All the Lies We Tell (Quarry Road #1)(50)

“Yep. It’s the perfect spot. There’s nothing else like it in the area. With a new hotel and the proposed indoor water park, along with access to the water for swimming, boating, fishing—”

“Scuba diving?” Alicia asked.

“That, too. Of course. They’d be crazy not to take advantage of the work you and Ilya have already put into the spot. They’d want to expand it, of course. With some real money behind it, imagine what it could become.” Theresa pulled apart the brownie she’d ordered, then tucked one of the pieces in her mouth.

Alicia had ordered an apple pastry, but she didn’t much feel like eating it at the moment. She’d agreed to meet with Theresa to talk because the idea of selling the business had put other ideas into her head, but now faced with the reality of it, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to even consider it. “Ilya and I have put a lot of work into building our business. And money. Lots of it.”

Just about everything either of them had ever made, as a matter of fact.

“I know you have.” Theresa hesitated, looking as though she meant to say something, but didn’t.

“And?”

Theresa sat back in her chair, holding her mug in both hands. “Have you spoken to him about any of this?”

“About the offer? The plans? Not yet. With everything that happened lately, I haven’t had the chance. Ilya handles the classes and the trips. He’s the one who scouts out the new things to sink. He plans out that stuff. I’m the one who handles the numbers. I’m the one who keeps it all working.” Alicia cleared her throat, aware she’d gotten a little too loud for a public place. She softened her voice so she wouldn’t draw attention to herself.

Theresa nodded. “You’ll have to talk to him about it, though, of course. You can’t make a decision like this without him.”

Alicia focused on the coffee, sipping. She looked outside at the gray sky. The people passing by. She could not look at Theresa, who was one of the people who should’ve known exactly the reasons why she and Ilya could not—would not ever—sell the quarry.

“Of course not,” Alicia said finally. “I wanted to get more details about it before I talked to him. In case you hadn’t noticed, Ilya’s been having kind of a rough time with things.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed.” Theresa toyed with the crumbs of her brownie.

Something in her voice snagged Alicia’s attention, but nothing in the other woman’s expression gave a clue about what it might be.

Alicia sighed. “The truth is, we paid a lot of money for the quarry. Too much. We’ve put even more into it over the years, nearly every penny of what we’ve ever profited. All those things we sunk in it, the school bus, the helicopter. Those things weren’t cheap to acquire or to transport or to sink. We’re operating with a very, very low profit margin, Theresa. And this offer . . .”

This offer would open doors Alicia had always believed would be closed. Opportunities she’d never allowed herself to imagine or consider. Getting out from under the debt, the work, her failed marriage . . . this life . . .

This life, the one you chose. Remember? You made your choices. You’ve lived with them.

She had lived with them, but did that mean she always had to?

Theresa leaned forward a little. “It’s a very generous offer, considering the property values and what they’d need to put into the site in order to upgrade it for the intended use. Allie . . . I know it’s a tough decision, and I wish I could give you all the time in the world to think about it, but I have to tell you that the clock is ticking on this one. They’re looking at a number of properties and options, so they want to move on this. This isn’t official, and I’m not supposed to know about it. But they’re talking about bringing the zoning board into it.”

Alicia had already had her share of battles with the zoning board over the years. “Ugh. Of course they are, right? Bully the little guy out of business?”

Theresa looked solemn. “I’m sorry. Believe me, I know how hard this decision has to be. So, please. Talk to Ilya about it. And get back to me, okay? I have to get back to work. But call me if you want to talk more. Or if you want me to talk to Ilya—”

“No, thanks. This has to be something I talk to him about.” Alicia pulled out her purse, frowning when Theresa waved her away. “No, I got this.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t expecting that, but thank you.” Theresa’s voice sounded rough, and she cleared her throat.

Alicia gave her a curious glance. “Everything okay?”

Theresa hesitated, then nodded. “Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Just . . . well, it’s been good seeing you again. All of you, I mean, believe it or not.”

“Even Galina?”

Theresa laughed. “Yeah, even Galina. I have mostly fond memories of that time, to be honest. After my dad and Galina split up, things got . . . well, they weren’t so good.”

Alicia’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your problem.” Theresa shrugged. “We all had our stuff to deal with. For what it’s worth, I’ve thought of Jennilynn often over the years. And all of you.”

“Thanks. I mean, I did, too, of course. It all ended so weird.” The words sounded hollow, probably because she didn’t mean it. Alicia pulled her mug closer to her to warm her fingers on it. The truth was that she’d rarely thought of Theresa after she’d left their lives. There’d been a lot going on. If not for the Internet, she doubted they would ever have reconnected.