Janie’s laugh was false. Was it possible that he was buttering her up, trying to draw her on his side so that she wouldn’t tell Alexander about Chloe?
“I’m from Florida,” she said. “But I’ve spent the past few years working all over the place. Nantucket felt like the right choice.”
“And? What do you think? Was it fate that you came here?” Benjamin asked, speaking too fast.
“I don’t know if I believe in fate,” Janie said.
“A smart woman,” Benjamin said. He clapped Alexander on the shoulder. “I wish the two of you a beautiful day. We’ll be seeing each other soon, I hope.” After that, he fled the kitchen, as though he’d forgotten why he’d come in there in the first place.
Francesca arched an eyebrow. It was clear she’d noticed something amiss in Benjamin as well, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Alexander shrugged and said they’d better go.
But hours later on the sailboat, after Alexander had dropped anchor and popped one of his family’s bottles of champagne, Janie sat cross-legged between his legs and considered the monstrosity of secrets. She didn’t want to enter into a relationship with Alexander, hiding anything. So, she took a breath, twisted her neck, and said, “You remember when we saw your father earlier? In the kitchen?”
Alexander’s smile dropped. He nodded.
“It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him lately,” she said softly. She touched Alexander’s shoulder, willing him to remain calm. “Remember what you said the night of the party? About your father being angry with Chloe? Well, he came to see her.” She swallowed. “I don’t know much. Chloe hasn’t told me, and I haven’t asked. But my guess is that Chloe came back to Nantucket specifically to see your father. She’s been gone for years. I can’t help but wonder, why now?”
Alexander was quiet for a long time. But rather than pull away from her, he abandoned his empty glass of champagne and wrapped both arms around her, burrowing his face into her right shoulder. She felt his pain. She felt his anger. But she knew she couldn’t do anything but sit and help him through it.
“Thank you for telling me,” Alexander murmured. “I’m so glad I can trust you.”
Chapter Fourteen
August 2025
Tuscany
Upstairs in the bedroom that had been given to Alexander for the length of their stay—however long that proved to be—he watched as the Italian sunlight played across the dewy grass a few days after his failed trip to the airport. He’d slept long and hard, but his dreams had pained him, and his thoughts were scrambled. He went downstairs to find Charlotte, drinking coffee and reading a book about a famous documentarian. She put the book aside and gave him a soft smile. “How are you?” she asked.
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” he said.
“I get it.” Charlotte got up and poured him a cup of coffee.
Alexander sat beside her, trying and failing to clear his mind. For the first time that morning, he checked his phone and found no new messages: none from the airline, none from Janie. Sometimes, he wondered if he’d disappeared from his own life so completely that everyone had forgotten about him.
“When did all this start for you this time around?” Charlotte asked.
Alexander guessed she meant when the airline heard about your potential involvement in a long-ago arson. “It must have been spring when I first heard,” he said. “My boss called me in. Idiotically, I thought I was about to get promoted. I’d been working more hours than anyone. I was lauded at the airline for my service and professionalism. And then, suddenly, someone made a phone call, suggesting that I was involved in a major Nantucket scandal. I reminded my boss that there was no proof, so he brushed it off at first. But whoever’s behind this has something on me. Something that’s forcing the airline to suspend my contract.”
Charlotte scrunched up her face. “What could it be?”
But before Alexander could answer, Nina hustled downstairs and appeared before them, her eyes wide and lined with red. Something was wrong.
“What’s up?” Charlotte set down her coffee and got to her feet.
“I got a call from Amos,” Nina whispered. Her eyes fell on Alexander, proof that whatever it was involved him and only him.
Alexander wanted to brush what he’d said about Amos previously to the side. He knew that Nina and Amos were dating. “I only knew him as a kid,” he offered. “I’m excited to meet him.”
“Amos has been working at the White Oak Lodge,” Nina explained, ignoring him. “You know, we’re getting ready to start construction, and he’s prepping, talking to contractors.”
“He’s fabulous,” Charlotte affirmed.
“But he was on the property yesterday and ran into two women walking around,” Nina said. “They asked what he was doing there. Apparently, they were really haughty about it. He asked what they were doing there, and…” Nina bit her lip. “Itwas Janie, Alexander. Janie’s on Nantucket. Amos doesn’t know why.”
Alexander’s chest seized with panic. Like Charlotte, he was now on his feet, pacing the kitchen nook. He imagined Janie under that bright Nantucket sky, strolling the same beaches where they’d fallen in love, showing their children their favorite fish shacks, their favorite ice cream places, their little world. Tears filled his eyes. They’d discussed taking the kids there, but they’d always decided it was too painful, too raw.
