The Acceptance
Page 10

It was a good thing, he thought, because somewhere he’d lost sense of who he was.
Tyler had helped her into the SUV and shut the door. Usually she’d have wanted to do it herself, another one of those things to prove to people that she could do it. But she knew he did it as a gentleman and not some person hell bent on helping the handicapped.
When he got in next to her and shut the door she turned to him. “Are you growing a beard? You didn’t have one the other day.”
He started the engine and gave a little chuckle. “I didn’t mean to start one. I need a new razor and I was too busy moving in and getting settled to remember to get one.”
“You bought a new suit.”
She could feel his eyes on her and her skin warmed. He chuckled again. “How do you know that?”
“It’s stiff and smells new.”
“My sister picked it out for me.”
“It’s a nice suit. She did a good job.”
“How do you know it’s nice? How do you know all these things?”
She smiled and faced forward. “It’s almost scary, huh?”
“A little, but I’ll admit, exciting.”
Now she laughed. “Exciting?”
“Sure. To know someone can peg almost everything about you without seeing you is crazy. Okay, I know you guessed on the eye color, but you even got that right.”
“Let’s call it my superpower. Blind Girl.”
The car went silent, but then she heard what she thought was a slight laugh. Okay, he was warming up to her humor.
“I suppose I should tell you which way to drive.”
“It would help, but I have a feeling I could drive for hours before I thought to ask because I enjoy your company.”
His words rattled in her. “I wouldn’t have thought I was good company on the two times you’ve been with me.”
“Well then I’ll assume that means that next time you’ll be even better company.”
“Next time?” Her voice actually cracked.
“Sure. How about dinner?”
“I’d love it.” She wanted to answer quickly so he knew she really did want to be with him. “I’m allergic to shell fish. Other than that I’m open to anything.”
“Bar-b-que?”
“I like that a lot.”
“Steve’s Bar-B-Que Pit and Beer.”
She turned to him. “I love that place. Really? You’ll take me there?”
“That’s where my parents ate out for the first time. Minus the hot dog cart behind my dad’s office.”
Was it possible to adore a man so much she wanted to reach over and squeeze him? She wouldn’t. She might not be able to see the traffic before them, but she knew better.
“I’d love to eat there with you under one condition.”
“Okay, what’s that?”
“Is that hot dog cart still there?”
He laughed. “Yes. Frank is gone but, well…” He stopped. “I’ve been gone long enough I don’t know if it’s there. Frank sold it to another guy, but it was still called Frank’s.”
She could hear the drop in his voice. It was a drop of regret. He’d been gone too long to know if something constant was still around. She knew what he was feeling.
“Well, if it is there will you take me there too?”
Courtney felt him move and then he grabbed her hand and locked their fingers together. She didn’t want to gasp her surprise, but she wasn’t sure she hadn’t.
“I’ll take you there. I promise. If not that one, another one.”
Now butterflies filled her stomach. It was too good to be true that she’d dropped her scarf in front of a man so crazy wonderful. Something was wrong with him. There had to be something she didn’t notice yet. Perhaps her father would tell her. He was good at pointing out the bad in everyone. He was skeptical about everyone he’d met.
She let out a breath. She wasn’t going to think like that. That was the way her father worked. Maybe, just maybe, Tyler Benson was as wonderful as he seemed.
“You need to tell me which way to go now,” he said and she realized she’d gone quiet.
“I’d say just drive around until we run out of gas, but I suppose that would be frowned upon.”
“If it was what you wanted.”
Now the butterflies had begun to swarm in her chest.
“You’d do that?”
“I would.”
She told him where she lived, he let go of her hand, and she felt the car turn sharply.
“Could have missed the highway,” he said on a laugh.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be, but it’s funny. That’s out by where my grandmother lives.”
“The one with the boulder in the stream?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“We moved out there about ten years ago, I guess. Mom wanted a forever home, as she’d put it. She was done traveling with the Marines.”
“So you’ve lived a lot of places.”
“More than I can count,” she said on a sigh. “But this is home.”
“It’s a nice area.”
“Uh-huh.” There was no reason for her to say more.
Chapter Six
Tyler followed Courtney’s directions toward the house and they were very precise.
“Yep, you’re about two miles north of my grandmother’s place. I can’t believe you lived so close,” he said as he came to the road she’d directed him to turn on.
“Where did you grow up?”
“Not too far actually. About ten miles from here.”
Courtney reached for his arm and traveled her hand down it until she found his hand. He let it relax as she took it in hers.
“I believe in fate. Do you?”
He swallowed hard. “I do.”
“You and I were on that plane together. We both are going through things. We grew up in the same place.”
“Fate.”
“Fate.”
Tyler pulled into the very generous drive of a beautiful house encircled by trees.
“This is beautiful,” he said.
“It doesn’t have a boulder and a stream.” She was smiling.
“I’m guessing it has other charms.”
“Pull up and park just on the south side of the garage. There is some space.”