Stuck

by Samantha Durante

  From across the square, the rhythm of drums rose above the crowd in a festive cadence.

  A suddenly buoyant Janie, who Alessa had been relieved to find finally returning to herself in recent weeks, turned to Deion with a flirtatious smile. “We’ve got some time until tonight’s drama airing. Let’s go dance.”

  Alessa smiled to herself. Her sister never could resist a good beat.

  Deion rolled his eyes playfully but didn’t protest as Janie pulled him away towards the music.

  Alessa turned to Isaac. “Speaking of, are we watching tonight?”

  A few members of the production team had decided to script a new ending for the most recent season, one which featured a dramatization of the events surrounding the defeat of the Engineers and the liberation of Paragon. The whole thing felt a little too close to propaganda for Alessa’s taste, but the fact that the actors were volunteers mollified her a bit.

  “What, miss our 15 minutes of fame? Not a chance,” Isaac winked.

  Alex looked up at his monument. “It’s supposed to be a tribute to them – it will be hard to watch, but I don’t want to miss it, either.”

  Alessa placed a supportive hand gently on Alex’s arm. “It’s settled, then. Everyone meet back at the house at seven.”

  Jo looked excited. “Can we bring some dessert from the cafeteria?”

  “Sure,” Isaac said. “Less, can you handle that with Jo? There was something I wanted to do before…”

  “Okay,” Alessa agreed, wondering what Isaac was up to. “Should I grab some dinner for you?”

  “That’d be great,” Isaac smiled. He gave her a quick peck on the lips before setting off across the plaza.

  “I hope they have brownies,” Jo announced, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

  Laughing, Alessa invited Alex to join them. “You want to come with?” she asked.

  As the sun dipped across the horizon, the three of them helped themselves to a quick meal at the communal dining hall – a tradition the colony had decided to maintain after the transition – and boxed up some meals and snacks to bring back for the others.

  The sky blazed rose and violet as they strolled back across the compound, each lost in their own thoughts.

  For her part, Alessa was practically floating. With the advent of the newcomers especially, she was immensely relieved, for a thousand reasons at once – though, at this moment, one in particular was forefront in her mind.

  But somehow, that enormous relief didn’t erase everything else.

  She knew she was lucky, of course, coming out of this with her sister and Isaac still by her side. But she still felt the pain of all the friends they’d lost. Lizzie. Regina. Sato. Michael. Martha and Al. Nikhil. So many people, all gone in the blink of an eye. And each leaving a hole in her heart in their place.

  She was proud of herself for letting go of her resentment towards Paragon, and finding a way to defeat the Engineers without excess violence or the shedding of more innocent blood. But she was still mired in guilt for not having found a way to help the Stuck. Especially Joe.

  Isaac, she knew, shared that particular misgiving. His thoughts were constantly with Joe, though he was trying to forgive himself. Alessa didn’t know what to do besides reassure him he’d done all he could, as he always did.

  She was grateful that the transition had gone so smoothly, and that Carlos and the new government had garnered wide support among Paragon’s citizens. But the enormous price of that freedom stuck with her – and the fact that so few people seemed to really appreciate the sacrifices that had been made for their safety.

  Still marveling at the mix of emotions roiling in her chest, they reached the front steps of her old sorority house, just as Isaac crested the top of the hill behind it. He was pushing an old-style wheelbarrow on which precariously balanced a deep red armchair.

  Alessa, Alex, and Jo deposited their takeout containers on the porch and waited for him to reach them. As he drew nearer, Alessa could see that the bottom of the wheelbarrow was lined with books.

  Reaching the porch, Isaac smiled broadly. “Went back to my old set to grab a few things, and look what else I found.” He turned the wheelbarrow to the side so they could see around the back of the chair.

  “Kitty!” Josephine screamed with delight, galloping down the steps to greet them.

  Sprawled like a king across the wide, soft seat of the chair lay a striped tabby cat, basking in the last rays of the setting sun.

  Jo scooped the cat up in her arms and Alessa could hear it purring from the porch.

  Heaving the weighty chair up the few steps, Isaac set it down beside the front door with a satisfied grunt.

  “Let me help you carry that stuff in,” Alex offered.

  “Thanks,” Isaac replied. “We’ll bring this in last – let’s grab the books first.”

  Josephine had settled with the cat on the opposite end of the porch and was giving it an enthusiastic tummy rub. Alex marched past Alessa into the house, an impressive stack of books in his arms.

  Isaac followed closely behind, pausing just long enough to plant a long, deep kiss on Alessa’s lips that sent a warm shiver through her limbs. “Home sweet home,” he murmured contentedly as he continued into the house.

  Melting into the armchair’s plush, Alessa was overwhelmed with gratitude. For the good news they’d received today, for the loved ones sharing this home with her, and especially for the kind, thoughtful, loving, and exceedingly handsome man she called her partner.

  It was finally time, she realized, to let Isaac in on the secret she’d been safeguarding.

  At that exact moment, a delicate flutter rose in her belly. Awed, she placed a protective hand over her abdomen, smiling to herself in anticipation of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

  She absolutely could not wait to start their next adventure.

  A NOTE TO READERS

  Dear Reader,

  I cannot believe that five years have passed since I published Shudder. In so many ways, it feels like a lifetime ago. (Read more about why on my blog at www.samanthadurante.com.)

  All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with me through all the ups and, especially, the downs. I am so very grateful for your continued enthusiasm for the series, and for your messages of encouragement, so many of which landed in my inbox on days when I desperately needed to hear them.

  It has been an honor and a privilege to finally share the conclusion of Alessa and Isaac’s story with you.

  Thank you for all of your support,

  Samantha

  PS – If you enjoyed this book (or any book!) please consider writing a review, posting a shout-out on social media, or telling a friend. I can’t begin to tell you how much it helps (especially for indie authors like me!). We couldn’t do it without you.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my husband, Deep, for just… everything. We went to hell and back between this book and the last, and all I can say is that there is no one on this earth I would want by my side for all of life’s adventures – the beautiful, the horrific, the mundane – more than you. Thank you for standing by me through it all, holding me up when I couldn’t find the strength, and somehow doing it all with patience, kindness, intellect, and the quiet sort of courage you only find in real life heroes. You are my Isaac.

  To Grandma, Poppy, Gumma, and Dadu, without whom this book literally would not have been possible. I could never have found the hours in the day without your help (and certainly not without guilt!). Thank you for the devoted and loving care with which you so reliably and selflessly shower our children. Grandparents make the world go round!

  To my beta readers (Mom, Deep, Nicky, Liana, Komal, Mahe, Sam, Mikey, Laura, and Joan), for your amazing typo/error-catching superpowers and all your thoughtful suggestions to make this book the best it could possibly be. I am so, so grateful for your help.

  To all the wonderful bloggers and fans who have taken the time to write a review, post abou
t the series, send me a note, etc., thank you, thank you, thank you. Your enthusiasm and support mean so very much, and your efforts really do make all the difference in the world. I am forever in your debt.

  To Kiran, for being the sparkling beam of sunlight we so desperately needed. To Mia, for fulfilling a sacred wish I’d long given up on. To Gio, for carrying me through the darkness with your devotion and proving with every day that you are truly heaven-sent. And to Lana, forever missed, for filling our lives with greater meaning and awe than we ever thought possible. For the first time, my words fail to capture the depth of love and gratitude I hold for each of you. It has been the greatest honor of my life for you to call me Mom.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Samantha lives in Westchester County, New York with four of the five loves of her life – her husband, son, younger daughter, and cat – and carries her fifth love, her stillborn eldest daughter, in her heart. An avid reader herself, Samantha’s dream is to bring the same delight to readers that other authors have brought to her life. In addition to penning novels and writing candidly about grief, she is also a sometimes freelance writer/consultant – though more often than not these days she’s on full-time mom duty! A former software engineer, Samantha said goodbye to the corporate world in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and lifelong love of writing. The Stitch Trilogy is her debut series.

  Visit www.samanthadurante.com to join the Stitch community and sign up for updates about upcoming releases.