Page 50 of What Started In Deception

She shook her head. “It’s just a couple of miles away. I can show you.”

He adamantly shook his head. “Not if it’s painful.”

She stared at their hands again, surprised that she was sharing so much about her past with him. She met his gaze, seeing the compassion in his eyes, understanding that she wasn’t talking to Special Agent Tyler Corddry. She was talking to the sweet, funny man whom she’d spent the last two weeks getting to know. It was easy to talk to him and be vulnerable, which was something that she never expected. “It’s not. Or mostly, it’s not.”

“Then I’d love for you to show me.”

Ten minutes later, Ty pulled up across the street from the stately brick and black shutter house that she’d grown up in.

She stared at the bedroom windows that had been hers. “I loved this place. My home. Everything was so warm and safe. Then they got on the helicopter.”

“I’m sorry, Lyd. We don’t have to do this.”

She shook her head, stopping him from putting the truck in gear. “It’s okay. I saw a therapist for a couple of years after everything happened. She helped me learn that the most painful moments in our lives can also be our biggest strengths. More often than not, they teach us the most.”

“What did you learn?”

“To love big because you don’t know how much time you have. To be fiercely loyal and protect the people who protect you because they can be gone in an instant. To make the most of each day because it’s truly all you've got.”

“That’s really nice.”

She sent him a small smile as she nodded.

“Is it true… You were supposed to be on the helicopter that day?”

She nodded again. “We’d gone up to the compound for April vacation. I was so excited that I was finally going to get a chance to help Grandpa Beau with his campaign—that we were going to fly in a helicopter. Uncle James, Aunt Cindy, and Will frequently did their part since politics was destined to be Uncle James’s path, too, but that day it was our turn—The Virginia Monroes as Gram-Gram always used to call us.”

He held her gaze as he nodded, giving her his undivided attention, letting her talk.

“I woke up sick that morning. I tried to ignore my nauseous stomach and pounding head. I also tried to avoid my parents. When your mom’s a pediatrician, she can spot an illness a mile away.”

Ty chuckled.

She grinned. “I stayed in my room for most of the morning, pretending that I was reading a book. Eventually, we all piled into the Escalade and headed for the airport. Before we left, I grabbed a ginger ale, praying that if I sipped on it, I’d be okay. Unfortunately, I ended up puking all over myself and Gram-Gram as we pulled into the airport parking lot.”

Ty cringed. “Yikes.”

She laughed. “It was pretty awful. I was crying because I felt so bad. Burke was freaking out. My dad, being my dad, joked about it. He was so laid-back about pretty much everything.” Her smile faded. “My mom was going to come back to the compound with Gram-Gram and me, but Gram-Gram insisted that she go, and I assured her that I would be okay.”

Ty reached for her hand.

She held it tight, finding comfort in the warmth of his. “By the time we got back to the compound, there were two police cars in the driveway, and Uncle James and Will came running outside. The rest is mostly a blur, but I remember Uncle James comforting Gram-Gram on the ground, and Will telling me that our family was gone. Eight minutes after takeoff, the main rotor blade malfunctioned and fell off. The impact with the water killed them all instantly. A fishing vessel got to the wreckage fairly quickly, but it didn’t matter. They had all passed.”

Ty sighed, squeezing her fingers.

She held his stare. “My mom wanted to stay with me that day. She said she would, but I told her to go. If I hadn’t done that, I would still have her. I wouldn’t have lost her, too. That feels heavy to carry sometimes.”

He nestled her palm against his cheek. “You can’t take that on, Lyd. There was no way you could’ve known what was going to happen.”

She nodded, knowing he was right, but it didn’t always help. “For the most part, I’ve grieved and found peace with what is, but I’ve never been able to get over my fear of helicopters.”

“That seems reasonable after everything that happened.”

“I guess,” she said with a jerk of her shoulders. “But I’ve never actually been on one—will never go on one. They terrify me. The sound they make. The look of them. Everything about them. But I don’t mind planes, which has never made sense to me.”

“I guess sometimes our fears don’t make sense.”

“I guess not.”