Just The Way You Are(10)

"Getting the paper? Are you keeping an eye on Grams's house while she's in the hospital?"

She didn't know, Sam suddenly realized. Didn't know he was living next door. Didn't know Alli had asked him for a divorce. Although he was married, at least for the moment, and there was still a part of him that couldn't let go of Alli and Megan and the life they'd built together for the last nine years.

"Sam?" Tessa asked, a question in her eyes.

"I'm living next door now."

"I thought—I thought you and Alli lived across town in the new Seaside development."

"Alli still lives there. I moved out three months ago."

She stared at him, her eyes completely unreadable. "I—I don't know what to say. Grams didn't tell me."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Do you want to go down first?" He stopped abruptly as her eyes widened, as they both remembered.

"You go first so you can catch me," thirteen-year-old Tessa said with a laugh that sang on the wind. "You can be my hero."

"I would never let you fall," Sam said gallantly.

"I know that. I trust you with my life."

The memory teased at his brain like an unwanted, irritating refrain. He certainly hadn't turned out to be her hero. He'd let her fall. In fact, he'd given her a push.

"I'll go first," he said abruptly, and lowered himself to the ground as fast as humanly possible.

Tessa reached the ground a second later, her willowy body so close to his he could almost touch her. Instead he put his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans while she brushed an errant leaf out of her thick blond hair. She was tall, almost five foot ten, at least a half dozen inches over Alli. But there was still a sense of frailty about Tessa that he'd never seen in her younger sister, a feeling that she needed to be protected, while Alli could fend for herself.

"Do you know where Grams keeps the keys to her car?" Tessa asked. "I got a ride from the airport, but I have no way of getting to the hospital."

"Her car is in the shop. It will be ready this afternoon."

"Oh. I'll call a cab, then."

"I can give you a ride."

She looked surprised by the offer. So was he.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

He hesitated. "You have to get there, don't you? I was planning to go anyway, right after I drop Megan at school."

Megan! It suddenly occurred to him that he had a daughter who was probably wondering where he was. "Come over when you're ready." He started walking toward the side yard as he spoke.

Tessa hesitated. "I think I should take a cab."

"Why?"

"Because it seems easier."

He turned back to face her. "Easier to find a cab in this small town than to get in a car with me? You really have been gone a long time, haven't you?"

"Being with you is complicated. Did I really need to say that out loud?" she challenged, her eyes suddenly coming alive.

"Life is complicated."

"I try to keep it as simple as I can."

"That's why you didn't come back."

"That's one reason."

"Don't you want to meet your niece?" He'd always found Tessa's lack of interest in Megan irritating. It wasn't as if Megan had ever done anything to hurt Tessa.

Tessa looked surprised. "Do you think Megan wants to meet me? I'm sure she can't have heard much good about me in your house."#p#分页标题#e#

"Alli hasn't talked much about you at all."

"Of course she hasn't. What was I thinking?"

"But you are family, Tessa, whether you want to be or not."

"Not anymore, Sam."

"You and Alli have the same blood running through your veins. I consider that family."

"I'm sure Alli wouldn't agree with you."

"Probably not. But then she doesn't agree with me about most things these days."

"I thought you'd stick by her forever." Tessa clapped a hand to her mouth. "Forget I said that."

"Alli doesn't want me to stick by her."

"I can't imagine that."

"No need to imagine. It's simple fact." He turned toward his house, not sure she'd follow, not sure it wouldn't be better if she didn't. He opened the kitchen door and found Megan sitting at the table eating Cheerios soaked in milk. She looked up, her mouth full of cereal, her hair tangled from sleep. "Hi, Daddy. Where were you?"

"Next door."

"Did Grams come home?"

"No." He hated the sad look that crossed her face. "But she will soon. You better eat so I can get you to school on time."

Megan looked past him, her eyes widening. Sam looked from his daughter to Tessa and wasn't sure who was more surprised. He'd shown Megan pictures of Tessa, but he'd never fully explained why Tessa wasn't part of their lives.