In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

his life—loudly and with great enthusiasm. I didn’t sleep at all for the first year, and even the neighbors complained about the noise. That’s why we bought the house. So we would stop disturbing people on the other side of those thin apartment walls.”

As she continued to turn pages, Nick felt as if he were traveling through time. The clothing and hair changed with each new decade, but the faces stayed the same. There were pictures of his father and grandfather together that Nick had never seen before, and he recognized the pride in his dad’s eyes whenever he stood next to his own father. The same hero worship that he’d felt as a kid.

Memories floated back as they reached the years when Nick and Mia were young. The four of them in front of the Christmas tree. Mom and Mia the day of her first communion. Dad and Nota together in the kitchen. He often said she taught him everything he knew.

They finally reached the end of the book and instead of pictures, the space was filled with a Stamatis family tree that branched out wide across two pages.

At the bottom were Nick and Mia, and the tree grew from there. What caught Nick’s eye was a string of Stamatis men on the same level as his father, all of which had birthdates but no death dates.

“Could Mia not find the details on everyone?” he asked.

“Oh, no. She got everyone for the first four generations.”

Nick pointed to the four men he’d never heard of. “Who are these?”

“Those are John’s sons, your father’s cousins. They all stayed on the West Coast so I’ve only ever seen pictures of them. It would be nice to have a reunion so we could all be in the same room at least once.”

“They’re alive?”

She leaned back in her chair. “Yes, they are. That’s why I’m showing this to you. If you won’t listen to us, maybe you’ll believe if you see the truth. Not all Stamatis men die young, dear boy. In fact, other than Alexander, who died in the war, your father and grandfather are the only ones who left us too soon.”

Struggling to process this news, Nick stared at the names before him. According to their birthdates, they were all in their eighties and each had multiple descendants, both children and grandchildren. One, another Nickolai, even had great-grandchildren.

“I never knew,” he murmured as his world shifted beneath him.

The fate he’d accepted long ago faded into something brighter. Something that allowed him to consider so many more possibilities. At the same time, the injustice of his life crystallized. The randomness of who got to live and who didn’t. Of who had to lose those most important to them and who got to keep their families whole.

Nota laid her gnarled hand over his. “You have not been given a death sentence. Don’t let this belief of yours keep you from fully living anymore. Please. If not for yourself, then for me. I want to see you happy before I go.”

Feeling as if he’d been handed a reprieve from his worst fears, Nick looked her in the eye. “I’ll do my best to try. For both of us.”

10

Nick Stamatis was not Lauren’s favorite person right now. He was the reason she had bruises on her knees, calluses on her hands, and sweat in places she didn’t want to think about.

She and Mona had survived the first course but finished second to Deborah’s team. Which was humiliating considering they’d had the advantage of having only two members. The fewer members, the less time it should take, but by the time they’d crossed the fourth obstacle, Mona had received two warnings for language. The park took a strong stance to protect the ears of their younger patrons, and a third warning would have put them off the course entirely.

By the end, they’d found colorful ways to express their frustration, such as fudge bucket, mother heifer, and Lauren’s new favorite, son of a dumpster fire. She was even considering posting them in the kitchen as suggested alternatives.

Despite their second place finish though, they were still in the running for the advantage since the final time would include both the first and second courses. The second was two levels up, which put them forty feet off the ground. Jackson had done his best, but had been unable to force himself up to the higher level, which left two teams with two members. Axel and Penny were both young and agile so if Mona and Lauren were going to win, they’d need to move fast.

Unfortunately, fast was not in Mona’s vocabulary.

“We’re so close,” Lauren encouraged. “This is the last one. You can do this.”

“The chairs are moving,” Mona snapped.

They’d already traversed a similar obstacle below, but up here, the chairs were strung together with two feet of space between them instead of against each other like before.

“Everything is moving. The quicker you get over here, the quicker we get off this contraption. The next part is on the ground, remember?” A quick check of the competition revealed Penny crossing a giant spider web of rope while Axel waited on the other side. “We’re going to lose; just get on the damn chairs!”

“Language!” came a voice over a bullhorn.

If Lauren ever found the source of those warnings, she was going to tell them exactly where they could stick that horn.

“All right. All right. I’m coming.”

Mona stepped onto the first chair and Lauren said, “Faster.”

The other woman stopped and glared. “Are you going to harass me all the way across because I will stay over here just to pi…” She caught herself in time. “Just to tick you off.”

“Fine.” Lauren leaned back against the pole. “I’ll shut up.”

“That would be a first,” her partner mumbled.

When Mona was four chairs from the end, Lauren checked on Penny and found her struggling in the middle of the web.

“We’ve got a chance, Mona. We can still get that advantage.”

Finding some reserve of courage, the