Page 40 of Stand

“’Strue though,” his son said, his voice leaden. “You wanna get away from Mom, Lyss?”

“Oh.” Alyssa went from excited to sad in one breath. “Isn’t she—isn’t she in jail now?”

“Yeah.” Ty had tried not to talk about it with her. He rubbed both hands over his face. “I’m sorry, hon.” How would a thirteen-year-old girl take this new fact of her life?

“I’m not.” Alyssa’s face was as set as Matt’s voice. “She hurt Matt. I don’t want to see her again.”

Ty let out a sigh. “I get that, Lyss. Maybe you’ll change your mind one day.” The words “she’s still your mom” died in his throat. He couldn’t continue to force his kids to allow this toxic relationship into their lives. He should have kept them from Julia when she’d come back to town. “So you’d be okay with going to Noah’s for a little while? Until things settle here?”

“Yeah.” Alyssa nodded. Matt nodded too.

“Guess I’d better call him, then,” Ty said. “We could leave tonight.” Good thing he’d taken the week off from work. Until the kids were settled down there, he wouldn’t leave them alone.

♦

Sam’s brother was a pain in the ass in many ways—most of them similar to Cat’s controlling nature—but she couldn’t deny she was glad to see him pound his way through the front door and into the family room where she’d set up her laptop to figure out her journey home.

“What’s all this about a stalker and you nearly getting arrested and some kid getting hurt?” Kane blustered as he came over to give her a hug.

“Okay, none of those things happened,” she said sensibly. “Well, almost none of them. Okay, they all happened, but it’s not my fault!”

She sounded like her teenage self, faced with Kane’s black stare. Thank God he’d been too busy to learn what she’d been like as a teen. He’d have locked her up in a convent by now.

“Calm down, Kane,” Cat said, coming in and hugging him in turn. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Sam said, though she squeezed her arms around her middle at the memory of the photographer catching her kissing Ty. Her cheeks heated. “It’s one of Jake’s friends. His family’s kind of going through some stuff, and I was there at the right time.”

“What’s the matter with your face?” Kane said, not even slightly soothed. “That doesn’t look like the right time to me.”

She touched her jawline. If she didn’t move her face, she could pretty much forget about the bruising. Ty and Matt had gotten it much worse. “I’m fine. Anyway, I’m going home tomorrow.” She couldn’t get Cat’s disappointment out of her mind. And she wanted to say goodbye to Alyssa properly.

“You’re going hometonight,” Kane thundered. “And none of this driving crap. I’m putting you on a plane and watching it take you away from this.”

She shook her head. “Thank you, dear overbearing brother, but I’m not putting Cairo in a luggage hold. It’s also not necessary. I’m not the one in trouble here.”

Wrong words. “So itistrouble?” he said.

“Will you sit down for a second and stop yelling?” Cat said, pointing at the couch. “I’ll bring in some lemonade, and Sam, start from the beginning.”

She was just finishing up the story when Ty came downstairs, followed by Alyssa. Sam jumped up. Which was embarrassing. “Hey,” she said, looking at Ty but hoping it sounded like she’d meant Alyssa.

“Hey!” Alyssa replied anyway. “We’re going to New Mexico! Can we go with you?”

“What?” Sam responded as Ty said, “No, Lyss. That’s not what we agreed.”

“But she’s going anyway!” Alyssa said. “It makes sense! We could fly out with her!”

“I’m sorry,” Ty said, looking at Sam, who felt as though a wildebeest had just stampeded over her chest.

“It’s fine,” she said at the same time Kane announced, “Since you don’t look in much better shape than Sam, I’m gonna assume you’re Tyler?”

Ty pulled himself out of the emotions going on behind his eyes long enough to shake Kane’s hand and introduce himself and Alyssa properly.

“Good to meet you,” Kane said, looking at Alyssa. “You okay? Sounds like you’ve had a rough time.”

Alyssa glanced at Sam, then back at him. “I’m fine,” she said. Ty’s shoulders hunched. “You look just like Sam.”

Kane’s face split into a grin. “Thanks. I assume that’s a compliment.”

---