Acceptance, The (19 page)

Ten minutes later she was back in his doorway, but this time Courtney was on her arm.

“Thank you, Mary Ellen.”

“My pleasure, sweetheart.” She gave Courtney’s arm a pat and walked away. “I would have been able to find the room myself. I can smell your cologne.” Her voice shook as she spoke.

“That strong, huh?”

“Just something I’m keen to be drawn too.”

He was across the room and he wasn’t moving toward her, so she walked in. Surely her blunt text, lack of response to his texts, and the rigidness in which she stood there were more than enough reason for his lack of movement

She let her cane open up and she walked toward the table. The chairs behind the table moved and she could feel the air stir as he moved.

“Good morning,” he said as he touched her arm and leaned in to kiss her warmly on the mouth. “I have to say waking up alone this morning wasn’t nearly as much fun.”

Courtney pushed back her shoulders. “I’m sorry about that. We can’t always be together you know. I mean we still have lives away from each other.”

Her words weren’t ones she’d practiced or even meant to use.

Tyler stepped away from her and the press of his fingers on her skin disappeared.

“Right. I know that.”

“I’m sorry, Tyler.” She let out a sigh. “I don’t mean to be so nasty this morning. I got a little worked up yesterday.”

“Did something happen with your parents?”

Didn’t something always, she thought. “Mom is very emotional.”

“To be expected.”

Courtney nodded. “She’s devastated. I’m devastated,” she admitted.

“And your dad?”

“He’s worried about me—and you.”

“Ah,” Tyler sighed. “Should I talk to him? I’m never going to hurt you. I’ve told you that. In fact, even if this doesn’t work out between us I’d still want to be your friend.”

“Will you shut the door? I want to talk to you about something. I don’t know how this is going to go.”

He didn’t move right away and she’d heard the breath he’d taken and held in too long. But then he moved past her and the door shut to her back.

Courtney collapsed her cane, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

“Mary Ellen made us some coffee. Would you like some?” he offered.

“I’d really like a bottle of water if you don’t mind.”

She heard him move toward the corner of the room where a small refrigerator held waters. The door opened. The bottles shifted. And a moment later he was standing next to her.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you,” she said as she held out her hand for the bottle. Tyler placed it in her reach and she opened it and took a sip.

He moved the chair next to her and sat down. “Is everything okay? You’re making me very nervous.”

“I’m nervous. It’s wearing off,” she joked poorly. “I learned something last night and I don’t know what to do with the information.”

“Okay, tell me what it is and I’ll help you.”

Courtney sucked in a breath hoping it would give her courage. It only made her light headed.

“Your mother—tell me about the man before your father.”

The air in the room grew thick and Tyler leaned back in his chair. The cushion gave to the pressure of his back and the chair squeaked as it rocked.

“That is a very strange request.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t have a lot of information for you. He’s Darcy’s birthfather. He tried to kill her and my mother. He left her for dead.” His voice was rising. “I can’t imagine what you’d want to know about him for.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. She didn’t like this confrontation. She didn’t want to make him go through this, but she had to know.

“What happened to him?”

Tyler moved to her side and the chair moved back. She could hear him pace behind her; feel the breeze as his body moved back and forth.

“Why do you want to know all of this? What does this have to do with anything?”

“My father knows your mother killed this man and it worries him that the ghosts in your closet will hurt me.”

The room went silent, but the air grew even thicker.

Tyler’s pacing had moved from behind her to around the table. He’d walked away from her.

“Your father is accusing my mother of being some vicious attacker? He’s worried she’ll hurt you or does he think that something like that is in my blood?”

His voice had raised enough she was now more than uncomfortable in her situation. Why had she done this? Why here? There was no escape if her father was right. She didn’t want to think he was, but at the very moment, she was scared.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Really? You want to know about my mother killing a man who tried to kill her because your father is worried about you. That’s what you’re saying. He’s worried I will hurt you.”

“Tyler, stop.” She felt the tears begin to sting.

“You asked the question. You’ll get your answer.” A chair was pushed into the table, though not slammed, but she knew he was angry and she didn’t blame him. “Yes. My mother killed the bastard who tried to kill her and my sister. He beat her and left her for dead, Courtney. Left-her-for-dead.”

He paced more and now it was quicker. “Tyler…” she started, feeling the need to reel him in.

“She gave Darcy away, never even looked at her because it hurt too much. She didn’t want the bastard to find her baby and hurt her. Can you even imagine wanting a baby so much and then giving her away?”

The very thought had tears breaking free. “No.”

“Dad told me just yesterday that every year on her birthday my mother would get very emotional.” His voice began to ease. “I never knew anything was going on. I didn’t know she mourned someone so much.”

“That says something about her that she could love that much after someone hurt her so badly.”

He stopped moving. “Yeah.” She heard him move around the table and come back to the seat next to her. He pulled it out and sat down.

“My uncle told the man she died. He’d replaced her with some other woman and that was the reason he’d tried to kill her. But my uncle told him she and the baby died and he went away, which was the plan.”

“Why not send him to jail?”

“Because then it drug it out and involved my mother more. My uncle was trying to just make it go away. I don’t know. The man moved to Europe and that was better, at the time, than dragging my mother though some battle in court.”

Courtney nodded. She supposed she understood that. “He found out she was alive.”

Tyler took her hand. “Yes. Though he didn’t come after her then. It wasn’t until after Spencer and I were born that he’d lost everything and he came back for revenge. He began stalking Aunt Arianna because he’d seen her in New York. Then he stalked Uncle John because he’d become involved with my aunt and would lead him to my dad. He reeled them all in until my aunt and my mom were at the theater together one night alone.”

“Clara was with them.”

“You sure do know a lot,” he said interlacing their fingers. “Wrong place-wrong time.”

“He hurt them.”

“He knocked out John. Took Clara, hit her, and locked her in a closet before setting the theater on fire.”

Courtney covered her mouth with her other hand as the tears fell freely down her cheeks.

“All I know is they got her out of the closet, but the theater was engulfed. Somewhere in the chaos of black and smoke my mother got the gun my aunt carries on her and shot him.”

A small unnecessary croak of a laugh escaped Courtney. “She shot him in the dark in an engulfed building.”

She felt the tension ease away from his fingers. “She’s quite a marksman. She taught Spencer and me how to shoot. Oh, heck, she taught my dad to shoot.”

Now she laughed freely but then brought it back in. The mood was still too serious to enjoy that insight into his mother. “He was going to kill her,” she said.

“Her, John, Arianna, and Clara. I know she’d have killed him even if she was going to die, to protect me and my brother.”

Courtney gave his hand a squeeze now. “And Darcy.”

He rubbed her hand with his other hand. “Yeah, and Darcy even though she had no idea where she was.”

“The articles only talk about the fire and a man being found. Not about your mother.”

“But you knew that.”

“My father has many connections.”

She heard him groan. “So does my father. It was swept under the rug to protect us. Yes, she killed a man in self-defense.”

Courtney began to sob harder now. “I’m sorry. Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have worked this into something that it wasn’t.”

He pulled her to him. “It’s okay. I’ve never dealt with it. I needed to.”

“I can’t imagine your mother had to go through that.” The sobs came harder. “She survived and she found love. She had two more sons. Her daughter came back to her.”

“Yes.”

“What if had he gotten to her in that fire? What if…”

“She wasn’t going to let him. There was no way she was going to leave my brother and me.”

And then everything inside of her broke loose. Fitz had left her.

Tyler pulled her even closer to him as tears poured down her cheeks and her body shook. “Honey, take it easy. Breathe. Breathe.”

She sucked in a breath but it was a ragged one. Her entire body quaked against him.

“Fitz,” she said between those breaths she tried to draw in. “Fitz.”

“Okay, okay.” He kissed her forehead. This was the moment he and his father had been talking about. Of all things to have set her off about her brother, he thought.

He let her cry against his chest and he simply held her, stroking her hair. Avery looked in the window by the door and he’d nodded her away for a moment. She knew. She understood, he could see it in her eyes. Right now the moment was for Courtney and he’d hold her as long as he needed to.

The sobs lasted the better part of an hour, but he held her. She clung to him and he gave her comfort. He wiped her tears and kissed her cheeks—and finally it stopped.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh,” he said wiping away the last of the tears. “It’s okay. It’s very okay. You needed to do this.”

“Not here. Not when I came in here accusing you of being something you’re not.”

“Now.” He pulled her to him again. “And I’m sure it’ll come again.”

“He left me, Tyler,” she said with her face pressed to his chest. “He always promised to stay and be with me. He left me.”

“Not on purpose.”

She nodded. “I know. Just as your mother wouldn’t have left you on purpose either. And she didn’t leave Darcy on purpose.”

Who would have thought two very different things could be so much alike in feeling?

Her breath began easing back. She pulled back. “I shouldn’t feel so sad that he was defending his country when he died. But I do. I take it very personally that he died and left me here alone. He always promised me he’d come back to me.”

“I’m sure you were in his thoughts when he died. I can’t imagine you weren’t.”

“He should have fought harder.”

He pulled her to him again. Yes, these tears would come again. She wasn’t ready to let Fitz’s death go yet.

When Avery happened by the door again, he waved her in. Courtney sat up and wiped her eyes.

“Everything okay in here?” Avery asked as she walked through the door.

“Oh, I’m just having a meltdown,” Courtney laughed. “Good thing I don’t have to worry about whether my mascara ran down my cheeks.”

“I hate when that happens,” Avery said.

“My friend put mascara on me once. I have no idea if it looked good or not, but I remember my eyelashes getting stuck together.”

Avery let out a hearty laugh. “Yep. Oh, what we do to look beautiful.”

Tyler sat back in his chair and looked at Courtney. It was a shame she’d never know how beautiful she was on the outside, but it didn’t really seem to matter to her. Even with tear streaked cheeks, no one held a candle to her.

Avery pulled a pile of papers out of the bag she’d carried in with her. “Well, now down to work. We just received RSVPs from four hundred people for the gala.”

“Already?” Tyler sat up in his chair. “We didn’t even get all of the invites out yet.”

She grinned wide at him. “I might have at one time mentioned to a few of our corporate sponsors something about a huge family event.”

“You might have?”

She grimaced. “I told you I hate this.” She handed him the papers. “It’s worth two million to the organization if we can make something family friendly happen.”

Tyler felt the blood drain from his head. Hadn’t there been enough stress this morning? He rubbed at his temples and let out a breath. Okay, he could do this. He winced at the pain in his chest caused by the stress his cousin had caused. Sure—he could do this.

Chapter Twenty-Four

It had become work and Tyler had roped Courtney into it much more than getting some information on past recipients. The
Diamond Gift
was having a family extravaganza—thanks to Avery’s mention of it.

The entire week had been spent with long hours, late nights, and about a million phone calls between the three of them.

Thanks to the long list of connections that Simone and his father had, they were able keep the venue and expand it out into the parking lot. They would have tents and events outside as well as dancing and entertaining inside.

One thing was for sure, Courtney was not only the most organized person he’d ever known, and Avery the least, but she was brilliant with the ideas.

Avery pulled the pencil, which was holding up her bun, out of her hair. It fell over her shoulders and she shoved it back.

“It is nine o’clock on Friday night and I’m in a board room hashing out details on an event that is two and a half months away.”

“Which is three times its size,” Tyler reminded her.

“And worth three times as much.”

He laughed. “Go home. We need to finalize the menu tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Saturday?”

He tossed a wadded paper in her direction. “Nine o’clock too early?”