Just The Way You Are (12 page)

Chapter 12

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"
D
o you think Jimmy will come with Tessa today?" Alli asked Sam as they drove into the parking area next to O'Meara's Oyster Farm on PrincetonBay. It was almost lunchtime on the last Wednesday in June and unseasonably warm, Alli thought, as she rolled down the window and turned her face toward the breeze. "That feels better," she murmured.

"Is he still hanging around?"

"I think so. He didn't seem in a hurry to leave last night. I heard Tessa tell him she'd give him a ride back to the hotel. Do you think they're sleeping together?"

"How would I know that?" Sam asked, as he turned off the engine.

"Does the idea bother you?"

He sighed. "Does it bother you?"

"Why would I care?"

"I have no idea." Sam checked his watch. "What time is Megan's soccer game this afternoon?"

"Five o'clock."

"I don't want to miss it, so let's make sure we get out of here by four."

"Megan will be thrilled. I think she's playing forward today."

"Our girl likes to shoot," Sam said with a grin.

Alli smiled back at him, feeling warmed by the friendly look in his eyes, yet a bit unsettled by his nearness. They were so close, just a foot between them. If Sam slid over, if she moved a bit … no, she was absolutely not going to make that move. They were getting a divorce, for heaven's sake. They were supposed to be distant now, their relationship cooled by their obvious incompatibility and Sam's continuing interest in Tessa. But she didn't feel cool toward Sam. In fact, she felt as hot for him now as she had nine years ago, when she'd made the biggest mistake of her life.

Alli shifted in her seat, acutely aware of Sam's eyes on her. What on earth was he staring at? Her blue jeans weren't new, neither was the gray cap-sleeve T-shirt she wore. And she hadn't refreshed her makeup since she'd put it on at seven in the morning.

Finally, she drummed up enough courage to look over at him. "What?" she asked.

"I can't look at you?"

"You
haven't in a long time."

"Well, maybe I feel like it now."

Alli took in a breath and let it out. In the past three months, she'd tried to separate herself from him. Slowly she was beginning to understand herself better, to believe that she could survive without Sam. But surviving and being happy were two different things, and being near him made everything so much harder. She decided it was time to change the subject.

"Megan wants to know if you can work on the kite tonight after the soccer game."

Sam groaned. "I forgot about the kite."

"Is there a problem?"

"I planned to work on the Thunderbird tonight."

"You
can't wax it another day?" She felt a bit peeved by his response. If Tessa had always had one half of his heart, the T-Bird had had the other.

"I'm not waxing it, I'm showing it to a potential buyer," he replied.

Her jaw dropped. "No way. You love that car. You've spent half your life caressing it with hot wax. I can't believe—"

"I'd hardly call a few weekends half my life."

"I'd hardly call it a few weekends." She searched his eyes for the truth. "You said you'd never sell the Thunderbird. When we had that horrible summer of rain and we had to repair the roof, you wouldn't even consider selling it."

He played with the keys still dangling from the ignition, his gaze fixed on the front window. "You said I was stuck in the past. Well, maybe you were right." He glanced over at her, his eyes serious. "I need some things for the business, equipment, maybe a new boat down the road. I could use the money. And the car is a good place to get it. I saw an ad for a Thunderbird on-line recently and the car went for thirty thousand dollars."

"Unbelievable."

"I know. It's a lot of money."

"Not the money, you. You're unbelievable."

He turned sideways in his seat. "Why?"

"Because you love that car. You worked forever to buy it from Mr. Carlton's widow—nights, weekends, summers. You were obsessed."

"I was sixteen. A car and sex were pretty much all I had on my mind."

"But I can still see you and Tessa driving around town in that car. You thought you were so cool."

"It was a long time ago, Alli. And you and I have driven in the car since then. Hell, we've done a few other things in that car as well, if you remember."

She cleared her throat at the piercing look in his eyes. She didn't want to be reminded of exactly what they'd done in that car. "I must admit you've surprised me."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"Maybe I don't," she admitted. "When did you decide to sell it?"

He thought about her question for a few moments, then said, "Since I moved it out of our garage and into my father's garage. I started wondering why I was holding on to it so tightly when everything else in my life was slipping away."

She caught her breath at his words. "I never thought you wanted to hang on to me, Sam. I thought I was hanging on to you."

He opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as a loud motorcycle sped into the loosely graveled parking lot, kicking up dust and tiny pebbles. Alli was surprised to see Tessa hop off the back of the bike and pull the helmet from her head, shaking out her blond hair with a laugh. Tessa on a motorcycle? Tessa dressed in faded blue jeans with holes at the knees? Tessa?

Alli snuck a glance at Sam, who seemed as dumbstruck as she was.

"Hey," Tessa called out with a wave.

Sam opened his door and stepped out, leaving Alli to follow.

"I can't believe you're riding a motorcycle. What happened to thinking that was like riding down the road in a garbage can?" Sam asked her.

She laughed again. "Oh, I still think that, but Jimmy has a way of convincing me I should try new things."

"Nice to see you," Jimmy said to Sam, then he flung a charming grin in Alli's direction. "And I'm more than happy to see you again."

Alli couldn't help responding to Jimmy's sexy smile, especially since Sam was staring at Tessa like he'd never seen her before. So much for thinking he was having second thoughts about their marriage. "Likewise," she replied.

"So what do we do now?" Jimmy asked.

"We'll take a boat out to the far end of the bay and pull up some fresh oysters. Hunting for a wild pearl is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack," Alli continued. "We often had to try several oyster farms before we found anything."

"I do hope this involves some actual eating of oysters."

"By the time we're through, you'll never want to see an oyster again," Alli promised.

"Maybe, but I bet my libido will be in overdrive," he replied with a wink in Alli's direction.

"We better get started," Sam interrupted, his tone decidedly frosty.

Alli smiled to herself as they walked up to the entrance. Sam didn't like Jimmy. Good. Not that Sam was jealous on her account, more likely he was afraid that Tessa had something going on with the rugged photographer who had actually convinced her to get on a motorcycle. Oh, well, at least Jimmy would make things more interesting in what was probably going to be a long afternoon.

Jimmy dropped back next to Alli as Sam and Tessa spoke with Timothy O'Meara about going out in one of his boats.

"So, Alli," Jimmy said.

"What?"

"You and Tessa don't like each other?"

"Very good, Sherlock."

He tipped his head. "I'm intuitive. It's a gift."

"One of your many, no doubt."

"Why is it you MacGuire girls seem to be immune to my charm?"

"You mean Tessa isn't falling at your feet?"

"Does it look like she is?"

Alli glanced over at Sam and Tessa in deep conversation with Timothy, an old friend of her grandmother's. "They fell in love with each other when they were twelve, you know."

"Then how did you end up married to him?"

"I'm sure Tessa will tell you."

"Actually, she's not one for details. Why don't you tell me?"

"I could tell you it's none of your business."

Jimmy put a hand to his heart. "That would really hurt. I thought we were friends."

She shook her head in amusement. "Friends? I don't even remember your last name."

"Duggan. Jimmy Duggan."

"Fine, I know your name, but I don't know you well enough to share my private life with you." Jimmy nodded. "All right. Maybe tomorrow." He stared at her so long she grew uncomfortable, since for the second time in less than an hour a man couldn't take his eyes off her. Was there something stuck in her teeth? She ran her tongue around the edge of her teeth in search of anything offensive. Finally, she gave up and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Your face. You have incredible bones."

"Uh, thanks, I think."

"I'd love to photograph you."

"Oh, please, there's charm, and then there's stupidity. I'm not a model."

Jimmy rubbed his chin. "You don't like what you see in the mirror?"

"No, I don't. Especially since I grew up looking across the room at someone else."

Jimmy put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. "I know how it feels."

"How could you possibly?"

"My brother is a state senator in Virginia. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale and made a fortune in business before he went into politics. He has the perfect wife, three incredible children, and a house with a foundation that goes back to the eighteen hundreds."

"Wow. What happened to you?"

He stuck out his tongue at her. "My parents ask themselves the same question. I think they sometimes wonder if they brought the wrong baby home from the hospital."

"I'm sure they love you anyway."

"What's not to love? But respect, that's a different animal."

"Yes, it is." They exchanged a look of complete and utter understanding. "You still try, don't you?" she asked.

"I shouldn't."

"Me either."

"They don't deserve us."

"No, they don't." She laughed and so did he. "You know, I'm glad you're here."

"I don't think I'll ask why."

"Jimmy," Tessa called impatiently. "Are you ready?"

"You bet." He looked over at Alli. "How about you?"

"I want to get this over with as fast as possible."

"Worried we won't be able to find a pearl?"

"No, I'm worried that with the four of us in one small boat, we may not all come back alive."

"Who do you think is the most likely candidate to go overboard?"

"You never know."

"Ooh, you are bad. I think I'm sitting next to Tessa."

"Big mistake," she said, laughing at his outrageous expression.

"Maybe I'll just stay close to you," Jimmy said hastily. "Somehow I think you may be more prone to violence than your older sister."

* * *

Traitor, Tessa thought, fuming to herself as Jimmy took a seat in the small aluminum boat next to Alli, sitting so close he was practically on her little sister's lap. And Alli was lapping it up like a cat with a bowl of cream.

"What's bugging you?" Sam asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"This whole pearl thing is crazy. It could take us days to find one—if we do at all." She looked away from Jimmy and Alli and concentrated on the water. PrincetonBay was beautiful, the water as still as glass with only a light breeze to ruffle its smooth surface. "I don't understand why Grams suddenly decided she needed the pearl now."

"Does it matter? You're still going to find it for her."

"I'll try, because Grams was always there for me, and I want to be there for her, even if it means spending the afternoon with Alli.
She hasn't changed a bit."

"How would you know? Have you talked to her since you've been back?"

Tessa looked him straight in the eye, irritated by his defensiveness where Alli was concerned. He'd never been like this before. He'd always agreed with her on the subject of Alli. And now, with Alli kicking him out of his house, keeping him away from his daughter, his defense of her just didn't make sense.

"Why do you stick up for her, Sam?"

"Maybe because you seem intent on picking on her."

"Do you stand up for me when she rips me apart?"

Sam sighed. "I wish the two of you could figure out a way to get along."

"That's never going to happen." She took a breath. "Why are you doing this with us, Sam? Whose side are you on?"

"I'm here for your grandmother," he said sharply. "She asked me to help, and I owe that woman more than I could ever repay. As for sides, do we have to have sides?"

"We've always had sides. Since we were kids we had sides, and you used to be on mine."

"Looks like you already have someone on your side," he said pointedly. "Is Duggan your boyfriend?"

"He's a photographer. We have an assignment to do together. And you're avoiding my question. Why are you here, Sam? You could have made an excuse. Grams would have understood. She knows it's awkward for the three of us."