Summer Reads Box Set: Volume 1

by Freethy, Barbara

  Julia put her arm around her sister's shoulders. They had spoken of many things, but not about the accident that had taken away Elena's ability to dance. Someday she hoped Elena would confide in her the rest of her life story.

  "I remember watching Mama from the wings," Elena continued. "I thought she was so beautiful, and I wanted to fly like she did."

  Julia had brief flashbacks to the inside of the theater as well, but she hadn't enjoyed watching her mother as much as she'd enjoyed hearing the power of the orchestra. "We should go there second," she said.

  Elena raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going first?"

  "To the orphanage where Alex took your picture. That's how this long journey began. We would never have found each other without that photo. Are you ready?"

  "I suppose."

  Julia didn't like the sound of hesitancy in her sister's voice. "What's wrong?"

  "I'm a little afraid of the memories," she confessed. "Aren't you?"

  "No," Julia said, feeling nothing but excitement. "I know it will be sad to see where our parents died and go to their graves, but I feel for the first time in a while that the future is wide open for me. And I'm ready to make peace with the past."

  Elena smiled. "Then lead on."

  They left the hotel and walked through Red Square, known as Krasnaya Ploschad in Russian. It was a much bigger space than Julia had imagined. At one end was the Kremlin, a medieval walled city on a hill above the Moscow River. At the other end were the colorful domes and spires of St. Basil's Cathedral. The rest of the area was rife with history, according to the guidebook Julia had read on the plane trip. North of the cathedral was Lobnoye Mesto, or "Place of Skulls," a circular raised platform on which public executions were carried out in the days of the tsars. Beyond that, across from the Lenin Mausoleum, was the GUM department store, Russia's version of a shopping mall.

  Julia wanted to personally visit each site, but first they were on a mission to find the orphanage. After discussing her goal with several government agents, she'd been given an address, and now they were nearing the place where it had all begun.

  In fact, it came out of nowhere, the unpretentious stone building with a fence and steel gates protecting its inhabitants. She had no idea if it was still an orphanage.

  Julia stopped abruptly. Elena did the same. She tried to remember ever being in that yard, by that gate, but she came up blank. Maybe she'd never been out there. But Elena had. Julia moved closer to her, until they were shoulder to shoulder.

  "I remember standing there," Elena whispered. "I was so scared, so terrified. I knew something had happened to our parents, something beyond bad. I could feel it in my heart. Then a man and a woman came. They took me away. I cried for you, but they covered my mouth, and then we were gone." She put a hand to her stomach. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

  "Maybe you should sit down. There's a bench over there."

  "No, I'm going back to the hotel."

  "I'll go with you."

  Elena put up her hand and took a step away. "I need a little time, Julia. Okay?"

  "Are you sure?" Julia didn't want to let her go on her own.

  "I'm certain. I'm not as good as you are at sharing feelings. It's going to take me time to feel comfortable with it all."

  "I understand. We can leave. We can do something fun."

  "Later. I'm tired. I just need a break. Besides, there are some things we need to do on our own." She gave Julia an odd little smile, then walked away.

  Julia frowned. She had wanted to do everything together, but she was beginning to understand how much harder it was for Elena to be part of a twosome. She'd grown up alone, forced to keep everything inside. It was the only way she knew how to cope. Maybe with time, that would change.

  Julia walked over to the gate and put her hands on the steel. There was no one in the yard. In fact, the building looked vacant. There were no signs, just a sense of bleakness about it, as if nothing happy or good had ever happened there.

  "Would you mind if I took your picture?" a man asked.

  She whirled around in surprise. "Alex?" She couldn't believe it was him, but there he stood, dressed in jeans, a black shirt, and a black leather jacket. A camera case hung over one shoulder. His brown hair was ruffled by the breeze, his green eyes alight with excitement. He looked impossibly handsome. Her palms began to sweat and her spine tingled. "What are you doing here?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

  "I realized I didn't have a picture of you. All that time we spent together, and I never took a photo. What kind of a photographer am I?"

  "So you came all the way to Moscow to get one?"

  He grinned. "I do what I have to do to get the shot. You know that. I called your apartment a couple of days ago. I spoke to Elena. She told me you were on your way here."

  "Is that why she ran off so suddenly?" Julia asked, suddenly making sense of Elena's odd comment that there were some things they needed to do on their own.

  He nodded. A moment passed; then he said, "I have something to give you." He set down the camera and pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket.

  For some reason the sight of another envelope made her nervous. "What is it?"

  "It's from Stan. I finally tracked him down. He told me everything, how he helped set up the defection, how much he wanted your mother to dance in the United States."

  "Did he know about Brady's plan to kill them?"

  Alex shook his head. "No, not at all. You see, Julia, Stan had a huge crush on your mother, Natalia. He met her a few times, and he wanted very much to help her. I guess they became friends on a few of her trips to the United States. He was devastated when she was killed. And he told me he was sorry that he hadn't been honest with us. He believed he was protecting me and you. Like my father, Stan thought that the Russians killed your parents. As an apology, he sent you this. Open it."

  "I'm afraid. I don't want any more bad surprises."

  "This is a good one."

  She took the envelope out of his hand and pulled out a photograph. Her heart stopped beating as she realized what she was seeing. It was a black-and-white family picture of Natalia, Sergei, Elena, and herself. She pressed it to her heart as she blinked back a tear. "It's all of us together," she whispered.

  He smiled at her. "Stan thought you would like it. He said Natalia gave it to him a long, long time ago."

  "I love it. I'll have to thank him when I get back. I'm glad he wasn't involved, Alex. I know you care about him." Julia blew out a breath, seeing a new light sparkle in Alex's eyes. He obviously wasn't finished. "Was there something else?"

  "Elena told me that she thinks you're in love with me.

  "I can't imagine why she'd say that," Julia replied, her heart racing as he took a step forward.

  "Maybe because I told her I was in love with you," he said.

  "What?" She couldn't possibly have heard him say the words.

  "You heard me." He moved closer until he was just inches away. "I missed you, Julia."

  "You did?" she whispered, gazing into his eyes and seeing the love he was talking about.

  "Yeah, I missed your smile and your beautiful blue eyes, the way you lick your fingers after you eat something really delicious, how excited you get when you try something new, the light that shines out of you when you talk about music and changing the world one melody at a time."

  "Oh, Alex," she murmured, incredibly touched by his words.

  "I tried to forget you. I buried myself in work, thinking it would fill me up the way it used to, but it didn't. There was still a hole in my heart. I didn't actually know I had a heart until I met you. You see, I put it on ice about twenty-five years ago, just a few weeks after I left this very square."

  She put her hands on his shoulders. "It must be hard for you to come back here."

  "No, it's easy, because you're here, and because now I know what I want. Which, in case you haven't figured it out yet, is you. I want to be with you, Julia."

&nb
sp; "Even if that means a permanent address?"

  He nodded. "Wherever you are is where I want to be. I've lived most of my life thinking I was just like my father, that photography was my sole passion, that the world was my backyard, that it was more important to show what was happening in the world than to live my own life. But my father gave it up for love. He gave it up for me." He put his hands on her waist. "And I'm willing to give it up for you."

  She bit down on her lip, her eyes tearing. "Really?"

  He smiled. "Absolutely. You're an incredible woman, Julia—smart, sexy, brave—and you never quit. You inspire me."

  "I feel the same way about you, Alex. Your courage, your sense of adventure, the way you embrace new things constantly amaze me. And you're really good in bed, too," she added with a smile.

  "It's about time you mentioned that," he said with a sexy growl. "I think I'm the luckiest man on earth right now." He leaned over and placed a tender, passionate kiss on her lips.

  "And I'm the luckiest woman," Julia murmured against his mouth. "Do you know why I came here?" she asked him, pulling away for just a moment.

  "Tell me."

  "I wanted to connect with my parents. The letter my mother wrote to us made me realize that my parents lived their lives with purpose and passion. They were willing to risk everything for love and family. That's the way I want to live. I don't want to play it safe. I want to follow my heart—wherever it leads. This trip was the first step."

  "Where are you going next?"

  She moved deeper into his embrace. "Right here. I love you, Alex. I was going to come and find you after this trip." She paused. "I don't want you to stay in one place for me. I want to go with you wherever life takes us. I have some thoughts of my own about spreading music around the world. I could use a partner for that."

  "You've got one. And if the last few weeks are any indication, I think you and I are going to have a very exciting life."

  She gazed into his eyes and saw a future filled with promise. Now she knew not only where she'd come from... but where she was going.

  # # #

  I hope you enjoyed these three novels! If you’d like more summer reads, grab the Summer Reads Series:

  SUMMER READS - Books 1-3, Vol. 1

  Summer Secrets

  Golden Lies

  Don’t Say A Word

  SUMMER READS - Books 4-6, Vol. 2

  One True Love

  Just The Way You Are

  All She Ever Wanted

  SUMMER READS - Books 7-9, Vol. 3

  Almost Home

  Some Kind of Wonderful

  Love Will Find A Way

  SUMMER READS - Books 10-12, Vol. 4

  Daniel's Gift

  Ryan's Return

  Ask Mariah

  The Sweetest Thing

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  Just A Wish Away (#2)

  When Wishes Collide (#3)

  Wish Series Boxed Set

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  Almost Home

  Ask Mariah

  Don’t Say A Word

  Golden Lies

  Just The Way You Are

  Love Will Find A Way

  Sweet Somethings

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  About the Author

  Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of 68 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women's fiction. With over 12 million copies sold, twenty-three of Barbara’s books have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists, including SUMMER SECRETS which hit #1 on the New York Times!

  Known for her emotional and compelling stories of love, family, mystery and romance, Barbara enjoys writing about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary adventures.

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