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.”