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“It doesn’t seem legal,” one of the women said.
Sam’s face was flushed. Amanda looked down at the baby sleeping in her carrier near the greeting counter. She looked so blissful, so immune to the chaos around her.
With the three couples up in their rooms to pack, Amanda and Sam had to hunt down the others. Because the Aquinnah couldn’t accommodate the family of four, Sam and Amanda had agreed to offer up their private home while they stayed at the Sheridan House with Audrey, Noah, and Max. Audrey was over the moon despite the circumstances. She saw it as a sleepover with her best friend.
Before the family of four arrived, Amanda hurried home to clean up and change all the sheets in the house. She considered it insanity that her baby was fifteen days old and required to sleep elsewhere. Everyone knew that these were precious days; everything came down to your comfort and your baby's comfort. But these were difficult and very strange times. Maybe she and Sam would look back on them fondly one day. “Remember when we almost lost the Sunrise Cove?” They would get through by the skin of their teeth.
The couple and their three children arrived around seven thirty. Amanda was there to greet them and show them to their rooms: the married couple in Amanda and Sam’s bed; two of the children in the guest bedroom; another on the pull-out couch. The family was from Ohio and very far from home.
“We would have just gone home if it was closer,” the wife said apologetically.
Amanda got the sense that they’d scrimped and saved for this vacation, so going home early would have broken their hearts. She was grateful to be able to open her home to these people. But before she left them behind, she made sure to put all the valuables in a safe and twist it locked.
These days, she couldn’t trust anyone except her family.
Chapter Fifteen
The move from the Sunrise Cove Inn to the Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook was as fluid as it could be, given the circumstances. All five of the rooms were occupied with Sunrise Cove guests by eight thirty that night, and by nine, they’d gathered in the ornate ballroom for drinks to discuss the “craziness” of the day. Amanda sat a few tables away from them and thought, You don’t even know the half of it.
Genevieve was fast asleep in Kelli’s office down the hall. Amanda had set up a baby monitor and was prepared to flee the table at the first sign she was needed. But right now, she sat with Aunt Kelli, her mother, and Audrey, drinking rosé and discussing the chaos of the day. Grandpa Wes and Sam were back at the Sunrise Cove, ensuring all loose ends were tied up. Amanda was glad they were together. The world felt off-kilter and prepared for collapse.
“And there’s really no way out of this? No loophole?” Aunt Kelli asked softly.
Amanda shook her head. “I’ve gone over the paperwork ten times. I even pulled out one of my old law textbooks to read up on state law regarding historical sites. They’re completely within their right to do this.”
Susan groaned and met Amanda’s gaze. “You really think it’s the Arnouts?”
Amanda had mentioned her theory that the Arnout family might be involved in the sudden closure of the Sunrise Cove Inn.
“I probably sound paranoid,” Amanda said.
“You don’t,” Susan said.
Audrey’s eyebrows rose. “The Arnouts? You mean that Nantucket family?”
Amanda’s heart stopped beating for a second. Was she ready to confess her dark secret—that she’d lost her license to practice law? Was she ready to admit she’d lost her identity?
Amanda raised her left shoulder. “They’re stirring up trouble for me right now. We don’t know for sure if they’re behind it, but it seems likely.” She took a long, boorish drink of wine. “I made Mr. Arnout very angry recently. I sent him an email I shouldn’t have. And I have a hunch that he saw the Sunrise Cove’s historical site broadcasted on the news and decided to make my life even more miserable.”
Audrey’s eyes stirred with questions. As a journalist, she was accustomed to putting puzzle pieces together.
“It’s because of them that my license to practice law was suspended,” Amanda added with a sigh.
Audrey and Aunt Kelli gasped.
“They can’t just take it away like that!” Audrey cried. “After all you’ve done? All that hard work?”
“They can, and they did,” Amanda said firmly.
“But we’re going to get it back.” Susan clenched her fists over the table.
“And this is all because they don’t think their son did anything wrong?” Audrey asked.
“They think I mishandled the case, yes,” Amanda said.
Audrey’s mouth hung open. “Why didn’t they just represent him themselves, then? Or make a call in the first place that would make his legal troubles disappear?”
Susan made a sound in her throat and took a long drink of wine.
