Acceptance, The Read online

  “And Maria is?”

  “My parents’ cook. She’s been with us for as long as we’ve lived here.”

  “I need to get me one of those,” he joked and she smiled. She’d heard that a million times, but when Tyler said it, it didn’t bother her as much.

  Tyler opened the door and the scent of sauces and flowers filled Courtney’s nose. Maria had been busy.

  “Oh, Miss Courtney.”

  She stepped inside the kitchen and could hear Maria shuffling her feet toward her.

  “Why did you come in the back? You will have guests.”

  “Maria, I have a guest. This is Tyler.”

  Maria didn’t speak right away and Courtney knew she was sizing him up. She felt him move.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs…”

  There was a hesitation hanging in the air. “Gonzales.”

  “Mrs. Gonzales. It is a pleasure.”

  She heard Maria giggle. He’d won her over. Tyler Benson was very good at that.

  “You hungry? You both should eat. You look pale, Miss Courtney.”

  “I will. My parents just walked in.”

  Maria gave a low hum and she felt her move toward them. “She is scary, that one, with her ears. I did not hear them. Did you?”

  Tyler chuckled. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Hmmm. I better go to them.” Maria shuffled off.

  “You make friends easily,” Courtney said as she led Tyler through the kitchen.

  “I suppose I do. It’s not that hard really.”

  “For some. You’re that some.”

  Courtney led him by the hand to the entry. The sound of voices and steps resonated from the high walls. She heard her father’s voice and knew he was speaking to a Marine. There was a different tone when he did so. Though, sometimes it wasn’t unlike the tone he used with her.

  “He was a good solider, sir,” a man Courtney didn’t know said.

  “He was a fine one. A sacrifice a Marine understands,” her father said with his cold, hard tone.

  Courtney’s stomach clenched and she grit her teeth. Where was that exceptional will inside her to approach her father and tell him what she thought of this sacrifice? He’d pushed Fitz into the military. From training when they were young, to military academies, to his death as a Marine fighting a war she didn’t understand. That wasn’t a sacrifice for the cause that was her brother he was referring to. Her flesh and blood. His flesh and blood.

  She turned. “Tyler, get me out of here. Will you? Just take me.”

  “Okay,” he said softly. She took his elbow and he walked her back through the kitchen and out of the doors in which they’d come in.

  When they were outside she could feel the warmth of the sun and see the bright sun as it was high in the sky now.

  “Where do you want to go? There are some chairs out here or…”

  “I want you to drive me away from here. I live in town. Or you can just drive around. Or…”

  “I have somewhere. Do you trust me?”

  She’d never trusted anyone more than she trusted him. “Yes.”

  Chapter Seven

  These were roads he was familiar with. No one had noticed them leave and he had to wonder how long it might take before someone realized that the girl in the bright yellow dress wasn’t standing out in the sea of black and gray.

  Courtney was turned toward the window and she sobbed. Her father’s words had hurt her—wounded her.

  An anger brewed in Tyler. This anger shouldn’t be there. This family wasn’t his. Their problems weren’t his problems. But seeing her shoulders bob as he’d seen his mother’s when he’d returned for his sister’s wedding—that’s what hurt.

  Tyler turned down one road and then another and another. Not once did he hit paved ground. Then like a lighthouse in a storm, was the house he’d been heading toward.

  Courtney turned her head. Her hair caught the breeze and her hair blew out the open window. “I hear a creek.”

  “Damn you have good ears.”

  She laughed now through the last sob. “You’d be surprised what people whisper about.”

  He figured he would be.

  Tyler drove up the drive and parked in front of the grand house that belonged to his grandmother. What would she think about Courtney? Oh, that was silly. He knew what she’d think. She’d think Courtney was as amazing as Tyler thought she was.

  “Give me just a moment, okay?” He said and climbed out of the SUV. He wanted to see if his grandmother was home first.

  He rang the doorbell.

  Footsteps grew closer from behind the door. They were slow but whoever was headed toward the door had on a heeled shoe that sound she recognized.

  Audrey Benson pulled open the door. There she was as bright as a summer day. Her hair was white—and styled. Her dress was as bright as Courtney’s and bangles hung from each arm.

  “Oh, Tyler!” She covered her mouth with her hand. She stepped to him and cupped his face in her hands. “Look at you. Just look at you.”

  “Hello, Grandmother.”

  “When did you get home? Oh, come in. Come in. Clarice made some tea before she left to the store. Come in.” She stepped back to let him through.

  “Grandmother, I have a guest. I’d like to invite her in if you don’t mind.” He moved in closer to his grandmother. “I think she could use a walk in your garden. Today was her brother’s funeral.”

  His grandmother looked around him and toward the SUV in the driveway.

  “You bring her in here. Of course you can walk in my garden.”

  Tyler kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  He walked back to the vehicle and opened the door for Courtney.

  “You brought me to your grandmother’s house? The creek? I hear the creek.”

  “You do.” He held his hand to her and she took it stepping out of the SUV.

  She took his elbow. “You’re very polite to people.”

  “That’s how I was raised.”

  “Yes, well we all should be raised that way, but you—you respect everyone and their story. You didn’t tell your grandmother I was blind.”

  “That doesn’t define you.”

  She moved her hand from his elbow to his hand. “Don’t forget me tomorrow.”

  “That’ll never happen,” he said as they approached the stairs. “There are four steps up to the door.”

  “Where did your grandmother go?”

  He laughed. “I assume she’s pouring us some iced tea and setting up a tray of cookies. This is what she does.”

  “I like her already.”

  Tyler guided Courtney down a hallway. The house was very clean. Wood was polished. The floors were mopped. There were no piles or messes here, she was sure.

  As they turned, Courtney could smell roses. These had been cut and arranged nearby. Perhaps more than one bouquet.

  She heard glasses being filled. Liquid over ice and then it stopped and a crystal pitcher was set on a metal tray.

  “Grandmother, this is my friend Courtney.”

  She heard the shoes on the stone floor as a breeze of perfume moved to her. “Oh, Courtney.” The woman took her hand. “It is so nice to meet you. I’m Audrey Benson. Tyler’s grandmother.”

  “It is very nice of you to have me in your home. Thank you.”

  “Oh, honey, Tyler tells me today was your brother’s funeral. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  She sincerely felt as though the woman was sorry for her loss. She appreciated that. “Thank you.”

  “He was young?”

  “Twenty. He was a Marine.”

  She heard the sigh. “How brave.”

  Pride swelled in Courtney’s chest. “Yes, ma’am, he was.”

  “Tyler, why don’t you carry that tray out to the patio? I’ll bring Courtney out.”

  He left her side and she felt herself stiffen. A moment later, Audrey was by her side offering her elbow.

  Someone in this fam
ily had to be blind. How did they all know what she needed? Hopefully he wouldn’t forget about her tomorrow. He’d said he wouldn’t. She actually believed him.

  “Tell me, Courtney, are you from Nashville?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I was born here and then we lived all over the world. We moved back about ten years ago.”

  “You lived all over? How wonderful. Your father is military?” she asked as she stepped with Courtney through the patio doors.

  “Yes.”

  She heard the tray being set down on a glass table. Then she felt him. He was by her side.

  “Do you want a patio chair or a lounge chair?”

  “Where will you be?” she asked.

  “Let’s sit at the table. We’ll have a glass of tea and then I’ll show you around.”

  She tucked her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. “I’d like that.”

  As casually as could be, Courtney sat with Tyler and his grandmother in the afternoon sun. She quickly learned that Audrey Benson loved to talk. She loved to chat about the weather, the flowers, and how they were so much alike with their clothing choices. She’d learned that Tyler was named after his grandfather who had died before Tyler’s was born. And she learned that she’d missed Tyler terribly.

  Courtney had no idea how long they’d sat there, but her tea was gone, the sun had moved, and Audrey had yawned.

  “I’m going to walk Courtney around, if that’s okay. I’ll bring the drink tray in with us.”

  “Wonderful. I think I’ll go lay down for a spell. I have a dinner date,” she said with pride.

  “Do you? Who is taking my grandmother out to dinner?”

  “A nice man I’ve been seeing from the club. His name is Charles. If you’re too long, I’ll be gone. But take your time.”

  Tyler moved and she heard him kiss her. “We will. If I miss you I’ll come back tomorrow.”

  She heard her pat his cheek. “You’d better. I have a lot of questions for you. You’ve been gone too long. And maybe you could shave.”

  Courtney couldn’t help it. That made her chuckle.

  He heard Tyler kiss her on the cheek. “I love you, Grandmother.”

  “I love you too. And Courtney…”

  She raised her head when Audrey said her name.

  “You visit again. My Tyler likes you, I can see that.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  She heard her walk away and close the doors between the house and the patio.

  “I like your grandmother. I see where you get your charm.”

  “Oh, you haven’t met my parents yet,” he joked and it forced her to swallow hard.

  “Yet? You plan on introducing me to your parents?”

  “I met yours.”

  “Well, yes, but…”

  Tyler gathered her hands in his. “You think I’m going to run out on you don’t you? You figure that I’m here to shower you with sympathy over your brother and then not give you another thought.”

  Courtney pushed her shoulders back. “You’re the one who ran away from your family problems. I’m not your family and I’m not your problem.”

  “Right, so why should I run?”

  She felt the wind grow thick around her. “No one sticks around in my life. Fitz was it. My mother, well she has her issues. My father is too busy being important to the military that keeps him from us. And Fitz is gone. Everyone else just treats me like I have a disease.”

  “You’re blind. You’re not tainted.”

  A tear fell and she pulled back a hand to wipe it away. “Sometimes they go hand in hand.”

  “Not in my world.”

  She felt his hand on her cheek and his body moved closer to hers until they pressed together. Courtney closed her eyes as she felt his breath nearing her skin.

  Tyler’s mouth came to hers, but it wasn’t soft like before. This had a message. He accepted her—all of her.

  She leaned into the kiss. His fingers tangled in her hair and his hand pressed into the small of her back.

  Nothing had ever felt like this. Fate—she reminded herself. It was real.

  When he broke the kiss, he didn’t move. “In my world you’re perfect.”

  It was possible that on the second day she’d been around Tyler she’d tumbled into something she’d never tumbled into before. That thought was for another day. Today she buried her brother. Tomorrow she’d feel that. Right now she was going to wander the rose garden holding the hand of a man she didn’t really know—yet.

  Chapter Eight

  The moment Courtney stepped into the rose garden, she stopped. It was so fragrant she could only imagine that she was nearly buried in rose petals.

  “What colors are there?” she asked.

  “Roses? Oh, lots of red ones. Pink ones. A few purple. I think there are some orange too.”

  “Orange? Oh that’s lovely.”

  “She has yellow too. The color of your dress. There are big ones and some tiny ones.”

  “Tea cup roses.”

  Tyler laughed as he gave her hand a squeeze, their fingers entwined. “I didn’t know they had a name.”

  “They all have names. It would take me some time to feel them all, but I could name most of them.”

  “Perhaps you and my grandmother could do that someday—without me.” He chuckled and she leaned into him.

  “I actually think I would like that.”

  They moved through the rose garden, their hands held together, their arms swinging between them.

  “How many horses does she have?” Courtney asked, her head moved toward the sun which was now dipping toward the west.

  “I think she only has four left. The barn was once full. But she’s too old to ride now, she says.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “You figured her out pretty well, didn’t you?”

  “Remember my super power.”

  “Right.” He nudged her. “Well, there are two horses that are hers and I think my Aunt Simone owns the other two and pays to have them, and Grandmother’s, taken care of. She comes out and rides with my cousin Avery.”

  “Simone. That’s a beautiful name.”

  “She’s French.”

  “You said you had a French Aunt.”

  “You remember everything don’t you?”

  “When it’s important,” she said swinging their hands grandly. “How did your uncle find a French woman?”

  “Aunt Simone is my father’s best friend. They grew up together. My father was sent to boarding school outside Paris.”

  “That’s why you and your father speak French?”

  “Oui,” he said and she laughed.

  “Having lived in many different cultures, I would think Paris and Nashville are worlds apart.”

  “Especially for her. Have you ever heard of Pierpont Oil?”

  She stopped walking and turned her body to his. “Of course.”

  “That’s her. She’s the heiress to Pierpont Oil. Actually my cousin is, if she ever chooses it. My aunt and her father had a falling out when she fell in love with my uncle.”

  Courtney nodded and they began walking again. “I don’t understand why parents can’t accept when someone wants to be with someone or do something they just can’t control. I mean, what business was it of his if she fell in love? I’ve met you and your grandmother. Something tells me your uncle is not a money seeking slob.”

  “He’s a doctor.”

  She stopped again. “He didn’t approve of a doctor?”

  She felt Tyler’s arms move in a shrug. “I guess everyone doesn’t see eye to eye on that.”

  “Foolish,” she said as the light shifted and she could hear the horses. They were walking into the stable.

  Courtney closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the hay and the animals. Freedom lived here. The kind you could ride with no one looking over your shoulder. A magnificent animal under you taking you fast in the wind or slow to relax.

  She opened her eyes a
nd she could feel Tyler’s on her.

  “Horses make you happy,” he said.

  “You’ve started reading people too?”

  “I can see it. You’re as bright as your dress right now.”

  She smiled. “Take me to one.”

  Tyler guided her to a horse. “This is Alistair. He’s Avery’s horse.”

  Courtney lifted her hand and the horse moved to her. “Oh, he’s wonderful. Aren’t you boy? Yes, you are a sweet thing. Very gentle.”

  “You can tell that by him sniffing you?”

  “You can tell.” She gave his neck a pat and lowered her hand. “Will you bring me again and we can ride?”

  “Of course. I’m not very skilled at it.”

  “I am.”

  She felt Tyler’s hand come to her waist and pull her to him. “I’ll bet you are.”

  His mouth came to hers again and she swiftly wrapped her arms around his neck. As the heat of his mouth burned against hers the reality of the day hit her. She’d been sipping tea with his grandmother, wandering rose gardens, and loving on gentle horses. His kisses had nearly wiped her memories clean. But at that moment, she missed her brother.

  She pulled back from him. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I should...”

  Tyler pulled her to him as she began to sob. “It’s okay. I wondered when your strength would give out. You can cry all you need to. I’m right here.”

  And somehow, she always knew he would be.

  Tyler looked up and he knew that the stars would be bright tonight. The sun was descending, the sky was clear, and this woman on his arm—well she was bright. He’d held her in the stables for nearly an hour. They’d sat on a bale of hay and she’d just cried. He knew she would. He was glad he was there for it.

  When she felt as though she’d cried long enough, they began to walk.

  “You’re taking me to the creek,” she said and her lips curled into a smile.

  “It wouldn’t be a complete trip if I didn’t.”

  They walked through the field toward the creek. The heat wasn’t as brutal as it had been that morning. A breeze had come through.

  “Oh this sounds lovely.” Courtney stopped and tipped her head back. “I thought it was going to rain today. I really did.”

  “The sky has no clouds.”