Chloe popped out onto the veranda wearing a soft linen dress and a pained expression. “Will you go for a walk with me?”
Janie set down her cup of coffee and studied her friend’s face. She knew what a “walk” meant. She knew it meant going somewhere neither of them was fully ready to go.
The walk down the beach was a mile and a half. They did it barefoot, carrying their shoes at their sides. As they got closer to the White Oak Lodge, Janie began to recognize small features on the beach and the smaller houses on either side of the massive property.
“Strangely, nobody’s bought more of the land surrounding it,” Chloe said. “I mean, the fire was almost thirty years ago now.”
“It’s like nobody can move on,” Janie agreed.
When they reached the beach in front of the White Oak Lodge, they stopped, held hands, and gazed at the monstrous property that had changed both of their lives. The building was covered in protective tarps, as though someone had wanted to make sure the rough northeastern weather wouldn’t destroy the dilapidated place too much. But, to Janie’s surprise, there was a bulldozer, parked off to the side, as though someone were planning to dig into the earth beneath the hotel. Against all reason, her first thought about that was,They’re finally going to find the treasure!But she smiled to herself. There was no Whitmore treasure.
Chloe took a soft step forward and nearly crumpled to the ground. Her face was pained.
“Chloe? You good?” Janie breathed.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe whispered. “I’m having so many thoughts.”
“Tell me.”
Chloe sniffed and continued to look at the hotel. “Do you see the stables? Over there?”
Janie nodded. She knew precisely where the stables were. She’d ridden horses on the White Oak Lodge property many times and could still smell the hay and cleaning supplies and earth of the stables.
She’d loved those horses. She’d loved watching Alexander care for them, using that fine brush over their lustrous coats.
“I remember,” Chloe continued, “it was the first time they put me to work in the stables that we really talked for the first time—Benjamin and I. I’d been at the Lodge for a couple of weeks at that point. I was young. So young and naive, butso happy, too. The Whitmore family captivated me. There were so many of them. Alexander must have been twelve at the time, all gangly limbs and inquisitive expressions. And then there was Allegra and Lorelei, Charlotte and baby Jack. Rumors were circling about Charlotte, about who her father really was. And I wondered about that. When I asked a member of the kitchen staff about it, she said not to talk about it. But then, like she couldn’t resist the gossip, she proceeded to tell me that Benjamin’s brother had drowned, and he’d gotten really depressed and dropped out of the world for a bit. Francesca had basically abandoned him, had an affair with one of the horseback riding instructors, and given birth to someone she was calling Whitmore. Everyone knew.”
Although Janie knew this story already, it was captivating to hear it here, not far from the stables and the Lodge. It was fascinating to recount these old stories.
“What struck me first about Benjamin was how shy he seemed,” Chloe continued. “He was so genuine and so kind to me. He asked me how I was fitting in at the Lodge, how I liked Nantucket. He showed me a particular way to care for the horses’ hooves, I remember, and he was so tender with them, so much so that they trusted him immediately. That first day at the stables morphed into long walks by the water—this water.” Chloe gestured behind them. “He came to find me at the front desk whenever he had time, and he brought me little presents and made me laugh. I was homesick. This was back before my mother died, and I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. But suddenly, it seemed clear. This was what I wanted to do with my life. Be a Whitmore. Live here.” She laughed sadly.
Janie followed Chloe up the sand and onto the long stretch of green. It almost looked like someone was taking care of the property and wanted to maintain it. Almost as if they planned to reopen. A shiver went down Janie’s spine.
“Francesca caught on right away, of course,” Chloe continued. “You can’t get anything past that woman. I could never tell if she pitied me or hated me. Probably it was some combination of both. But I really felt for Benjamin. I felt like Francesca was cruel to him. Theirs was a marriage I couldn’t fathom. Now that I’m older—older than they were back then—I can see how complicated their love was, that their love extended over decades and probably only deepened every time they forgave one another. But when I was that young, I thought for sure Benjamin would leave Francesca for me. I planned it all out in my head.”
“He shouldn’t have taken advantage of you,” Janie whispered, thinking of little Chloe, of how nervous she must have been.
Chloe stopped walking and looked back at her. She was fierce. “I knew exactly what I was doing. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
That shut Janie up, for now.
As they walked around the property, they remained quiet, captivated by the old, haunted place. It was a surprise to Janie to see how “okay” the hotel was after the fire. In her mind, it had completely burned to the ground, but there was still so much that was salvageable. She wondered if one of the other Whitmores was responsible for the bulldozer. Who else was around? She hadn’t seen any of them for years and years.
Suddenly, Chloe squeezed her shoulder, and Janie yelped with surprise. But soon she realized what was wrong.
There was a man in a dark doorway that led into the old family quarters.
Janie’s heart pounded. Her first thought was that he was a drifter who’d decided to playhouse in the old place until he was forced out. But a second later, she realized he was wearing workers’ clothes and held a hammer in his left hand. A hammer!What if he’s violent? But he walked toward them wearing a quizzical expression and even put the hammer down.
“Hi,” Chloe said, because she was braver.
“Hi there,” the man said. His accent was all Nantucket, like he’d been raised here. “Can I help you with anything?”
“We’re just walking,” Chloe said. “What are you doing here?”
The man gestured vaguely back at the property. “I used to work here. I guess I’m working here again, in some capacity.”
“Are they reopening?” Janie asked.
