All the Lies We Tell (Quarry Road #1)(78)

“It means,” Nikolai added, “that they’ll give me a payout based on my years there, and I’m no longer obligated to work there. It also means I’ve terminated the rights of living there. So in other words—”

“You’re home? For good?” Ilya clapped his brother on the shoulder, happier than he had expected to be at this surprising news. “Welcome home, brother. Welcome home.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN


Then


Alicia’s jaw cracked from the effort of holding back a yawn. She was cold, too, although sitting shoulder to shoulder with Nikolai on the Sterns’ battered picnic table, she felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the weather or the layers she wore. She tipped her head back to look up at the sky. Waiting for the clouds to clear.

“How long do we have to wait? It’s freaking cold out here.” Ilya shrugged deeper into his heavy winter coat and acted like he wasn’t watching Jennilynn from the corner of his eye.

He should’ve just sat next to her. He wanted to. Jennilynn wanted him to. But, instead, the two of them sat on opposite ends of the picnic table, as far apart from each other as they could possibly get.

“It might be too cloudy.” Nikolai stretched out his legs and leaned his head back to look up into the winter sky.

There was supposed to be something special up there. An alignment of the planets, nine of them. Something rare. A once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing.

“Just watch,” Jennilynn said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. “It’s going to be amazing.”

This felt right. The four of them, together, the way they’d been for as long as Alicia could remember. Friends. More than friends. Without thinking about it, she let her head rest on Niko’s shoulder, then smiled when he tilted his to rest on hers. Beneath the blanket covering them both, his hand found hers. Fingers squeezed.

“Wouldn’t it be great,” he said, “if we could travel into space the way we can fly in an airplane?”

Ilya inched closer to Alicia to grab some of the blanket, and as if on cue, she and Nikolai released each other’s hands. “Why would you want to?”

“I’d like to,” Jennilynn put in. She did not move closer to Nikolai’s other side, although the blanket was big enough for all of them. “Just . . . fly away.”

Ilya leaned to look at her. “Where would you go?”

“Anywhere.”

“I’m with you,” Nikolai said. “Get out of this town. See something. Do something important.”

The thought of leaving Quarrytown had always seemed like a no-brainer for Alicia. College. A job. Someday a family. Visits home at Christmas and Thanksgiving, the way her parents did with their parents. She hadn’t thought much about what, exactly, she wanted to do or where she wanted to go, but the world was a big place. Plenty of choices and plenty of time to make them.

For now, she was content to sit with her butt going numb on a splintery old picnic table in the Sterns’ backyard, looking up at the sky, waiting to see something that only came along once in a lifetime.



Theresa handed Alicia the pen—a heavy, fancy Parker fountain pen that seemed perfectly made for signing papers of such importance. Alicia carefully wrote her name and the date in all the places she was supposed to. She put the pen on the table gently, so it wouldn’t roll into a splash of coffee or a dusting of crumbs.

“Congratulations,” Theresa said with a smile. She pushed a thin envelope across the table. The check.

“It’s a lot of money,” Alicia said with a peek at the contents. “It’s going to let me do a lot of things.”

Theresa nodded. “Money is freedom, that’s for sure.”

Alicia grinned. She did feel free. “Coffee’s on me, okay?”

“Oh, you bet it is.” Theresa also smiled and leaned back in her chair. “I’ll get the final paperwork over to you as soon as possible.”

“I’ll cash this check as soon as possible—you better believe it.” Alicia tucked the envelope into her bag, a little giddy at all the zeroes on the check.

Theresa laughed. “I’m sure. So . . . if you don’t mind my asking, what are you planning to do with it?”

“I haven’t decided just yet. Travel. I know that. See things.” Alicia stretched. “Do things. Get out of here. That’s all I know.”

“Sounds fantastic. Good luck.” Theresa looked sad for a moment.

Alicia noticed. “You okay?”

“Oh. Yeah. Just wish I could’ve sealed the entire deal.” Theresa bit her lower lip for a second or so. “Sixty percent is better than nothing, though.”

“Ilya is a pain in the ass,” Alicia said flatly. “I’m sorry. It’s not going to make it easy for you, having to deal with him. My extra twenty percent might end up being more of a hassle than Diamond Development planned for.”

“They can build around the dive shop and still develop the property—no worries there.” Theresa shook her head and lifted her coffee mug. “Hey, it’s not champagne, but I still think we should toast. To freedom!”

“To freedom,” Alicia agreed, clinking her mug against Theresa’s. “Let it begin now.”