Page 49 of Stand

“Is that your general philosophy on life?” Her eyes were bright despite the bruises on her face. She looked as though she could have driven all night and been just as fresh in the morning. Did anything touch her these days?

“No.” She sobered. “My general philosophy on life is too depressing.”

“What is it?” he asked at once.

“I’ll tell you one day. See you tomorrow.”

She walked away. Ty wondered if she knew he was watching her. Then he remembered that if she didn’t hear the ice machine working, she knew. He rested his head against the cool metal box, his emotions cycling through lust, fear, despair, and guilt while the ice filled the bucket.

♦

Things did not look better in the morning. The kids were grumpy in a way Sam wasn’t used to and did not appreciate. Not even Cairo could cheer Alyssa up. Matt’s hair was wet and sticking up every which way. His face was swollen and purple on one side. Ty was no better. He hardly looked like he’d slept, with shadowed lines under his eyes, his hair messy and in need of some shampoo. Of course, that just made him look rumpled and irresistible.

Another thing Sam wasn’t used to doing. Resisting unattached men who were interested in her.He’s as good as attached, she reminded herself when he snapped at Matt for complaining about the eggs.As good as married as far as you’re concerned, kiddo.

She didn’t blame them for their crankiness. There were way too many reasons for it. But Sam couldn’t help but wonder why she’d signed up for a job she wasn’t qualified for. She could love her nieces and nephews and still give them back to their parents at the end of the day. Now she was in a room with two grieving, cranky teenagers and she couldn’t get away.

“Can I have coffee?” Alyssa asked.

“No,” Ty said shortly.

“Ugh. You know I’m going to be fourteen in two months. I’ve had caffeine before, Dad.”

“Fine.” He pushed a cup at her. “You’ll hate it. You’ll be all jitters, and we’re driving for miles today. But go ahead.”

“Fine!” She flounced off to the coffeepots. Ty put his face in one hand and rotated his own coffee cup in its saucer.

Sam was useless in this situation. She empathized with both of them so much, it froze her brain. She wanted to keep Alyssa away from her father so they wouldn’t have a chance to argue, and she wanted Matt to stay home and play games with his friends to take his mind off his eye—off all of it. But none of those things could happen. All they could do was move forward.

She stood. “I’m gonna get Cairo some food. We’ll leave at nine, okay?”

♦

Alyssa came upstairs a few minutes after her, and Sam heard the door close next door, so Matt and Ty had come with her. Alyssa paid more attention to Cairo than to Sam, which was fine by her. They packed up their belongings in silence.

But a couple of minutes later, though muffled enough that they couldn’t hear the words, yelling from next door broke through.

Alyssa was opening the connecting door before Sam could hold her back. She hammered her fist on the other door. “Let me in!”

“Fuck off, Lyss,” they heard Matt say.

“Hey!” Ty’s voice had lowered to an outraged bellow. “What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t talk to your sister like—”

“I’m not going to make like this is some kind of nicey-nicey family vacation, and you can’t make me!”

There was a pause after that childish outburst. Alyssa was still banging, but now she was crying as well, and her fists on the door seemed almost robotic.

Sam took hold of her hands, drawing Alyssa into her for a hug. The girl slumped into Sam’s arms, her energy gone. “It’s okay,” Sam heard herself saying. “They’re just tired. And Matt’s in pain; remember that. He doesn’t mean it.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Alyssa jerked away, and now it was her voice echoing around the room. “That’s what Dad always says about Mom! If they don’t mean it, then they shouldn’t say it!”

Ty opened the door at that moment, presumably because he’d heard his daughter shouting, and Alyssa pushed past him into his room. Sam’s eyes met his.I’m sorry, she wanted to say, but the bleakness in his eyes stopped her voice in her throat.

Behind him, Matt was throwing more wet towels from the bathroom onto the bedroom floor, where Ty would trip on them if he turned around. It looked as though Matt had used every towel in the place before breakfast.

Matt’s rudeness to Alyssa seemed to be forgotten. They stood side by side, arms folded, aiming accusatory glares at Ty.

“Listen,” Ty said. “I know you’re upset.” Lyss rolled her eyes. “I know the last couple of days have been a nightmare,” he pressed on. “But wecan’ttake it out on each other. Okay? We’re all we’ve got.”

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