Just The Way You Are(69)

"What if I don't want to forget?"

"Why are you so serious all of a sudden?"

"It hasn't been all of a sudden."

His hard, sharp words made her wonder if she'd missed more than she realized.

A crack of thunder rattled the house, and Tessa suddenly had something else to think about—the worsening storm.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jimmy said.

"Wait! Um, are you sure you have to go now?" She glanced toward the windows as a streak of lightning lit up the room.

He sent her a curious look. "You don't like the storm, do you? I remember that shoot we did when the hurricane was threatening. You kept popping Valium. I thought you were a drug addict at the time, but come to think of it, you just didn't like the wind, did you?"

"My parents died on a night like this. It was right before Christmas," she said, squeezing her hands together. "They had a baby-sitter come over so they could do some shopping without us. Their car skidded in the rain and they went off an embankment and were killed instantly. All I remember about that night is the thunder and the lightning and wishing that my parents would come home, only they never did." She drew in a breath as his arms slid around her waist and he pulled her against his chest.

"I won't leave you," he said huskily, stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry. It's stupid. You're going to think I'm an idiot or worse."

"Tessa, sweetheart, you don't want to know what I think, because it will scare you worse than this storm."

* * *

Alli felt the dock shift beneath her feet as a swell in the water lifted the boats up half a foot. She pulled the hood of her rain slicker tighter against her head, feeling the wind hit her like a runaway truck. She had hammered boards over her store windows, moved some of her more fragile items away from the door, and was now more than ready to get out of the storm, although she needed Sam's help to put a few heavy sandbags in front of the shop door.#p#分页标题#e#

"Sam," she called, putting a hand over her eyes so she could spot him in the driving rain. "Sam?"

She saw him as he hopped off the last of the boats and took another second to check the lines that held it in the slip. Although the harbor was usually well protected, unexpected high swells could rip the boats loose and send them into the wood pilings of the docks. She prayed that wouldn't happen. They couldn't afford damage to any of the boats.

She shifted back and forth as Sam called out "One second" and leaned over to check something on the dock. Thunder rumbled over her, around her, inside her, shocking her back to a night a long time ago when she'd snuck downstairs after hearing the doorbell ring. There had been a policeman on the front steps. He had said her parents were… God! She couldn't think about that, not now, not when lightning lit up the sky, reminding her of how she had tried to hide away from the horrible truth, but the lightning kept chasing after her, lighting up every hiding place, until she could do nothing but hear the policeman's words over and over again.

"The storm was bad. Everyone was inside. No one saw the car go into the canyon. We think the woman was alive for a while, but we didn't get to her in time."

Alli felt the familiar bile rise in her throat as his words came home to her. The thought of her mother, strapped in a mangled car, barely alive, praying for someone to save them, but slowly dying while the storm raged around her, made Alli crazy. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the words that had haunted her for years.

Tessa thought their parents had died instantly. And Alli hadn't ever been able to tell her differently. Because Tessa had been so scared that night, climbing into bed with her as they waited for the front door to open. Tessa hadn't come downstairs with her; she'd stayed in bed, the covers up to her chin.

Alli jumped again as lightning ignited the sky like an angry firecracker. She knew the thunder would follow. She was prepared. She was ready. But even so, she couldn't stop the terror that came with the deafening rattle.

She turned and ran. She thought she heard Sam call after her. But she couldn't stop. She had to get somewhere safe. She ran past Sam's office. It was too close to the water; she had to get higher, somewhere safer. She could go to her car. But, no, then she'd have to drive. And she couldn't drive.

Sam caught up to her as she struggled to put her key in the lock of her store. He took it out of her shaky fingers and unlocked the door for her. She ran inside and tried to turn on the light, but the power was gone.

"Oh, God. Oh, God." She stood in the middle of the dark store, hugging herself.

"It's okay, Alli." Sam switched on a flashlight and lit up the space between them. "You're all right. We're safe. We're safe," he repeated, reaching out for her.