Acceptance, The Page 10

  He moved back to the counter and she could hear him working on something else. Courtney situated the bowl and went to work on the head of lettuce.

  “So, what about you? What kind of financial planner are you?”

  “My checkbook is in balance,” she nearly snorted out a laugh. “I don’t care anything about financial.”

  “You want to be a writer.”

  She tore a piece of lettuce and let it fall into the bowl. “Right.”

  Tyler began pounding something. It sounded as if he were fixing the kitchen.

  “What are you doing?”

  Tyler stopped. “Pounding chicken.”

  “What are you making?”

  “Lemon garlic chicken. Sorry. I could have warned you.”

  “Never be sorry. I try not to let everything freak me out.”

  “I can see that.” He went back to pounding the chicken. “So you’ll be fine on Sunday, right?”

  “Sunday?”

  “Dinner, remember?”

  “You’re going to introduce me to your perfect family.”

  “Right.”

  “You think they’ll freak me out?”

  He walked back and set down something on the table. “Oh, no. I think you’re going to fall in love.”

  She continued to rip the lettuce and toss it into the bowl. With everything she had, she tried to keep her face calm and placid. She didn’t want to think about falling in love with his whole family. That would certainly seal the deal—after all, every moment she spent with Tyler she knew she was falling in love him.

  Dinner had been delightful. Tyler had surprised himself with garlic lemon chicken. He hoped he’d impressed her too, because he wasn’t a chef.

  They’d cleaned up after dinner and now sat on the front porch and listened to the kids play down the street.

  “I think that is one of the happiest sounds,” she said as she took a sip of her wine. “Fitz would always play in the street with his friends. You could hear him for miles.”

  “Spencer and I didn’t get to do that. Of course the road up to our house is two miles long. So I suppose we had our own street to play on.”

  “I’ll bet you had many things you did on that road that other kids couldn’t do.”

  Tyler gave it some thought. “We had little go karts that we could drive and I suppose we wore out a few sets of tires on that road.”

  “See, Fitz couldn’t have done that.”

  Tyler laughed. “It seems to me, he was the kind of kid who would have loved that.”

  She nodded. “He would have. My father was so serious with him always that Fitz really appreciated the moments when he could just be a kid.”

  “That would have been hard.” In fact, Tyler couldn’t even imagine. Even when telling his father that he didn’t want to work for his company, his father understood. “What about you? What did the young Courtney do?”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I have boxes of pages that I wrote in braille.” She opened her eyes and smiled. “That way my mother couldn’t read it.”

  “Not all of us get to do things openly and yet secretly.”

  “I suppose. I won a poetry contest once. I wrote about Fitz.”

  “What did you write?”

  Her smile widened. “I wrote about what a smelly boy he was.”

  Tyler burst out in laughter. “I’m sure he appreciated that.”

  “He did. I let him wear my medal around his neck.” She let out a sigh. “He certainly kept things normal for me.”

  “And yet he blamed himself?”

  She shrugged, the moment now growing dark. “It was always there. I don’t blame him. How could I? But for as much joy as he always gave me, he wasn’t so joyous.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Courtney sipped her wine again. “My father is very strict. My mother, well, she’s a bit needy in her own way. And Fitz had a lot of both of them. Add in a lifetime of guilt over my condition and you end up with a very depressed young man. Oh, he didn’t mope around or anything. In fact, if you met him you’d never know. But if you lived with him—well you get it.”

  “It’s almost as if there is a glow to you when you speak of him.”

  “I loved him.”

  “You always will.”

  She turned her head toward him and held her hand out for him to take. “I really like you, Tyler Benson.”

  He swallowed hard. “I really like you too, Courtney Field.”

  “We’re a unique twosome, aren’t we? We both have trust funds that would keep us very comfortable and yet we aren’t interested in the industry in which we could take over. We both would rather follow our hearts and it is our heart that gets us in trouble.”

  “How could that get us in trouble?”

  “You ran when yours got hurt.”

  “And you?”

  “I tend to fall in love too fast.”

  “And that’s bad?”

  “Can be.”

  “You’re afraid to fall in love with me?”

  She licked her lips before she responded. “I’m vulnerable right now. Fitz is gone and he’s been my pillar of strength for a very long time.”

  Tyler rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I think you’ve been your own.”

  “But, it isn’t right for me to want to fall in love with you. Not when I’ve only known you a few days. Not when I spent the day of my brother’s funeral kissing you.”

  “You want to fall in love with me?” He was inching in closer to her.

  “Tyler, this is all very confusing. How could you want to fall in love with me? My family is all screwy. I’m in mourning and any moment I’ll burst into tears. And then there is the fact that I’ll never see your face. How can you…”

  Tyler moved in closer. “You really do talk too much.” He lifted his hand to her cheek and pulled her to him. His lips brushed over hers with a need to make her understand that what was brewing in her was brewing in him too. There was no way he would say he loved her, not yet, but damn, he wasn’t going to let her go. This was worth fighting for. He wanted this.

  A moan escaped her throat and only made him want her more. This wasn’t what he’d expected when he’d moved back home.

  He’d completely fallen in love with this woman who picked him up at the airport. It didn’t matter to him that she’d never see his face. She seemed to see deeper inside of him than anyone ever had. All he had to do was prove to her that he wouldn’t run. They were matched with their hearts, no matter the circumstances that brought them together.

  First, he’d prove to her he could love her and then he’d tell her. For now, he’d continue to kiss her breathless and hope that helped her understand.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Tyler walked through the front door of the Starbucks in the Riverside Building that his father owned, he had a skip in his step and a whistle on his lips.

  He’d stop by and say hello to his father later, but now he was going to meet with Avery and plan the gala of the year.

  “You look too happy,” his cousin said with her eyes narrowed on him.

  “I am happy,” he said and kissed her square in the middle of the forehead.

  Tyler sat down in the chair across from her and studied her. Her dark hair matched her mother’s—black, shiny, and long. However, her father’s blue eyes peered out from dark lashes at him. If she weren’t his cousin she’d be someone he’d have taken a second glance at. Her cheeks had a rosy glow to them and that was because she was humored. Some things never changed.

  Avery pushed a cup of coffee toward him. “I got your regular.”

  “You’re the best.”

  Now she laughed. “Dear God, I don’t remember the last time I saw you this happy. If this is what three years away does, I’m leaving tonight.”

  Tyler held his hands around the paper cup wrapped in a cardboard sleeve. “No, this is what coming home does. You’re already here. No need to leave.”

 
“I don’t think this is all just coming home.”

  Tyler tried to hold in the smile, but how could he? “No, this is all about a woman.”

  Avery sat back in her chair, her legs crossed at the knee, and a perfectly manicured set of toes in a sandal bounced as she glared at him.

  “Darcy said you met a woman on the plane.”

  “I did.”

  “You went to her brother’s funeral.”

  “Yep, that’s her.” Now the smile was free and he couldn’t tuck it back.

  “That’s kinda sick.”

  Tyler leaned in. “No. And if you’re thinking I took advantage of a situation, well I didn’t. It just happened to be the reason she was on that flight and she asked me to be at the funeral.”

  “But you’ve been seeing her.”

  He sat back in his chair. “I have been. I’m bringing her to dinner on Sunday too.”

  “You really do like her.”

  “I do.” Avery sat forward and took Tyler’s hand. “I’m happy for you. Now tell me about her.”

  Tyler thought about it for a moment. What could he tell her? Would she simply take the word perfect and let that be the way it was, because in his mind that was the word that explained Courtney.

  “I think you should just meet her.”

  “You’re trouble, you know that?”

  “I do. And now you have to work with me. So, tell me cuz, what do you have done so far? What needs to be done for this gala?”

  Avery pursed her lips and sulked back in her seat. “I have the venue.”

  “Cool.”

  He waited for her to speak again. But she didn’t.

  The smile he’d felt pressed on his face began to diminish.

  “That’s all?”

  “Don’t judge me,” she snapped. “I don’t want to do this. This isn’t my kind of work. I don’t want to plan and promote.”

  “Then why did you tell her you would?”

  “She’s my mother.” Avery took a sip of her iced coffee through a straw. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  Tyler let out a deep and painful breath. “So we have three months to completely put the event together? Are you serious? Shouldn’t something like this be planned for a year?”

  Avery narrowed those blue eyes, which had gone icy, on him. “Next year you can start the day after. As for this year, we have three months. I told you, I don’t want to do this.”

  Tyler bit the inside of his cheek. “Will you give me one hundred percent for three months? Please. I haven’t been to one of these in years. I don’t know what I’m getting into. Just be my partner for the next three months and we can do this.”

  She looked around and her mouth tightened and tensed. “What does your woman do? Maybe she can help too.”

  Tyler tapped his fingers on the table and the smile was back. “Maybe she could.”

  “I’ll give you three months. But promise me I don’t have to do this next year.”

  “If I don’t get fired you don’t have to help me next year.”

  Now her eyes had lightened up and she sipped her coffee again. “Okay, good. So what are your thoughts on the event?”

  ~*~

  Courtney closed her laptop and gave it a little pat. Tyler was going to either love what she’d done all day or be upset that she’d nosed her way into his aunt’s business.

  Since ten o’clock that morning she had been on the phone with no less than a dozen women who now had secure jobs, good educations, and a healthy living environment because of Simone Keller’s Diamond Gift organization.

  Four of the women had gone on to marry men who were active in their community and owned their own businesses. Another three of them had businesses of their own.

  Courtney had always felt she’d accepted her fate fairly well. She’d adjusted, learned to deal with life in a new way at a young age, and she’d been told on more than one occasion that she’d helped someone else get through their trauma. But after having talked to the women she’d talked to today—she realized being blind was a cakewalk.

  Sure, she couldn’t see the spring. Slippery sidewalks were her enemy. And it was very hard to run the path around the lake. But she’d done them. Never once in her life had she had a man beat her near to death and threaten her livelihood.

  One woman had been stabbed four times and her child kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend. Now she lived in Washington D.C. and worked for better legislation against men like him.

  It sent chills down Courtney’s arms as she stood from her desk and stretched.

  Taking her phone from her pocket, she checked the time. In the masculine British voice she’d programmed, her phone let her know that it was nearly six o’clock. That meant Tyler would be here soon. He’d promised her bar-b-que tonight and now she was starving for it.

  Courtney went through her closet and pulled out her favorite pair of black jeans and a crisp white shirt. Fitz had never been a man of fashion, but he dated well. His last girlfriend had taken her shopping and this was one of the outfits Missy had picked out.

  She said it accentuated all the best parts classically. Courtney wasn’t sure about that, but she felt good in the outfit and that meant a lot. And, with the buttons in the front she was fairly sure she wouldn’t make the rare mistake of putting it on backward or inside out.

  Once she was dressed she dabbed on a little Chanel No. 5, which Fitz had also bought for her, and ran a brush through her hair. The only makeup she kept on hand was some lip-gloss. She dabbed it onto her lips and made the pucker sound her mother had taught her.

  The memory froze her in place. She’d been so hard on her mother for the past few weeks since they’d learned of Fitz’s death. They’d argued and each had said nasty things to the other. Guilt was coursing through her veins now. She’d thrown her paternity in her mother’s face and she hated when she did that. Everyone was due their mistakes. Even Courtney had had a few.

  She heard the doorbell and she realized she needed to let go of the feelings she was having—for the moment anyway. There needed to be peace and acceptance between her and her mother. They were all they had now. There couldn’t be any resentment.

  Courtney walked down the steps, remembering to turn the lights on when she reached the bottom one.

  “Tyler?” she called out before she answered the door.

  “It’s me.”

  She unlocked the locks and pulled open the door.

  “Wow!” he said and she figured Missy must have been right. “You look amazing. I mean you always do, but wow.”

  “Thank you. I was hoping for that kind of reaction.”

  There was no movement for a moment and he said nothing.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked, worried that something had slipped by her and he was upset.

  “I’m just taking you in.” Now he moved and he was quickly wrapping his arms around her and she around him. “I’ve thought of you all day. Is that crazy?”

  “I hope not. I’ve done the same—thinking about you.”

  She felt his mouth move against her temple, to her cheek, to her neck, and then press against her lips.

  Courtney swayed against him, pulling him close. His tongue teased. His breath warmed. His hands moved down her back and over the curve of her bottom.

  She felt the moan escape as she heard it with her own ears. There was going to have to be a time in this very fast paced relationship she was having, where she thought about what was to come next. She’d known Tyler Benson all of a week, but she knew she wanted his hands on her, his lips, his words.

  His breath was heavy when he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “I guess I’m a little stirred up.”

  “We’d better go then—before we forget we had plans.” She broke free from him and reached for her purse on the edge of the sofa. “I know this is bad etiquette, but do you mind if I take my laptop?”

  “Are you going to do some work while we eat?”

  “I did work, all day. An
d I want to show you.”

  “That’s fine. Where is it? I can help you pack it up.”

  When he offered his help she didn’t feel as though it was because she couldn’t. It was exhilarating to think a man just wanted to help.

  “It’s on my desk in the corner. There is a small bag in the drawer next to it that I carry it in.”

  She could hear him move to the desk and pack up the computer.

  “I’m anxious to see what you’ve done.”

  “You are?”

  He stopped near her. “I’m trying real hard to make you understand that you’re very important to me. Not just you, but everything you are and everything you do. Am I failing?”

  She swallowed hard. “I’m just getting use to this kind of attention, that’s all.”

  “I have a lot more to give.”

  Her breath was shaky again. What was going to make this man break and leave? She’d always need something—even though she thought she’d proved to herself she didn’t. Would he always be willing to be interested?

  Chapter Sixteen

  At the very moment the door opened and she stepped foot into Steve’s B-B-Q Pit and Beer she could smell the familiarity. The stale scent of beer, cooked steak, fresh cornbread, and peanuts. Dust lingered on the air from the thousands of garage sale decorations that adorned the walls. Hank rang out on the jukebox and the heavy perfume of the woman walking toward them made her smile.

  “Well, I’ll be damned! Courtney Field, how are you, darlin’?”

  “I’m well, Ms. Hilary.”

  “You are good with those voices aren’t you?” The woman moved in closer and her fragrance grew heavier. “I’m really sorry to hear about your brother. He was a good boy.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Your mama and daddy must be very upset.”

  “My father is very proud of him, of course, even though you’re correct, he’s very sad. My mother, well, it’ll take a long time I’m sure.”

  “Of course it will.” Hilary placed her hand on Courtney’s shoulder. “How are you dealin’?”

  “One day at a time. Tyler here has been very supportive.”