Page 13 of Lost Dreams

“She’s an adventure-seeker,” her husband said, grinning.

Lorelei knew they were still in that newlywed phase when everything the other did was endlessly fascinating. She still remembered those first few years with Roberto, when it had seemed as though he was the cleverest, the most talented, the most charming, and the handsomest. She’d felt so lucky to be chosen by him. She couldn’t believe he’d wanted to marry her.

Lorelei managed to keep it together throughout check-in. She handed the couple their keys, then asked one of the bellhops to take them up to their honeymoon suite. After that, she kept a stiff smile on her face, performing a few more logistical tasks, before Allegra appeared beside her at the desk. The sight of her sister and best friend, there at the same mahogany desk where they’d worked countless hours as teenagers, was too much for Lorelei.

“How are things going?” Allegra asked brightly. “It’s so lovely here, isn’t it? I can’t believe I’m heading back to Rome so soon.”

“Yeah,” Lorelei breathed. “It’s hard to wrap my mind around it.” Her thoughts raced, and suddenly, she burst into tears and put her forehead on Allegra’s shoulder.

“Oh, honey!” Allegra said, drawing her arms around her.

By this point in their relationship, Allegra could practically read Lorelei’s mind. She could probably sense this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill breakdown. Allegra waved down one of the other bellhops, setting him up at the counter. “You remember how everything works, don’t you?” He said he did.

Allegra led Lorelei down the long hallway to the dining room, which was empty save for one of the cleaning staff, who was shining the silverware and listening to something through her big earphones. Lorelei dropped into a chair by the window and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled to her sister. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me, honey,” Allegra assured her. She disappeared and returned with two mugs of green tea. Allegra sat across from Lorelei and reached for her hand. “What’s all this about?”

Lorelei took a sip of the hot tea and closed her eyes. “I don’t know how to talk about it.”

“Just try,” Allegra whispered. “It’s a safe space.”

Lorelei wanted to remind Allegra that the White Oak Lodge was, in fact, not a safe space. Once upon a time, it had been the site of their uncle’s criminal activity. It had hidden buried treasure. It had once burned down.

“I think Roberto might be having an affair,” Lorelei said, then snapped both of her hands over her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d said it aloud.

“That’s impossible,” Allegra said. “He loves you more than anything, Lorelei. We all know that to be true.”

Lorelei shook her head sadly. Once upon a time, she knew, Roberto had adored Lorelei more than any other human. He’d only had eyes for her. But for months and months, Lorelei had been here in Nantucket, helping her mother through chemotherapy and, admittedly, hiding from her husband. Why had she done that? The answer was simple. She thought their love was drying up.

“Marriage is never that easy, I guess,” Lorelei whispered. “But last year, I felt like he was drifting. The stress of all these restaurants can be too much on his shoulders, and he often didn’t come home.”

Allegra rubbed her temples. “And you thought it would be nice to come here for a while, I guess.”

“Yes,” Lorelei said. “I thought it would be easier. I thought maybe we would miss each other and find a way back to one another. But now, I wonder if I just gave him an opening to have an affair.”

Allegra was quiet and contemplative. It made Lorelei all the more anxious.

“And you know Italian men cheat,” Lorelei breathed. “Even when they love their wives, they feel like they’re owed more romance, more spectacle. It’s practically written into the Italian constitution.”

Allegra snorted. “It is not.”

But Lorelei could see the truth of it in Allegra’s eyes. Allegra knew, just as well as Lorelei did, that Italian men often cheated. Why would Roberto—a handsome man who owned numerous restaurants and had once been lauded as a singular talent in the chef world—be any different? Especially when his wife was spending so much time in America. Especially when their daughter Aurora was so difficult to manage, casting a shadow over their family life.

“And look at Mama and Dad,” Lorelei added.

Allegra crossed her arms over her chest. “They’re a different breed.”

“They cheated on each other,” Lorelei asserted.

“Yes, but…” Allegra stopped abruptly, then fixed her face into a smile. “Oh hi, Mama!”

Lorelei turned to watch as first Francesca, then Benjamin came into the dining room. They were holding hands loosely, as though they couldn’t stop touching each other.

“What are you two doing in here?” their father asked.

“We’re just taking a break,” Allegra said. “Lorelei’s been at the front desk all day.”

“Thank you again, Lorelei,” their father said, beaming. “It’s just like old times, isn’t it? I love walking by that big bay window and seeing you at the front desk.”