Part 33 (1/2)
”Where did you go just now?”
”Just thinking about the car.”
”Lots of memories, huh?”
”A few.”
”Are you sure you can let the car go?”
He could let the car go. But how could he let Alli go?
”I'm thirsty,” Jimmy said as he stepped out of the car. ”What have you got to drink?”
”Let's see,” Sam said, heading into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator. ”Do you want a beer?”
”Sure.” Jimmy deftly caught the beer can in one hand. As he popped the top, he said, ”So, do you think Alli and Tessa have killed each other yet?”
”Maybe,” Sam muttered, taking out a bottled water. He put the cool gla.s.s against his still hot, swollen cheeks. ”I'm not sure leaving them alone was a good idea.”
”They're sisters. They need to talk.” Jimmy's eyes narrowed. ”You should sit down. You still look blotchy.”
”I'm fine,” Sam said, but he did sit down at the table.
”What are you worried about anyway?” Jimmy asked, taking a seat across from him. ”Afraid they're telling secrets about you?”
”No.”
”You don't have to pretend they're both not in love with you. I have eyes and a camera. In fact, I brought you some photos. I'll get them.”
Sam waited in the kitchen while Jimmy retrieved the photos from his camera bag. Sam wasn't sure he wanted to look at any more pictures of Tessa. Wasn't that what had gotten him into trouble in the first place?
Jimmy dumped a pile of photos on the table in front of him, and Sam was surprised to see shots of Alli. He suddenly realized how few photos he had of her, for Alli was usually the one behind the camera. In fact, she did her best to hide away when photographs were taken. But Jimmy had captured her every mood at work, at play, with Megan. There was joy, pa.s.sion, tenderness, and love in every smile, every look.
Sam drew in a deep breath, feeling like he'd been punched in the stomach.
”Not bad, huh?”
”These are...” Sam couldn't think of a word to describe how he was feeling. Alli was beautiful. G.o.d, Alli was beautiful. He'd never realized.
”Stunning,” Jimmy finished, catching Sam's eye. ”Don't you think?”
”You're very good.”
”I had the perfect subject, although Alli has no idea that beauty doesn't always come in shades of blond, does she?”
”No.”
”It must have been hard growing up in Tessa's shadow.”
”I think it was,” Sam murmured, knowing he certainly hadn't made it any easier for Alli.
”I tried to give Alli the photos, but she didn't want them. I thought maybe you'd like to keep them-for Megan, if not for yourself.”
Sam grinned at the irony of Jimmy's request. Phoebe had given him the box of Tessa's photos with the exact same words, and look where that had gotten him. ”You have no idea what you're asking me,” he said cryptically. ”But yes, I'll keep them.”
”Good.” Jimmy paused. ”So, can I ask you something?”
”Can I stop you?”
”Are you planning to take Tessa back?”
Sam tensed once again. ”What's it to you?”
”I want her,” Jimmy said flatly. ”But Tessa seems to think that she can have you back. Can she?”
Could she? Sam didn't know what to say. ”If you want Tessa, you should tell her.”
”Oh, I've told her. But she's waiting for you.” He paused. ”You had Tessa once. Why did you let her go?”
”I didn't let Tessa go. She left me long before I left her,” Sam replied sharply.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow. ”That's not the way she tells it.”
”Well, it's the way it was.” Sam left the room, stopping in the hallway to catch his breath, to gather his thoughts. h.e.l.l, that's exactly the way it had been. It was all so clear now. He'd blamed himself for destroying their relations.h.i.+p, but in truth their relations.h.i.+p had been in trouble long before he'd slept with Alli. Why hadn't he seen that before?
The front door flew open before he could come up with an answer, and to his surprise, two figures completely covered in white something came running into the hall. ”What the h.e.l.l happened to you two?” he asked.
Alli and Tessa were laughing and crying and talking all at the same time, and Sam couldn't understand a word they were saying. ”What? Slow down. You had a food fight?”
Jimmy came up behind Sam, raising an eyebrow at their appearance. ”Nice look, ladies.”
”Never mind us,” Tessa said impatiently. ”Show 'em, Alli.”
Alli held out the oyster sh.e.l.l. ”We found it, Sam. We found the last pearl.”
Looking at the two women, whose eyes were lit up with joy, who were so in tune, so happy together, Sam had a feeling they'd found much more than a pearl.
Phoebe leaned back against the pillows on Sat.u.r.day morning, exhausted after her morning bath and physical therapy session. She wondered if she would ever walk normally again, ever feel the energy that had once made her shun caffeine for fear of running at a hundred miles per hour instead of her normal sixty.
”I hate this,” she said to William, who always seemed to be nearby. ”I want to go home.”
”You will. The doctor said two more days. He wants you to get your strength back before you're on your own.”
”Oh, piffle,” she said, weary of the whole discussion. ”As if I couldn't do this at home. I lay around and sleep half the day.” He patted her hand, but she pulled it away from him. ”Don't.”
He winced at her harsh tone. ”I'm sorry.”
She softened. ”No, I'm sorry. None of this is your fault. I just hate this place. I sleep all day, then I can't sleep at night, and it's so lonely then.” What she didn't tell him was that she couldn't sleep because her dreams of John were growing more haunting. He kept going deeper in the water, and she could feel the water lapping at her own bare feet as he called to her with pa.s.sion in his eyes, in his voice, in his outreached hands-hands that he wanted her to take, only she kept waking up before she could take them.