Chapter 15: Chapter 15
Willowsby, Georgia, was lined with small independent shops in the center of town and had beautiful white pillared plantation homes on the outskirts with more acres of grass than Courtney had ever anticipated possible. Mimosa, cypress, and river birch trees bordered the yards, hanging with Spanish moss, giving the elongated driveways some privacy from the road. Weeping willow braches drooped low in a way that seemed to shield their patrons from harm, protecting their loved ones. Porches wrapped around the homes, processions of flowers in boxes adding splashes of color.
Serena had the top down on the Mustang, and Courtney breathed in the aromas. Cut grass. Damp, rain-scented air. Someone was grilling off in the distance. Children were running about in a way she was never allowed. Their laughter hung in the air, playing a sweet song in her ears. A gentle breeze cooled the humidity that clung and teased her skin in a soft caress.
There was so much to look at, so many feelings inside her she never underwent, that she could barely hold back tears. Everything was so idyllic, like a postcard. "Is this Heaven?" she mumbled.
Serena smiled, her tone wistful. "God, I hope so." She swerved the yellow car to the right and pulled into a long driveway that looked very much like all the others.
Once they rounded a curve, a house came into view. House was too meager a description. The place reminded her of an old plantation from Gone With the Wind. Black shutters were a stark contrast to the white siding, pillars positioned proudly near the open entryway. Mature trees wove through the property, providing shade.
Serena turned off the engine and briefly glanced to her left, where a smaller brick house was partially hidden and tucked back among the estate. It, too, had a porch, but the house was a ranch as opposed to the mansion in front of them.
Serena took a deep breath and, with much effort, tore her gaze away to smile at Courtney. "We're home."
"Yeah." She gaped at the towering fortress before her. "It's so beautiful. I've never seen anything like it."
The front screen door slammed, jerking her attention to an older woman in a long jean dress jumper with a white shirt and bare feet. She leaned against the pillar, a slight stoop to her gait, and smiled, making her observant hazel eyes light up. A piece of her long gray hair tumbled loose from its knot and danced gaily in the breeze. Grams.
A man with dark hair and wide shoulders bounded past her and toward their car. Serena jumped out and wrapped her arms around him. The biceps under his white T-shirt bunched as he drew her flush to his chest.
Courtney watched from her seat, unable to move for all the adoration that poured through them. His eyes were just like Serena's, golden brown and kind. He was taller than Serena by a head, but had the same high cheekbones and wide grin. It was his voice though, the rough southern drawl, that brought Courtney's memory back from all the conversations they had that week on the phone.
Austin. Her heart flipped.
"God, I missed you!" He held her at arms length and ran an assessing gaze down the length of her. Before long he pulled her to him again and held tight, kissing the top of her curls. Her arms barely went around the wide expanse of his back.
Courtney stepped out of the car, not wanting to intrude on their reunion, and reached into the backseat for their overnight bags. She stood with the car between them, not knowing what to do next. Her nervousness held a ball in her stomach and caused her hands to shake. When Serena rounded the car holding Austin's hand, Courtney's grip tightened on the bags she held as a shield between their bodies and hers.
Her against the world. Always.
"Austin, this is Courtney." Serena held out her free hand to take the bags from her. With nothing else to do with them now, Courtney wrung her hands together in front of her and stopped breathing when Austin's gaze collided with hers..
Austin lost all train of thought. All he saw was blue. Infinite eyes that looked back at him warily and unblinking. Like looking into a storm-tossed sea. There was a scar on her right eyebrow, drawing little attention. Her nose was pointed, making her features seem slightly off balance. Her skin was the color of butter cream, without a flaw to mar it. And her hair was silk. Silk. Golden and straight, framing an oval face and a small pink mouth.
He couldn't look away. He had conversed with her over the phone lines, her voice clinging to his mind every night for a week, but had never in his wildest imagination depicted her looking this this
"Austin?" Serena nudged him with her elbow. "What's wrong with you?"
"Hmm," he said, and with great regret, looked away to find out what Serena wanted. "Sorry," he replied, holding out his hand for the angel. "I'm Austin. It's a damn great pleasure to meet you." Silence stretched. He stared at his protruding hand she'd yet to take, rubbing away the knot forming in his gut and waiting for her to catch up.
"Hi," she murmured in that smoky, meek voice that ran chills up his arm. And finally, blessedly, she took his hand. It looked so small and fragile inside his. A pale contrast with his olive skin.
Courtney sucked in a harsh breath at the contact and skeptically glared into his golden eyes, wondering about the shocking current. But his eyes were Serena's eyes. They were as kind and just as open. Honest. His touch was warm, so invitingly warm where his hand held hers, and relief flooded through her system so quickly she had no time to prepare. Austin's personality poured out, not in flashes, but as a wave. Generosity and trust. Charm and wit. And something else, an emotion completely new to her. The heat caused her insides to swell and her heart to race and her knees to falter.
Serena rushed forward. "It's okay, Courtney. He's--"
"I know," she whispered, without taking her eyes off Austin's. "He's just like you." Then she smiled, her shoulders sagging in relief, and she turned to Serena. "He's just like you."
"Yes." She nodded. "Nothing will hurt you here."
Serena turned when the woman on the porch appeared by her side and wrapped her arms around Serena. "Grams!"
She seized Serena's face in her wrinkled hands. "It's good to have you home."
"It's good to be home." Serena noted the confusion on her brother's face as he continued to stare at Courtney in a way she'd never seen him look at another person before. "Courtney, why don't you go up to the house with Grams. She'll show you where to put your stuff while I have a chat with Austin."
"Come on, dear." Grams held out her hand for Courtney. "I'll pour us some sun tea and we can get acquainted."
Once the screen door snapped behind them, Austin tore his gaze away from those long shapely legs in the khaki shorts and turned to his sister. "What was that about?"
Serena heaved a weary sigh and walked to the porch steps to plop down, giving Austin no choice but to follow. She leaned on her elbows and stretched her legs in front of her. "Remember I told you that it seemed as if Courtney can see right inside my head?" He nodded his head, urging her to continue. "She can. She's psychic."
"What?" His tone was so flat it didn't even sound like a question.
"I'm serious. You have to hear her explain it. She didn't even know what it was, Austin. I don't think she knows its full power or its limitations yet. She was never allowed to explore it." She sat forward and ran a hand down her face. "Her father had her convinced that her gift was the devil, or some crap like that."
Austin mulled that over, remembering the way Courtney looked at him when she took his hand--the short intake of breath and the sudden alarm in her eyes, laced with fear. He'd never given much thought to the credence of psychics. His only experience had been the whack jobs on TV. There were a lot of unexplained things in the world, but he wasn't sure he believed in...that. Regardless, the latter part of Serena's statement registered, and his spine stiffened.
"Did he hurt her? Her father?"
Serena's mouth trembled open and tears filled her eyes. "He beat her bad, Austin." She sniffled and impatiently wiped away the tears. "She's got this scar on her back from where he broke skin when he hit her with a leather belt."
"Jesus!" He closed his eyes and bit down another string of curses. Delicate, soft-spoken Courtney. Broken. Bleeding. His hands fisted, his temples throbbed, and he sucked in a lungful of air before his head exploded.
"She's got other scars on her arms that I don't even know about. The worst of it is the head game he played. I just now got her convinced this ability is a gift. She freely talks with me now, but that took awhile too. Austin." She gripped his hand. Hard. "We have to be careful with her until she gets used to all this. I think...I think she believes she deserves what he did."
Rage was making a comeback. "That's crazy--"
"I know," she said, her tone distracted.
It was inconceivable how anyone could lay a brash hand on anything that looked like Courtney. Such...innocence. He'd known her a week by phone and five minutes by face, but she didn't seem to have a mean or belligerent bone in her body. Serena said they'd met in a diner. How long ago had Courtney broken free from the man?
Her eyes. Christ, those eyes. When her gaze had locked with his, there hadn't been an emotion on the spectrum that warred in all that blue. He had the strangest feeling he could spend hours looking into those eyes and lose--or find--himself.
"That's exactly how I felt."
He must've said his thoughts aloud. He shook his head, regressing back to where Serena had met Courtney. "Who was this diner lady? How long has she been working there?"
"Mrs. Meyers. After Courtney ran away from home, she gave Courtney the only home she ever knew. Other than keeping her safe, I don't think the situation helped her much." She sighed and stood to stretch. "When we were in that bar in Shreveport, this guy was all over her. I could tell, before we got him off of her, that she'd never even been kissed before. I don't even think she knows she's pretty."
No way in hell a woman as beautiful as Courtney didn't have experience, past lovers. "What? Women who look like that know they look like that."
"She doesn't." Serena glared at him, her tone a warning. "If you keep looking at her the way I just saw you doing, you'd better be prepared to take it slow." Her voice softened, losing the edge. "I know you'd never hurt anyone, Austin, but you could hurt her and never even know you did."
Too much shit shoved around in his skull. "I wasn't--"
"Yes, you were."
He lowered his head, rubbing the grit from his eyes.
She knelt down on the bottom stair between his knees and kissed his cheek. "One more hurt could put her back in that shell. She's not like everyone else."
He looked at his sister, into eyes that mirrored his own. He loved her so hard his bones hurt. "I'm not interested in dating right now. You come first."
She kissed his forehead. "You're interested." She pulled back with a knowing look similar to Grams'. "You should be. Courtney's a great person. I'm sick, Austin. There's nothing we can do about it. We knew this could happen someday. You have to put yourself first sometime."
Pain punched his chest. He wasn't ready to do this, not yet, so he rose and brushed imaginary dirt off the seat of his jeans. Denial, his friend. "Let's go in." He placed a smile on his face with great effort. "Grams has probably told that poor woman our life story by now."
Serena breathed out a laugh and followed him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone