Page 72 of Stand

“Not in there!” someone yelled. “Windows blew in. Go around!”

Sam made a hard left turn and skirted the house. “Alyssa!” she screamed. “Ty!”

“What?” Alyssa yelled back. She was several feet away, in a copse of trees between houses, away from the damage. Cairo was on his leash, nosing around the underbrush.

Sam took in the scene in a half second and spun around to look at the back of the house. Its deck was leaning off the house, and spindles from the railing lay on the grass. An awning that had been attached to the house lay on top of the remains of the deck. A group of maybe seven men stood around, looking at it. And one of them, with his bright-blond hair, was definitely Ty.

“Tyler!” she yelled again, and he turned around. But Sam was already running up the broken steps, uncaring of the men whose shoulders she bumped as she went up to him and said, “What the hell are you doing up here?”

“I was—”

But she didn’t care, she didn’t care what his reasons were. She didn’t care anything except that she’d thought he’d been crushed to pieces under a wall or something and her heart was pounding through her chest and he was still standing too close to that awning.

She pulled on his arm, and he almost tripped as she yanked him back down the stairs. “You promised!” she shouted. “You promised you’d be there for all of us, and the next thing you’re running into collapsed buildings—”

“I didn’t—I wasn’t—”

“Shut up! You can’tdothat! You can’tdothat to your kids!”

Her breath was hitching; her shoulders were shaking, and she felt like her legs wouldn’t hold her up anymore. “Don’t youeverdo that to us again!” she cried. She crossed her arms in front of her so he wouldn’t see her shaking. But she was out of words, and everyone was staring.

And then Ty did the opposite of what she thought he’d do. He put his arms around her. He pulled her in. He put his chin over her shoulder and held her, held her until the shakes began to subside and she could feel the tears on her face.

“I’m okay, Indy,” he whispered. “I’m fine. I would never have gone inside the house. The awning fell because we pulled it down. We were safe the whole time.”

Now she couldn’t even talk. She could only dip her head so her wet face was hidden in his shoulder.

“We’re safe, sweetheart,” he repeated. “We’re okay.”

“I’m so mad at you,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“Yeah. I get that. Listen, why don’t you go get Cairo and Lyss and find that coffee tent I saw at the end of the street?”

“Is Sam okay?”

Damn. It was Alyssa. She’d heard Sam’s ridiculous, embarrassing outburst. Of course Ty had been fine. Sam had gone into full-blown panic based on no information whatsoever. As her heart rate slowed, she thought of how she looked and what she’d said. Now she never wanted to take her face out of Ty’s shoulder again.

“She’s fine,” Ty told Alyssa. “Just tired. Why don’t you guys get something to eat? We’ve only had granola bars since Kansas City.”

“Okay.”

Sam took a tiny peek over Ty’s shoulder at his daughter, who was looking at her and biting her lip. Sam’s face got even hotter. So much for being the big heroine.

“Sorry you got triggered,” Alyssa said, patting her arm. “Is this how your dad—is this how you lost your dad?”

Damn Ty’s kids and their generation for understanding what was still difficult for Sam to voice. And damn Ty for not telling her she was overreacting and to pull herself together. What defense did she have against a man who saw exactly who she was and liked her anyway?

Not a whole lot. That was what.

She backed up from Ty’s comfort and swiped at her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said to Alyssa. “Just hungry. You want us to bring you back something?” she asked Ty.

“Coffee. And whatever they have to eat.”

“Come on, Sam,” Alyssa said. She pulled Sam’s hand the way Sam had pulled Ty’s. Sam followed her the way he had Sam, stumbling and confused.

“Do you get hangry?” Alyssa said as they walked back. “Matt does.”

“Your dad doesn’t?” Her voice still sounded faint.

---