Just The Way You Are(77)

If she stayed in Tucker's Landing, though, she would have Sam. Or at least she thought she would. He seemed as wary as she was to actually say the words out loud, to admit that the love they shared was still there, still simmering just below the surface. Or did she just want it to be?

Tessa remembered Jimmy's telling her she was in a rut, stuck in the past, unable to get beyond what had happened, comparing each relationship to the one she'd lost. Was that the truth? Or was the relationship she'd had with Sam better than any other?

"Don't you think you would miss the other butterflies?" Sam asked quietly.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"Hurry up," Megan said, once again taking Tessa's hand. "Mommy and Jimmy are ready to go into the water."

Sam met her gaze over Megan's small head. "Later," he mouthed.

She nodded. Later was good. It would give her a chance to decide if she really could make a life for herself in Tucker's Landing.

* * *

Alli laughed as Jimmy stuck his booted foot gingerly into about one inch of water, then quickly removed it. "I think I'll be the official photographer," he said.

"Chicken."

"Hey, call me anything you want, just call me dry," he replied. He waved his hand at the view before them. "This is spectacular, I must say, the creeks and streams running into the bay, the ocean in the distance with the haystack rocks rising like monuments, the squawking shorebirds, the elegant pelicans," he mused.

Alli watched with him as a pelican soared down into the distant bay, its long neck dipping into the water in search of food. With another flap of its wings, it sailed off with a grace, a sense of freedom that she could only wish she had. Alli drew in a deep breath of fresh air and felt a rush of pleasure. She loved being at the beach, hearing the waves crashing, watching the water ripple, the birds at play. This was her world, and she didn't think she'd ever get tired of looking at it.

"This is the best place on earth," she said to Jimmy.

He raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty, but if you don't mind my asking, have you been many other places?"

"No," she admitted with a laugh. "But it's still the best place on earth."

"Where did you live before—with your parents?"

"San Francisco. We lived in this small, yellow house in the Sunset district. I remember, because I used to think that we'd painted the sun on our house, since most of the time it was foggy outside."

He sent her an indulgent grin. "What else did you think?"

"That the city was crowded, that we always had to be careful not to talk to strangers, not to run in the street. We didn't know any different then, but once we got to Tucker's Landing, it was like we'd been set free. Only problem was, the freedom came with such a huge price tag."

"It must have been rough losing your parents so young."

"It was awful. I missed them terribly. I wished over and over again that I'd wake up and it would all be a bad dream."#p#分页标题#e#

"Do you blame Tessa for the accident?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Why would I?"

"Tessa said your parents went shopping for a special doll she wanted for Christmas. Knowing your high regard for your sister, I figure maybe that's where it all began."

"No. I didn't blame Tessa at all. We were close back then. There weren't a lot of kids in our neighborhood so we played with each other. And Tessa was my big sister. She was the one I cried with, the one who held my hand when we came to Grams's house." Alli paused, not liking the warm memories washing over her. She hadn't thought of that night, those days, in years, and she wished she hadn't started now. It made her remember a time when she'd loved Tessa, and loving Tessa wasn't an emotion she was comfortable with anymore. Looking restlessly up the path, she wondered what was taking them so long. "Where are they?" she asked grumpily.

"They'll be along. But since they're not here yet, maybe you can answer a question for me."

"Like what?"

"Like what do you see in the guy?" Jimmy asked with puzzlement in his light green eyes.

"Who?"

"Sam, the boy next door, the love of apparently everyone's life, that guy. He doesn't seem to be particularly rich. He's good-looking, I suppose. Has a business that I think involves a lot of stinking fish. So what is it about him that makes you and Tessa so nuts?"

Alli grinned. Jimmy was probably better looking than Sam, certainly more sophisticated, well traveled, and he had a bit more charm, but in her estimation he still felt short of Sam. Why?

"No one has ever asked me that before," she said slowly.