought aside, banishing it. She couldn’t let it taint her marriage.

The restaurant was a long way from where they were staying. Because they’d already drunk champagne and another cocktail on the terrace of the B&B, they hired a cab to take them. The driver was chatty and thrilled when Nina and Daniel confessed they were recently married.

“Marriage is the best thing in the world,” he said. “You have a partner in life. Someone to pick up the slack.” He kept glancing into the rearview mirror to see if they understood him. “This is your honeymoon, then?”

“It’s more of a homecoming,” Daniel said.

Nina glared at him, pressing her elbow into his side to keep him from speaking up.

But when the driver asked what he meant, Daniel said, “My wife was born here. She grew up at the White Oak Lodge.”

The driver’s face transformed from one of brilliant excitement to shock and wariness. The car sped up the slightest bit. They were going ten miles over the speed limit. Nina wanted to curl up and hide.

“A Whitmore?” the driver asked, his voice lower.

“That’s right,” Daniel said.

Nina felt the driver’s eyes upon her through the mirror, demanding answers. She sputtered, “I left when I was really little.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, the driver’s eyes softened. “You’re the girl,” he said.

Nina’s heart pumped. Did he recognize her? Did everyone on the island know who “the little Whitmore girl” was?

“They sent you away,” he said.

Nina stared down at her knees.

“But you came back?” the driver asked. “After everything?”

Daniel’s eyes were bugging out of his head. He looked the way he did when he was learning something new, marking things in his notebook, and studying. For a moment, Nina thought maybe she hated him, but then she reminded herself that, in fact, he was the only person in the world she loved.

Before Nina or Daniel had a chance to answer, the driver pulled up at the expansive restaurant right on the water. Its walls and ceilings were made of glass, and Nina could see all the way through it, past the diners at their tables to the yonder pink-tinged sunset. Nina bucked out of the car as quickly as she could while Daniel hung back and paid the driver. Nina perked up her ears to hear, but when Daniel asked, “What happened? Back then?” the driver just shook his head, took the money, and told Daniel to have a nice day. Anger spiked in her stomach. As the taxi backed out of the drive, Nina stormed up to the front door, her hands in such tight fists that she thought she might draw blood. Daniel hurried up behind her, calling her name.

Nina twisted around and glared at him. “Why did you do that?”

Daniel looked flustered, his face like a little boy’s. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you tell him I was a Whitmore?”

“Um. Because you are?” Daniel said, his voice edged with disbelief. “I don’t know if you remember, but the archives told a story of Whitmore royalty. Your family was something special. I mean, there wasn’t a corner of this island they didn’t touch over the past two hundred years. Don’t you want to celebrate that? Don’t you want to claim your identity?”

Nina flared her nostrils.

“You’re incredible, Nina, and it’s partially because you’re from incredible people,” Daniel said, touching her hand. “I know everyone on this island feels it, too.”

“The driver acted like I was evil,” Nina pointed out.

“He was just surprised. You said that most, if not all, of the Whitmores left after the fire, right? He probably never imagined he’d meet another one of you. And here you are—the prettiest one, the youngest one, the cleverest one.”

Nina wanted to tell him to stop buttering her up. But before she could, the maître d’ approached to say, “Good evening. Do you have a reservation?”

Nina wanted to go back to the B&B, pack her bag, and return to Princeton. But she also didn’t want to fight with Daniel. They were newlyweds. They were partners in life and academia and on their way to figuring everything out. She wanted to trust him.

As they followed the maître d’ to their table near the water, Nina slipped her hand into Daniel’s and shivered with what felt like distaste. Under her breath, she said, “I think I might need to go back to Princeton early.”

Daniel arched his eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous, Nina.”

Nina felt as though she’d been smacked.

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