Just The Way You Are(4)

Damn it all. He felt as unsettled as the weather outside. He didn't know whether to be furious or relieved it was all over. He didn't know why he couldn't look at Alli anymore, why her voice made him so nervous, why he was so afraid that the merest touch of her hands would be the death of him. They'd lived together for a long time, but he'd never been as aware of her as he was right now.#p#分页标题#e#

Alli walked out of the family room and bumped into him, not expecting to find him still standing there. He automatically reached out to steady her, his hands coming to rest on her waist, his fingers burning as the warmth of her body seeped through the thin material of her dress.

She sucked in a short breath, and his pulse quickened. He didn't want to look into her eyes. It was bad enough that he could smell her favorite perfume—Passion—that he could feel her body under his hands, that he could hear her breathing.

He couldn't look into her eyes. He couldn't take that risk. He didn't know what he would see there. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. She'd confused him since the day she'd moved in next door as a bossy little girl, changing personalities as often as a chameleon changed color. Just when he thought he knew who she was, she turned into someone else.

"Sam?" she questioned, her voice turning husky. It almost undid him. He'd loved her voice in the dark of the night, whispering, promising… He drew in a breath and dropped his hands from her waist. "I'll get those drinks."

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Look at me."

He sent her a brief glance that barely grazed her face, then turned away. "I'm thirsty."

"Sam—" The ringing phone cut off her words, and Sam felt a great relief. He brushed past her, returning to the family room to find Megan on the phone.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Beckett," Megan said. "Yes, he's here."

Sam took the phone from her hand. "William? How are you?"

"Not too good, Sam." William's usually brisk seventy-six-year-old voice trembled. "It's Phoebe. I don't know how to tell you this, but she's—she's had a stroke."

"No!" Sam couldn't stop the word from bursting out of his mouth. He sat down on the edge of the desk, grateful for the support. Not Phoebe. Alli's grandmother was strong and vital and energetic, and he couldn't imagine the world without her. "How bad is she?"

"I don't know yet. We were walking along the pier and all of a sudden she stopped making sense and she couldn't walk. I got help as soon as I could," he said helplessly. "We're at the hospital now. They said to call the family. I couldn't find Allison. She's not home."

"She's here."

"Then you'll tell her?"

"Yes. I'll tell her." Sam looked at Alli standing in the doorway and saw the fear draw sharp lines in her face.

"And Sam…" William hesitated. "I know there's bad blood and all, but I've called Tessa and asked her to come home. She agreed. She'll be here tomorrow."

Sam's entire body tightened, a kneejerk reaction impossible to stop. He hadn't seen Tessa since the night he'd told her he was marrying her sister. And now she was coming home.

Because Phoebe was sick, he told himself. It had nothing to do with him.

"Sam?" Alli asked after he'd said good-bye to William. She'd wrapped her arms around her waist, as if she could protect herself from whatever was coming.

"Your grandmother has had a stroke. She's in the hospital."

Alli's eyes searched his. "Is she—"

"No one knows anything yet."

"I don't understand. Grams never gets sick. She's strong. I just spoke to her a few hours ago. I have to go. I have to see her." Alli looked wildly around the room, searching for something. Sam reached out and closed her fingers over the keys she still held in her hand.

"Easy," he said. "I'll take you."#p#分页标题#e#

She looked into his eyes with desperation. "She has to be all right. She has to be."

"She's a fighter, Alli."

"But she's seventy-six years old."

"Mommy, is Grams going to die?" Megan asked. Alli opened her arms as Megan ran into a tight hug. "I hope not, honey. I really hope not."

They clung together for a long minute, and Sam itched to join them, but he couldn't. Alli had made it clear that she didn't want him in her life.

Finally, Alli set Megan aside. "Go get your things, honey. We need to leave."

Megan ran out of the room, and Alli slowly straightened. Sam dug his hands into his pockets to stop himself from doing anything foolish, like hugging her.

"I can't lose Grams," Alli whispered, her eyes filled with fear. "She's all I have left of my family."