Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
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.
“It was 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.
“I don’t understand,” he whispered.
“Who is she with?” Charlotte asked. “Was it a teenage girl? Was it Gwen?”
Nina raised her shoulders. “The other woman didn’t introduce herself. But Amos didn’t say she was a teenage girl.”
Alexander racked his brain, trying to imagine who Janie would return to Nantucket Island with after all these years. The only answer shocked him. Would Janie really do that? Would Chloe? He winced and looked again at Nina, anxiety splintering his heart. She was so naive.
“I think we need to go back,” Charlotte said darkly.
Alexander and Nina spun to look at her. But her statement hung like a dark cloud in the room, unavoidable.
Alexander sensed that Charlotte was right.
They were killing time in Tuscany, eating massive pasta-and-fish dinners, drinking wine, and catching up.
But their real ghosts remained in Nantucket.
Now that Janie was there, Alexander sensed there was more to the story.
“I want Mom to come with us,” Alexander stammered.
Charlotte and Nina agreed.
“I don’t want to be separated from her again,” Charlotte whispered, wiping her cheeks of tears. “I want to go wake her up and tell her to pack.”
“No,” Alexander said, remembering how tiny and tired their mother had looked lately. “Let her sleep. We’ll get flights for everyone for tomorrow. She’ll have time to prepare.”
But when Francesca woke up two hours later, she appeared at the kitchen table like a regal queen and essentially spat on their idea. “Nantucket Island?” she snarled over her coffee. “Can you imagine? No. I won’t be going back there.” She spoke in English all the time now, almost, for Nina’s sake.
“My wife is there,” Alexander said timidly. “My wife and children. You could spend time with your grandchildren.”
“I’ll pick mine up from camp,” Nina promised. “We can have a family reunion. Charlotte’s place probably isn’t big enough for all of us, but we’ll rent something else nearby.”
Francesca shook her head. “You’re not listening to me. I’m not going back to that island. Ever.” There was an air of finality to her words. Obviously, she’d thought about this a great deal over the years.
“I left Italy when I was too young to know what it meant to leave everything behind,” Francesca said, raising her chin.
“I built a life in Nantucket. I had children, maybe too many children.” She sniffed, trying to make a joke, but nobody thought it was funny.
“But terrible things happened on that island. My heart broke over and over. I’m safer here in Italy, where I understand the rules, the language, and the people.
Come back to see me when you can.” She tapped the tips of her fingers against her lips, adding, “But invite your other sisters. Allegra. Lorelei. I’m sure they’d love to join you. ”
Alexander bit his tongue to keep from snorting. He imagined that coming to Nantucket with them was the last thing Allegra and Lorelei wanted.