Page 66 of Everything We Found

“But back to Thomas. I’m glad you had someone to confide in back then. Whether him or Aimee, at least you had someone since I couldn’t be there for you.”

“Stop. You’re going to make me cry.”

Lisa laughed lightly and pressed a finger to the corner of her eye. “That makes two of us, and I don’t want to ruin my makeup. I can tell you this now since you’re older, but Edgar did more than help with the mortgage. He paid the whole thing off.”

“What?” Nadia fell back a step.

“Edgar is a tough man to work for. He has the highest expectations of anyone I know and demands only the best from his employees. He’s crass, loud, rude, insulting and will tell you exactly what he thinks no matter how unpleasant. He is not someone you want to get on the wrong side of. But he’s one of the most generous men I know.”

Nadia was floored. She didn’t want to tell her mom what Edgar had done for them hadn’t been out of generosity or charity. From what she’d heard from both Thomas and James, their dad never did anything for nothing.

“What did Thomas do in return?”

Lisa closed her purse and tucked it under her arm. “I’m not sure what you mean. Look at the time. I have to go.” She air-kissed Nadia’s cheek and left the room. “There’s leftover meatloaf and beans in the fridge for dinner. Don’t wait up for me,” she said at the front door. “I’ll be home late.”

“Call if you need a ride.”

Lisa waved over her shoulder.

Nadia watched her mom back out of the driveway, imagining what Thomas could have sacrificed on their behalf. She and Thomas were still in touch. He reached out every now and then. The friendly text here or there. A congratulatory card atgraduation. A flower bouquet waiting on her desk her first day on the job at the architect firm where she worked in downtown San Jose. But they’d never seen one another as regularly as they had the year they’d met at Joe’s.

She searched her memories and landed on one with an alarming new perspective. The evening she’d found Thomas changing his major on his college applications had been around the time her mom started working at Donato Enterprises. Had that been what Thomas gave up for Edgar to help them? Had it been because of her that he surrendered his personal ambitions with the CIA and went to work for Donato Enterprises after he graduated Stanford?

He abandoned what he’d wanted to study and a career he’d wanted to pursue like she’d been a charity case. At the same time, had he not made a deal with Edgar, Nadia wouldn’t have the house she grew up in, a college education, or a career with the potential to flourish. She might not even have had her mom. If it weren’t for Thomas, Lisa might have sunk to a place Nadia couldn’t have pulled her out of.

Now, as she sat alone in the car, she thought of Aimee. For years she’d clung to James—the memory of him, the idea of a life with him, the hope he would return. But it wasn’t until she’d allowed herself the choice of letting him go that she’d discovered her strength. The café, her marriage to Ian, their beautiful children—none of that would have happened if Aimee hadn’t come to those crossroads and made her choice with the full awareness of what she had been choosing.

Nadia now faced her own crossroads, one where she could make the choice rather than this just being another situation where Thomas dictated her fate. By giving her the keys, by leaving her be—even when he hadn’t wanted to—he’d acknowledged her agency. As he had twenty years ago.

Nadia once overheard a heated argument between Thomas and Edgar Donato. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but their voices carried through the walls. The conversation revealed that Edgar wanted Thomas—not Phil—to take over Donato Enterprises upon his forced retirement. The company couldn’t afford a man born from the hideous coupling of Claire and her brother Grant, a scandal that had already chased the Donato family to the West Coast when it had come to light, at its helm. When Thomas realized she knew his family’s secret, he worried how his parents would retaliate, his father especially. The Donatos had significant influence in their community. Edgar employed Nadia’s single mother. He swore Nadia to secrecy.

It had been the first time Nadia truly understood the responsibilities Thomas carried for his family. How he positioned himself as buffer between the world and those he cared about. This quiet resolve of his resonated with her in ways she couldn’t fully explain. But his secrets would always be safe with her.

She’d exercised her agency then. And sitting here, engine off, she was exercising it again.

Her mom’s words came back to her again.

The bravest choice isn’t always leaving… but in staying.

Nadia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself to open her eyes and be fully aware of what came next.

Nadia lifted her head at a light tap on the window. Thomas stood on the passenger side, a plated sandwich hovering in the window space. She pushed a button and the glass eased down into the door pocket.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“What kind of sandwich is it?”

“BLAT.”

Her favorite. She took the plate and set it on her lap.

“Can I sit with you?” She stared at him. “I brought cookies.” He showed her the bag of Oreos.

Her sweet tooth unlocked the doors.

Thomas settled in the seat beside her and closed the door. He dropped two water bottles tucked under his arm in the cup holders.

Nadia peeked at the layers in her sandwich. “Is this Wonder Bread?”