Just The Way You Are(92)

"Grams's attic. Do you think it will still fly?"

He took the kite out of her hand and examined the edges for tears, but everything appeared intact. "A little ragged, but it should still fly."

"Some things don't change, do they, Sam?"

He saw the seriousness in her eyes and knew there was more behind the question than the subject of kites. "Some things," he agreed.

"Do you like what you see in me now? I don't mean my physical appearance, but me—do you like the woman I've become?"

Her eyes were worried, as if she were afraid of his answer. And how could he answer—there were so many facets to this grown-up Tessa he didn't begin to understand. "I like what I see. But isn't it more important if you like what you've become?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But I've wanted to ask you that question for a long time. In fact, way back when we first split up, I used to fantasize about calling you and telling you I'd just gotten back from a photo shoot in Australia or that my face would be on the cover of some magazine. I thought how impressed you would be. How bad you would feel for having let me go." She sent him a rueful smile. "Pretty sad, huh?"

"I am impressed by all you've accomplished. I'm proud, too. Proud I knew you when."

Her eyes watered. "Really? You're proud of me?"

"Very much."

"That means more than you know." She paused. "I think you grew up into a fine man. I always knew you had potential, but watching you this past week, I realized you would have never been happy following me around the world. You're part of this place," she said with a sweep of her hand. "This beautiful place where roots grow deep and the sea nourishes the soul. My grandfather once told me that's why he loved Tucker's Landing. And I think you love it, too."#p#分页标题#e#

"I do, Tessa. It's a part of me that I've only just recently come to accept."

"I feel like I want to settle down, too."

He felt his stomach lurch. "Settle down here?"

"What do you think?" She looked into his eyes with a pleading expression that told him she really needed an answer. But what was the right answer?

"Tucker's Landing is a long way from New York or even L.A.," he prevaricated.

"I could make it my home base, the best of both worlds."

"I'm sure your grandmother would be happy to have you here. And you and Alli seem to be getting along better."

"We've declared a truce. I wonder if you and I could do the same thing. And you could stop being angry at me."

"I'm not angry at you, Tessa."

"But that's the problem, Sam. I don't know how you feel about me."

There was a challenge in her words, a call to speak the truth. He thought about the pearl necklace Phoebe had given him, and her instructions to give it to the woman he truly loved. Was that Tessa—his first love? His gaze drifted over to Alli and Megan. Or was it Alli—his wife, the woman who shared his life?

"It's taking you a long time to answer," Tessa said lightly, but there was a pain in her voice that told him she knew the truth as well as he did. "There's a time and a season, isn't there?"

"I think so," he said slowly.

"And this isn't our time. Well." She took a deep breath. "I suspect I already knew that. I just didn't want to admit it, not even to myself."

"Hey. Tessa, babe, are we ever going to launch that thing?" Jimmy called out.

Sam cleared his throat and handed Tessa back the kite. "Jimmy is waiting for you."

She hesitated, then took the kite out of his hands. "I'm going to beat you in the kite festival, you know."

"Give it your best shot."

"Oh, I will, don't worry."

He smiled as she left, feeling an incredible weight slip off his shoulders.

As Jimmy and Tessa, with Megan's help, attempted to launch their kite, Alli came over to Sam, her cheeks flushed, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Don't you want to practice flying the kite?" she asked.

"You and Megan are doing a good job."

"Nobody does it as good as Daddy," Alli said, mimicking Megan's little girl voice. "You're her hero, you know, especially after you saved her from the bees yesterday."

"I didn't think; I just acted. That doesn't make me a hero." He shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to brush the hair out of her eyes or put an arm around her the way he wanted to.

"Actually, that's exactly what it makes you." She paused. "I feel so happy today. We found a pearl, Sam, among all those wild oysters, against all those odds—a beautiful pearl in a muddy, ragged shell. Who would have thought we could have done something like that? Who would have thought you and I could have brought a beautiful child into the world? Who would have thought Tessa and I could be sisters again? Sometimes life amazes me."