Just The Way You Are(6)

But Grams was wrong. Love didn't always live forever. And there was a good chance Tessa would end up alone.

"Miss MacGuire?" the chauffeur said over the intercom.

Tessa opened her eyes, grateful to have her disturbing thoughts interrupted. "Yes?"

"I'm not clear on the turnoff after First Street."

"Left on Bayberry Drive, a mile down the road to the end. The house is the last one on the edge of the bluff. It has a widow's walk."

"A what?"

"A long balcony that winds around the front and side of the house overlooking the ocean." The place where her grandmother had once paced incessantly, watching and waiting for her husband's boat to sail into the harbor. How scared she must have been that last time when his boat hadn't come back after the storm—maybe as scared as she must be now.

"Do you want to go to your grandmother's house now or the hospital?" the chauffeur asked.

Tessa hesitated. She was hours earlier than planned, having flown all night. It was only seven o'clock in the morning, too early to go to the hospital. She needed a few moments to pull herself together, to get her emotions in check so she wouldn't fall apart when she saw Grams—or Alli or Sam.#p#分页标题#e#

"The house," she decided.

Tessa pulled out a brush from her purse and ran it through her hair, taking peace in the reassuring movements. She could do this. She could go to the hospital, make sure that Phoebe was being well cared for. She could be cool, polite, and impersonal when she saw Sam and Alli again. She'd mastered those traits over the years and no one ever suspected anything was wrong—why should it be any different now?

A tiny voice reminded her that there had been a time when she and Alli could read each other's thoughts, when she and Sam could finish each other's sentences. But it wouldn't be like that anymore. Sam and Alli were together, and she was on her own.

Tessa straightened up as the limo turned into the main streets leading into downtown. Tucker's Landing certainly appeared to be flourishing. Flowers were bursting out of window boxes, freshly painted signs proclaimed antiques, books, cafés, and other touristy nooks. A huge banner hung over the main intersection announcing the upcoming Fourth of July celebration, complete with kite festival, clam chowder bake-off, fireworks, and live music.

The Fourth of July had always been a special holiday, because it was also her grandparents' anniversary. Every year they would trek down to O'Meara's Oyster Farm to shuck wild oysters until they found a pearl. It didn't matter that the pearls didn't match in size or color or shape; they were making a necklace, a circle of love to last for all time.

It had been John MacGuire's idea to make the necklace for his beloved Phoebe. A man of the sea, Tessa's grandfather believed that the wild pearls symbolized hope, beauty, strength, and love, everything he wanted for the family.

Nostalgia ripped through Tessa as she thought about the times she and Alli had waded through low tide to find what they were sure would be the oyster that held the perfect pearl. They hadn't known then that perfection was impossible—or that the necklace would never be completed because John MacGuire would die just before his fiftieth wedding anniversary. The forty-nine-pearl strand remained one pearl short of completion.

Tessa sighed as each turn of the limousine brought new sights but old memories. The heart of the town was still the harbor, filled with fishing boats, small yachts, and sailboats. A long pier stretched out to the sea, a wooden strip filled with shops and restaurants, a place where fresh crabs and lobsters made friends with the tourists.

Down the road, next to the pier, was the sign for Tucker's Charter Boats, offering fishing, whale watching, and ocean tours. Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered running down to the harbor late on a Saturday afternoon to meet Sam after he finished helping his father for the day.

Finally, thankfully, the stores turned to houses and the sidewalks turned to grass, and the quiet, sleepy neighborhoods reminded her that she didn't have to face everything yet, not quite yet.

But she felt jittery, and the sudden ringing of her cell phone made her jump. She told herself that no one had this number besides professional associates. It was safe to answer.

"Hello?" she said.

"Where the hell are you, babe?"

Tessa couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips at the sound of her favorite photographer's voice. "You won't believe me if I tell you, Jimmy."

"I guess that means you're not on your way to L.A. for our meeting today."

"I left you a message."

"A very cryptic one," Jimmy Duggan said. "Something about a family emergency. I didn't even know you had a family. So what happened?"