Page 26 of Stand

“I will as soon as I understand it myself,” Sam admitted.

“Why didyoudrive them yesterday?”

Sam shook her head. “I’m not sure.” She thought back to Ty’s hand shaking on his keys. “Because I was in the right place at the right time, I guess.”

“He says it’s fine!” Alyssa said triumphantly. “And he says you can go to the hospital, Grandma.”

“Well, of course I can.” Mrs. Cavanaugh sniffed. But then she relaxed. “Okay, then. You have my number if you need me?” Alyssa nodded and hugged her again. “You’ll take care of her,” she ordered Sam.

“I promise,” Sam said solemnly.

Mrs. Cavanaugh gave Alyssa one more squeeze, and she was gone.

Mr. P., whom everyone had forgotten, got up from his seat with a low cracking of his knees. “It’s good to see you again, Sam,” he said. “You doing okay?”

“Oh, yeah.” Sam gave him a sunny Fielding smile that hurt her face. “I’m fine.”

“Looks like you got a bruise there,” he said, pointing to her jaw. Sam put her hand up—and just as quickly pulled it away. She was going to deal with that later, too. Maybe when she was back in New Mexico, in a reality that she missed having a hold of.

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “You ready to go, hon?”

For the second time in two days, Sam drove Ty’s SUV. Again, Sam was amazed at Alyssa’s resilience. Her cheeks were still red from crying, but she now looked as though she was going to a long-anticipated sleepover.

Megan was still at Cat’s house, making dinner, while Cat watched with a glass of wine. They were overjoyed to see Alyssa again, as was Cairo. Sam told them that Ty would be along in a little while and left it at that. They stared at Sam’s jawline, but she gave a quick shake of her head, and they took the hint. They ate and joked, a normal family, and Sam loved watching Alyssa bloom in front of them. She peppered Sam with questions about her job and teased Sam’s other nephews. Obviously, she was used to sixteen-year-old boys.

Everyone was surprised when the doorbell rang. “Dad!” Alyssa sang, but Sam said, “Wait!” and went to the door herself to check. Paranoid, probably, but she felt she should.

It was definitely Ty on the other side of the door. He looked like he could barely hold himself up.

“Hey,” she said. Had she ever wanted to take a man in her arms—platonically—so bad?

Before she could say anything else, Megan came through. “Hey, Ty! Oof!”

Megan’s sunny tone took a hit when she saw the state of Ty’s face. He looked worse than Sam, with butterfly closures on one side of his face and a bandage on the other. Cairo whined.

Megan recovered quickly. “Thanks for lending us your girl!” she went on. “She’s awesome!”

He frowned at Sam. Obviously, he didn’t appreciate Megan’s cheer. “I didn’t tell them anything,” she said in a hurried whisper. “And neither did Alyssa.”

“Dad!” Alyssa yelled and flung herself into his arms. Ty had to pick her up. Her legs dangled off the floor, almost hitting Cairo, who’d also decided to say hi.

“I’m so sorry, peanut,” he said into her hair.

“Is Matt all right?” she asked.

“What happened?” Megan said, all her good mood gone.

“Come on into the kitchen,” Cat said from the hall. “You could use a beer. Is Matt with you?”

“Yeah,” Ty said. He moved only an inch from Alyssa’s hair to answer her. “He’s waiting by the car.” He looked at Sam, who belatedly remembered she had his keys.

Cat pursed her lips at Ty’s injuries, but only nodded. She knew already! God, the gossip in this town. How did Cat know that when Sam and Alyssa had been here in the house with her the whole time? “I’ll get him. He can hang out with the boys. Let’s get you some food.”

“I’d better do it,” Ty said. “He’s pretty hopped up on painkillers.”

He put Alyssa down with a heavy sigh. Sam touched the girl’s shoulder, and Alyssa snuggled immediately into her side. Sam held her as tight as she knew how. If she could be any kind of lighthouse for this kid, she would.

“You okay?” she asked Ty quietly.

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