Page 87 of Digging Up Love
“As of now, only one,” she said.
“So lock it down! Then you can tell Simone.”
“It’s not that easy.” Alisha pushed wet curls from her face. She must’ve taken her twists out last night. He loved her hair loose and natural, loved all her different looks, her vibrant clothes, her unabashed nerdiness. He loved everything about her.
Everything except this.
“Why? Why are you making it so hard?”
“I still haven’t told my grandparents, for one.” Her gaze flicked to the shore, and she ran her fingertips through the water.
“But you will, so what’s the problem?”
“I dunno, Quentin. Maybe losing this property is a sign. Maybe I’m not meant to move.”
Not meant to move? “Then what are we even doing here?” He ran a trembling hand up his arm, chest tight.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why did I even come here today?” Spots danced at the edge of his vision. “We have no future if you don’t move.”
Alisha’s nostrils flared. “Are you serious right now?”
Was he?
“It’s not like moving was my idea, Alisha.” Why was she being so unreasonable? “Not like I’m trying to get you to alter the course of your life for me. Youwantto be here in the city. Listen, I’m up for a long-distance relationship. But I’d have to know, down the road, we could be together for real. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
“Wow. Just wow, Quentin. Great to know you’d sacrifice for me. That you’re not putting me on a timetable. How gracious of you.” She pushed past him and churned through the water toward shore.
“Alisha, wait!” Desperate to talk without her sister around, Quentin hiked up his knees, splashing through the shallows. He angled in front of her to block her retreat.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lay it out that way. It’s just—” He ground his teeth together, fighting for the right words. “You don’t really mean what you said about not moving, do you? So when are you going to tell Simone, if not now? You’re this close to leasing a bakery.” He pinched a thumb and forefinger together in the air, then brought his hand down to hers, winding their fingers together under the water. “How have you not told her, or your grandma?”
“Um, how had you not told your parents you were working on the biggest discovery in your profession in the state’s history?” She yanked her hand away.
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t turn this on me. Not telling my parents about the find has no bearing on my future.”
“Maybe not. But it’s a hard discussion, and you dodged it.” She stepped out of the way of a Frisbee, and he followed her into deeperwater. She faced him again, her turquoise swimsuit visible through the clear water as she paddled her arms back and forth on the surface. “You didn’t tell your family about the significance because paleontology is your dream, and they’ve made light of it your whole life. Am I right?”
Quentin couldn’t bear to nod. Alisha peered toward shore, and he followed her gaze to where Simone sat, reading a book in the shade of her floppy hat. “My sister is the one who got to dream big. I never did. This is all new for me. It’s going to take some time.”
“Alisha, I get it, but you’ve been waitingyears. There’s no reason to wait another moment!” The current dragged at his calves, and he took a step sideways on the shifting sand. “Affordable properties in the city don’t just grow on trees.”
“You think I don’t know that? That I don’t feel my chances slipping away?”
“Then do something about it!”
Bobbing up with a set of waves kicked out by a speedboat far past the buoys, she pursed her lips. “But what if this is for the best? I still haven’t told my grandparents. Haven’t leased a property.” She cupped water in her hands, then opened her fingers and let it drip out. “The money would go a lot further for a bakery in Hawksburg.”
“Are you serious right now?” The current tugged him again, separating them by another meter, and he struggled to regain his footing, then came back to her, placing shaky hands on her shoulders. She didn’t draw back, but under his fingers, her muscles went stiff. “One little setback and you give up?”
“It wouldn’t be giving up. It would be reconfiguring.” She planted her feet, jaw set.
“Reconfiguring?That’s what you call staying in a town you can’t stand, bored to death?” His head buzzed, blood leaving his face. “And doing it without me?”
She leveled a gaze at him. “Frankly, you’re the least of my worries at this point.”
He dropped his hands away from the slickness of her wet skin. Chilly water slipped through his fingers, and a searing bolt of ice tore through his chest. Hurt cascaded in a brutal, all-encompassing avalanche of anger.
