And she didn’t care for the fact thatshedidn’t get mad about the weird and macho.At least not as mad and offended as she should.It was just nice that someone… might care.
Care.
She could relive the way his thumb had moved across her knuckles, the fluttering, hopelesswarmththat had settled deep inside her when he’d moved his hand down her spine.
They werefriendlymoves.She just didn’t know how to deal with them appropriately because she hadn’t grown up in a touchy-feely household.Hermother had died when she’d been ten.And Mom had been sick for a long time before that.Maybe Nate’s dad was an evil son of a bitch, but his motherhadbeen one of those warm, demonstrative women.Even from afar and at a young age Sam had recognized that in Marie Bennet.
Of course, Sam didn’t think Nate had had much in the way of hand-holding and hugs since he’d run away, beaten and bloody, fifteen years ago.So no matter how she tried to hold on to that excuse, it didn’t fly.
None of her excuses seemed to fly anymore.She just didn’t know what to do about it.So she drove in silence, pulling into the parking lot of the courthouse with so many knots in her stomach, in her chest, she didn’t know how long they’d take to untie.
She spotted Landon’s truck, and Aly getting out of said truck, so she pulled into the closest open spot.They all filed out and met Landon and Aly halfway between the vehicles.Aly’s gaze swept over Cal, no doubt taking in the sunglasses and the pale complexion.
Her mouth set into a disapproving frown before she forced it to curve.“Morning.”
Sam didn’t miss the way she left thegoodoff the greeting.
“Well, let’s get this over with,” Cal muttered, striding purposefully toward the big building.
Landon sighed, and Aly looked worriedly after Cal, but she and Landon clasped hands and walked toward the courthouse.
Nate and Sam didn’t move right away.Nate was staring at the building, or Cal, or maybe even Aly and Landon and their entwined hands.Sam couldn’t tell for sure, but she could tell he was feeling lost amid all this trepidation.
So she did what he’d done last night.She took his hand in hers and squeezed.
And they walked into that courthouse holding on to each other.
Chapter Seven
Crawford County Courthouse
Landon didn’t knowhow anyone did this day in and day out.Justsathere and listened to people go over the facts of a gruesome crime.Bad enough not being involved.
Just… excruciating knowing the person whose murder they were dissecting.
Even the opening remarks brought home just how gruesome.It had been bad enough reliving it earlier this year, trying to put together the pieces of what had really happened.Bad enough todiscoverthe father he’d respected was really behind everything awful.
But now they would hear about it every day for days on end.
He glanced down the row of chairs.He supposed it wasn’t unlike Sam and Nate’s job.Going over the same things, putting new pieces into place.Finding answers in the midst of awful things.
Landon couldn’t imagine dedicating his life to wading in this shit.Just listening to the attorney go through his opening remarks made Landon’s stomach revolt, and still he wasn’t even the one bearing the hardest and heaviest brunt of this.
Nate had been beaten after their mother’s funeral by Dad.He’d been chased away by the violence the prosecution had spoken of.He had disappeared, gone into the army, and lived a completely different life.Cut off from everything he’d known.
Cal hadwitnessedthe murder.Had seen the horrible end result of what had happened to their mother.He’d suffered the trauma of that, what it had done to his mind and his memories, and he’d be carrying that suffering with him forever.
Landon had been in the dark.Completely and utterly fooled by his father.
He glanced at the man in question, or what he could see of him.He’d been avoiding it.Not wanting to get twisted up any more than he already was, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
Just maybe a third of Dad’s profile was visible as he sat at the front of the room, watching the goings-on.He didn’t look angry or happy or anything.Just a kind of blank.
Landon had spent his whole life until this year thinking he wanted to be like that man—or at least the image of him Landon had created in his head—no, the image of him Benjamin himself had created in Landon’s head.Strong and noble and dedicated to the land.Ben had fooled Landon in so many small ways over the years, but they built up to this huge, horrible thing.
Aly’s hand squeezed his, which was when he realized he wasn’t breathing.He slowly let his breath out, then sucked a new one in.Carefully.Quietly.Easing that pressure that wanted to build.
Aly had been fooled by Dad too.Together, they had supported and made excuses for Benjamin Bennet for the fifteen years after Mom died.Maybe that shouldn’t make Landon feel better, that they’d been duped together, but since he couldn’t warp his mind enough to think Aly was somehow in the wrong when she was the best damn thing in his life, it meant he had to cut himself some slack too.
