Just The Way You Are(85)

"She's not here," Tessa said, catching her gaze. "I've been looking for her since I got here."#p#分页标题#e#

Alli didn't feel comfortable with the eye contact so she looked away. For a long while the only sounds in the kitchen came from the clatter of the knife against the oyster shells and the sizzle of scallions sautéing in the pot.

"My hands hurt already," Tessa complained a while later.

"I guess you don't work much with your hands, do you?"

"Sometimes I model them."

"Really? People pay money to take pictures of your hands?"

"Of course they do, a lot of money," Tessa said, setting down the knife. She got to her feet and stretched. "I'm taking a break."

"Fine, you go rest, and I'll do it," Alli said in disgust.

"I said I was taking a break. I didn't say I was quitting."

Tessa walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of mineral water she had obviously stocked earlier in the week—since Grams had never been partial to bubble water, as she called it. "I've never thought cooking was much fun."

"Do you only do things that are fun?"

"That's me. Fun and games. What about you, Alli? What do you do for fun? Oh, I forgot, you steal other people's boyfriends."

Alli set down the knife she was using to chop scallions just so she wouldn't be tempted to throw it at her sister. "You want to talk about it?"

"I didn't say I wanted to talk about it."

"Well, you brought it up, so let's talk about it."

"I just have one question. How do you look at yourself in the mirror every day?"

"I'm not as attached to my mirror as you are."

Tessa set the bottle of water down on the counter, her blue eyes blazing. "How dare you presume to know anything about me?"

"Likewise, and I sleep just fine, because no matter what I did to Sam, I didn't break his heart. You did that before he ever came to me."

Tessa's jaw dropped open. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that Christmas. He was going to ask you to marry him. He actually thought you might say yes."

"I would have said yes, and how do you know about that?"

"Sam told me."

"He wouldn't have."

"Well, he did. He told me that night before he got drunk so he wouldn't have to think about what you were doing with your modeling friends in Aspen."

"I certainly wasn't doing what you were doing with my boyfriend. And you were my sister, Alli. I knew you were capable of a lot of things, but I didn't think stabbing me in the back was one of them."

"How could I stab you anywhere but the back? You always had your back to me. I was forever chasing after you, because once we moved here, once you and Sam became bosom buddies, you didn't have time for me. I wasn't anyone to you. So forgive me if my sisterly instincts didn't kick in that night."

Alli felt the anger and bitterness of a lifetime rage within her. Her throat tightened so much she wasn't sure she could breathe. In fact, she had to hang on to the counter to stop herself from falling or, worse yet, flying after Tessa the way she'd done when she was a little girl.

"You never had any sisterly instincts," Tessa said bitterly. "You were a conniving little sneak, listening to my conversations, taking my clothes, wearing my jewelry."

"And you were a bitch," Alli burst out, no longer able to contain the anger within her. She wanted to hit someone or something. Her fingers reached for a weapon and closed around the pile of scallions she was about to toss into the stew. Oh, what the hell, she thought as she threw them at Tessa's face.#p#分页标题#e#

Tessa shrieked and grabbed the nearest thing to her. It was the bag of flour. Before Alli could move, Tessa had dumped it over Alli's head. Alli sputtered and choked as the floury air surrounded her. Her eyes lit on the pile of oyster meat waiting in a bowl. She grabbed it and threw the contents at Tessa. Some of the meat splashed on the floor, and when Tessa tried to run, she slipped on the wet, floury tile. As she went down, she grabbed Alli's arm and pulled her down along with her.

Another second and they were rolling around between the counters and the kitchen island, tossing handfuls of flour and oyster meat at each other, until they were both covered from head to toe in the squishy, smelly mixture. Searching for new ammunition, Alli reached into the bag of oysters on the floor and started throwing those at Tessa.

Tessa ducked as the oyster shells clattered against the cupboards and the floor. Any that fell nearby, she tossed back in Alli's direction.

"I hate you," Tessa yelled.

"I hate you, too," Alli screamed back, dodging as one hard shell came close to her face. "You were the worst sister in the world."