She put her hands on his face, the way she loved to do, making sure she had his complete attention. "Can I have ice cream now?"
He laughed. "You're a bad little girl."
"Good girl," she said with a grin. "Good girls get ice cream."
He wanted to give in. He really did. And the little pout on her mouth was just too cute. "Compromise. I'll dish up the ice cream. You bring your math sheet to the table, and we'll do it at the same time."
"Okay," she said, skipping from the room.
He was a complete pushover, he decided, taking their dinner dishes to the kitchen sink. As he rinsed off the plates, he noticed that the garbage disposal was slow. He'd have to fix that.
His heart felt heavy as he realized he had no business fixing the disposal or even worrying about it. He and his wife were separated, on their way to a divorce. Three months ago he'd been living in this house, enjoying the kitchen he'd remodeled with his own hands, sleeping in the king-size bed they'd splurged on two years ago, kissing his daughter good night and waking up with Alli hogging all the covers.
He sucked in a breath and let it out slow. He didn't miss Alli. He just missed his life. He couldn't miss her. She was the one responsible for the god-awful mess that had become their lives.
As he turned off the faucet, the doorbell rang. He walked into the living room and opened the door, expecting to see one of the neighbors on the step. But it wasn't a neighbor, it was Tessa, and his heart turned over in his chest, making it difficult to breathe.
"Hi," she said softly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, come in."
She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"I can't leave. Megan is inside, and she'll probably be out here in a second."
"Maybe this was a mistake. I'm sorry." Her hair tumbled across her shoulders as she shook her head in indecision.
"What's wrong? Did you see Alli?"
"Yes."
She stared at him as if she'd never seen him before. What on earth had Alli said to her?
"I have to ask you something," she began, then stopped abruptly.
"What?"
"Do you still— Never mind. I shouldn't have come."
"Tessa, wait." He grabbed her arm.
She looked at him through big, blue, watery eyes, and he could no more let her go than he could stop himself from breathing. "What do you want to ask me?"
"Daddy?" Megan called out.
Tessa's arm jerked under his hand. "I can't do this."
He hung on to her, unwilling to let her go. "Wait. I'll be right there, honey," he called out to Megan, then stepped onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind him. "Tell me what's wrong."
She lifted her head, studying his face with an expression of pure confusion. He'd never seen her look so—lost.
"This is the house you and Alli bought after Megan was born, isn't it? Grams told me it was nice. Just what Alli always wanted, a white house with green shutters and window boxes filled with flowers, and even a front porch with a swing." She looked over at the white wicker two-seater swing. "It's perfect."
"You didn't come here to talk about the house."
"No, but right now it seems like a better idea. I'm tired." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Really tired. And worried about Grams. She woke up, but she couldn't talk. It scared me. And then Alli started saying all these confusing things, and I never know what's real and what's in her head."#p#分页标题#e#
"What did she say?"
Tessa hesitated. "Did you miss me, Sam? I mean, did you ever think about me after we broke up?"
"Of course I did. How could I not?"
"I tried not to think about you. I threw myself into my life. I thought if I could run really fast, I'd get far enough away that I wouldn't be able to look back. And it was working pretty well, until now."
He knew exactly what she meant, for hadn't he done the same thing, pouring himself into his new family? But time had come to a crashing halt when Alli asked for a divorce. Now, with Phoebe's stroke and Tessa's return, he no longer knew how he was supposed to feel, what he was supposed to do.
The door creaked open behind him, and his daughter's head peeked out.
"Daddy? Who's here?"
He stepped aside, putting his arm around Megan's shoulders as he pulled her onto the porch. He was both relieved and disappointed by the interruption. There were things he and Tessa needed to say to each other. Then again, perhaps there were things better left unsaid.
"Aunt Tessa," Megan said with delight.
"Hi, Megan."
"Did you come to have ice cream with us?"