Page 79 of Stand

Sam sat up and let the sheet fall off her as she twisted to look at him. “What?” she said, but a shiver of hope went up her spine.

“The kids and I talked,” he said. God, he was so beautiful, blond and tan against Noah’s cream-colored sheets. One arm was above his head, a bandage hiding the angry red marks where Julia’s pitchfork had pierced his skin. The crook of his elbow still showed the puncture wound where he’d received three units of blood. Sam hated to see it.

“We’re going to find a place halfway between here and Albuquerque so we can visit Noah and you both. Maybe Santa Fe.”

“But… your job.” Since her embarrassing meltdown at his side, Sam had told herselfnotto make plans, to hope, to even daydream. Loving Ty wasn’t the same as sharing her life with him and Matt and Alyssa. Massachusetts was just as far away from New Mexico as it had ever been, and Sam’s skills weren’t needed there.

“I can work remotely for now,” he said. “Maybe make a couple of trips north to finish out my projects. I’ll sell my house. Then I’ll look for work here. And do my woodwork. Sell it at Noah’s gallery. He’s right. The cost of living here is way less than Massachusetts. I can give myself time to work on my comic book stuff.”

“Graphic novel.” She smiled. “And don’t tell me you can draw as well as you carve wood.”

He shrugged in his typical modesty.

“Seriously, Ty,” she said, leaning on one hand and looking down at him. “Do the kids know what they’re agreeing to? They’re willing to give up their lives in Massachusetts to come here?”

He brushed her hair out of her face. “There are too many memories up there for them. Their friends can come visit, but after what happened at Alyssa’s graduation, they’re ready to start over. Matt says he’ll have the best college essay in the state.”

She snort-laughed.

“Plus”—he stroked her jaw—“you live here.”

“Ty.”

“If you’ll let us,” he said, “we’ll find a way to be with you as much as we can.” His hand stilled. “Sam, I don’t want you to feel like you have to be with us. I know your independence is important to you. I come with a ton of baggage, and I know that scares you.”

“Ty, you—”

He talked over her, as though she were about to argue and he had to finish his speech or she’d walk away. “I want to be by your side your whole life. But however you want me. And”—he looked away from her to the rough-hewn headboard Noah had made by hand—“if you don’t want to, we’ll still—”

“I want to,” she said over him. “I want to, you complete fool.” She kissed him. “You’ve spent a week with me. You knew me at my worst. If you’re still willing to let me around your kids—”

Her throat was closing up in some embarrassing way, so she threw herself down on him, making himoofat her weight.

“I love you,” he said, and Sam’s throat closed up even more. “Please make our family whole again.”

“Damn you, Tyler,” she said. “Stop making me cry!”

He was already wiping the tears from her cheeks. “It’s okay, Indy. I won’t tell anyone.”

Epilogue

Six Weeks Later

“I still can’t believe we have to start school in August,” Matt said.

“I don’t mind,” Alyssa said, swinging her new handmade crossbody bag onto her shoulder, its beads and fringes catching the morning light. “Anyway, at least we get to take the bus together.”

“If you think I’m gonna talk to my pipsqueak freshman sister on the bus, you can—”

“I don’t need you! I gotfriendsI can talk to!”

“All right, you two,” Sam interrupted. “Come eat your breakfast or you’ll miss the bus altogether.”

“You could drive us,” Alyssa said with a big grin.

Sam waved the spatula at her. “Nuh-uh. Start as you mean to go on. ’Sides, until my contract runs out, I won’t be here most mornings. So don’t get used to this.” She indicated the spread in front of them.

“Don’t remind me.” Ty came down the stairs of his new townhouse, one of a community made out of adobe that couldn’t be more different from what they’d left behind in Massachusetts. Outside, the sky was an almost painful blue against the russet red of the buildings and the green of the small trees in the courtyard. They’d chosen it together, renting while Ty sold his other house and Sam wrapped up in Albuquerque. The Puebloans around Santa Fe had hired Sam the second she reached out.

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