Just The Way You Are(24)

"Grandpa," Alli said softly. "But Grams never said the marriage was arranged."

"Oh, but it was, to solidify a business arrangement. John's parents had cash that Phoebe's parents desperately needed. John's parents wanted their son to have a wife, stability, a family. Phoebe's parents wanted the same thing for their child."

"But Grams loved Grandpa," Tessa said.

"She may have come to love him," William conceded. "But I can never forget how she looked the night she told me that she would have to marry to save her parents' business."

"I don't understand," Alli said in confusion. "Why didn't Grams tell us any of this?"

"It happened a long time ago."

A confused silence fell between them.

"Did Grams know that you loved her, too?" Alli asked.

"I was never in the running. I came from a poor family. That party I mentioned earlier, when I saw your grandmother for the first time, I was a waiter, not even a guest."

"I can't believe that Grams would have married for money," Tessa interjected.

"She didn't marry John for his money. She married him because it was what her parents wanted her to do. It was a different world then."#p#分页标题#e#

"You didn't answer my question," Alli said. "Did Grams know that you loved her then?"

William tried to shrug off her question, obviously uncomfortable at the turn of events. "She never asked. I never said."

"But all these years…"

"I worked hard to make something of myself, to be someone Phoebe would be proud to know. I married twice, tried to find the happiness that she seemed to show me every time we spoke or exchanged a letter. But I couldn't forget her. And ever since John died, I've hoped that she might find her way back to me."

"Maybe she will," Tessa said. "Maybe that first love will win out."

Alli's stomach turned over at Tessa's words. She didn't want to think about first loves outlasting all others. Not that she didn't want Phoebe to be happy now, but Alli didn't want to believe that Grams had spent the better part of her life mooning over the absent William.

"I've always hoped that it would. But perhaps I've left it too late," William said heavily, moving next to Phoebe so he could stroke her forehead.

"I have to go," Tessa said abruptly. "I'll be back later."

"Don't rush," William said. "Your grandmother will probably sleep for hours. In fact, if you want to wait until tomorrow, that's fine. You must be tired from all the traveling."

Tessa picked up her purse from the floor. "I am tired." She opened her purse and pulled out a pen and jotted down a number on the pad beside the bed. "This is my cell phone. I'll keep it on. Call me if you need me, and I'll come back." She paused, her hands clenched tightly around her purse strap, as she stared at her grandmother. "'Night, Grams. Sleep well."

Alli's eyes narrowed as Tessa practically ran from the room. She wondered where her sister was going in such a hurry. And the deep, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her she probably didn't want to know.





* * *





Chapter 7



« ^ »

"What do you have for homework?" Sam asked as Megan finished her glass of milk, leaving an uneven white ring around her mouth. He leaned over and wiped her lips with his napkin.

"Well?"

"Daddy, it's summer school."

"I forgot. So you don't have homework?"

"Well, a little math, but we don't have to do it if we don't want to."

"You don't?" he asked in disbelief, for Megan was the queen of procrastination. "Why don't you get it and we'll do it together?"

"First we should have some ice cream."

"How about we have ice cream after we do your homework?"

"Before," Megan said stubbornly.

He recognized that fiery light. Sometimes Megan looked just like her mother. God help him! "Homework," he said calmly.

"Mommy doesn't make me do homework until after dessert. I want Mommy."

"She's at the hospital, you know that."

"Mommy loves me more than you do," Megan said.

He stared at her in amazement. Was this just a ploy for ice cream? Or did she really believe that he loved her less?

"That's not true. I love you very much."

"Then how come you don't live here anymore?" she asked, her eyes watering. "I don't like that you're gone," she said with a sob.

He pulled her out of her chair and onto his lap, giving her a tight squeeze, wishing he had something to say that would make her feel better. "I love you, Megan, more than anyone in the whole wide world. Wherever I live, wherever you live, that won't change. Not even when you grow up and you fall in love with some other guy. I'll still love you the most. You have to believe that."#p#分页标题#e#