Page 3 of Stand

The girl wore her hair in a fat braid down her back, and now that Sam focused on her, she saw a thick purple stripe on one side of her hair. Sam smiled at her. “Cool hair.”

The girl beamed. “Can I pet your dog?” she asked.

“Sure. Do you know how to approach him?”

“Of course.” The girl walked into the stream. Her father opened his mouth, but she said, “I’m fine, Dad,” before he could speak, and continued to pick her way through the shallow water toward Sam.

Sam had given Cairo the “stay” hand command, and now she aimed a radiating welcome at the girl so Cairo would know she was safe. “Cai, say hello.”

The girl held out the back of her hand in a fist and let Cairo come the last few inches to sniff her. Cai did so, then looked at Sam. “Okay,” Sam said, and Cai wagged his fuzzy tail and stepped forward, his whole backside swaying at meeting a new friend. He looked scary but was a big old mush, really.

“His name’s Cai?” the girl asked.

“Cairo. And I’m Sam. And you are…?”

“Alyssa.” Alyssa was on her haunches now, rubbing Cairo’s long ears while he panted with joy. “Cairo, like the city?”

“Uh-huh. Nice to meet you.”

“He’s perfect.”

“Thanks. Yes, he is.”

“So why are you back?” Tyler asked, reminding her of his presence.

“My sister got married.” Guilt twisted in her stomach. Thea would want her to be at home right now, apologizing to Cat. Pretending there was nothing missing in their lives.

“Which sister?”

He remembered she had a bunch of sisters. She’d rather that than the other things he knew about her. “Thea. She was a year ahead of us.” The one who’d driven Sam to school for two years, until their father had died and everything had changed.

Tyler looked at her for a moment longer, his pinched expression screaming dislike.I’m not that girl any more,she wanted to tell him.I’m not ashamed of most of it, but I’m different now.She couldn’t say it, not in front of his kids, not in these few startled seconds.

“All right, guys, we should go,” he said, turning back to his children.

“We just got here!” complained the boy. His frown made him look just like his father. Their pale skin was even tanned to the same light biscuit.

Even Sam had to hide a smile at the exasperation on Tyler’s face as he turned to his son. “You were just saying you wanted to—”

“Sam!” a voice called from behind her. “Sam?”

It was Megan, sent to find her. “Yeah, Meg!” she called back, still looking at Tyler. Cairo leaped away from Alyssa’s hands and over to greet his auntie.

Megan came through the trees. She, of course, looked perfect, even for a casual family Sunday lunch. The clothes horse of the family, dressed like she was on her way to a photo shoot. Her white skirt floated beautifully off her slim hips, and she somehow owned rainboots that still looked chic by matching her black embroidered blouse.

“Hey, puppy,” she said lovingly to Cairo, then, “Hi!” to the other three, whose bright clothes stood out in the shade of the wet trees. They were all unashamedly staring at her. She gave them the full-wattage Fielding smile. “Nice day, isn’t it?” She held a hand up to the rain.

“Hello,” Tyler said. He didn’t know Megan; she’d still been in middle school when they’d graduated. His son was staring at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Megan tended to do that to people. Sam gave Tyler credit for not staring too.

What was the protocol here? “This is my sister, Megan,” Sam said. “This is Tyler Cavanaugh. We were in high school together.”

“Not together,” he said and turned away from the women. He put his sunglasses on and raised his voice a little to the kids. “Let’s go.” This time, they didn’t complain. “Nice to meet you,” he said over his shoulder to Megan as they began to walk back up the opposite bank. “’Bye, Sam,” he added with the merest flicker of his eyes toward her. The trio disappeared into the woods.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Megan immediately demanded.

Sam lifted her hair off her neck again. Those last couple of years of high school… well, she didn’t think about them. If she did, it was to remember with bravado the nights of drinking, making out with boys she forgot the next day, or her first time with Brennan Caplan and how she’d made him wear two condoms. Which wasnota good idea.

She liked to think Megan didn’t know any of this. “We were in different circles. I met him a couple of times.”