Silent Fall

word from bursting out of his mouth. He sat down on the edge of the desk, grateful for the support. Not Phoebe. Alli's grandmother was strong, vital and energetic, and he couldn't imagine the world without her. "How bad is she?"
    "I don't know yet. We were walking along the pier and all of a sudden she stopped making sense and she couldn't walk. I got help as soon as I could," he said helplessly. "We're at the hospital now. They said to call the family. I couldn't find Allison. She's not home."
    "She's here."
    "Then you'll tell her?"
    "Yes. I'll tell her." Sam looked at Alli standing in the doorway and saw the fear draw sharp lines in her face.
    "And Sam..." William hesitated. "I know there's bad blood and all, but I've called Tessa and asked her to come home. She agreed. She'll be here tomorrow."
    Sam's entire body tightened, a knee-jerk reaction impossible to stop. He hadn't seen Tessa since the night he'd told her he was marrying her sister. And now she was coming home.
    Because Phoebe was sick, he told himself. It had nothing to do with him.
    "Sam?" Alli asked after he'd said good-bye to William and hung up the phone. She'd wrapped her arms around her waist, as if she could protect herself from whatever was coming.
    "Your grandmother has had a stroke. She's in the hospital."
    Alli's eyes searched his. "Is she..."
    "No one knows anything yet," he said quickly.
    "I don't understand. Grams never gets sick. She's strong. I just spoke to her a few hours ago. I have to go. I have to see her." Alli looked wildly around the room, searching for something. Sam reached out and closed her fingers over the keys she still held in her hand.
    "Easy," he said. "I'll take you."
    She looked into his eyes with desperation. "She has to be all right. She has to be."
    "She's a fighter, All."
    "But she's seventy-six years old."
    "Mommy, is Grams going to die?" Megan asked.
    Alli turned and opened her arms as Megan ran into a tight hug. "I hope not, honey. I really hope not."
    They clung together for a long minute, and Sam itched to join them, but he couldn't. Alli had made it clear that she didn't want him in her life.
    Finally, Alli set Megan aside. "Go get your things, honey. We need to leave."
    Megan ran out of the room, and Alli slowly straightened. Sam dug his hands into his pockets to stop himself from doing anything foolish, like hugging her.
    "I can't lose Grams," Alli whispered, her eyes filled with fear. "She's all I have left of my family."
    Sam didn't say a word. It wasn't true, because Alli wasn't alone. She had a sister—a sister who was coming home. He couldn't stop the sudden quickening of his pulse.
    Alli's eyes suddenly changed, and he wondered if she could read his mind.
    "Oh, my God! William called Tessa, didn't he?" she asked.
    Apparently she could read his mind, or she'd simply added up the equation. Despite the animosity between the two sisters, Phoebe MacGuire adored both of her granddaughters.
    "Yes, he called Tessa." It felt strange to say her name out loud. And stranger still to think of seeing Tessa again, her blond hair, her blue eyes, her generous smile. Not that she'd be smiling at him.
    "Is she coming back?" Alli asked, her face so tense she could barely get out the words.
    "Yes."
    "Then those divorce papers can't come a minute too soon."
    Sam touched her arm, but she shrugged him away.
    "Don't touch me, Sam. You don't have to pretend you care about me anymore. We both know it isn't true."
    "I married you, didn't I?"
    "There it is again, your favorite refrain—you married me. That was your gift to me. And I'm divorcing you. That's my gift to you. Now I guess it's Tessa's turn."

    Â 
    Buy JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL

    Excerpt @ Copyright 2011 Barbara Freethy
    All Rights Reserved

    Chapter One

    Cool wet fingers of fog brushed against his face as Matt Winters walked up the hill to his San Francisco apartment building. At the sound of a siren, he automatically stiffened. He'd been chasing ambulances for so long he couldn't help but wonder what new story was developing, what tragedy was unfolding, what family was about to receive an unwelcome late-night phone call.
    As the siren drew closer, he glanced down the street behind him. All was quiet. Parked cars, shadowy buildings, the light from the street lamps broke the darkness, but nothing looked out of place. Still, Matt felt the prickles of uneasiness stab the skin on the back of his neck. He felt like someone was watching him, and