“Of course you’d say that.” Frustration filled her. He didn’t get it, did he? Bette would be lost without her friends in Marietta. Her friends were the ones that had been there for her after Don’s death, and Patrick’s funeral. Friends had given her life meaning. They wouldn’t be easily replaced. Nor would Marietta be the same without her. “You don’t understand how important she is here in Marietta, and how much she does for the community.”

“I know she’s a generous source of support—”

“This isn’t about her making donations and writing checks.” Amanda gripped her cup tightly. She couldn’t remember when she last felt so upset. “Bette is loved. And she loves us. And we don’t want to lose her.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then start spending time here! Come see her. Get to know her on her terms. Don’t make her sacrifice everything just to have a relationship with you.”

“Life is about change. It’s about being flexible, adaptable.”

“You might be brilliant at creating software, but you don’t know the first thing about people. She’s not a character in one of your games. Maybe you’re the one that needs to be flexible and adapt.”

“What does that mean?”

“Maybe you should consider moving here.” And then she was walking away from him again, quickly. This time he didn’t pursue her.

Tyler walked from the Graff to his grandmother’s house on Bramble. Her home was on the north end, closer to the high school than the courthouse. Many of the homes around her were modest Victorians, nothing as grand as the big, stately homes surrounding the historic Bramble House B&B but they all embodied turn of the century American charm.

It was a good fifteen minute walk and the wind blew hard the entire time, the blast cold and strong. He ran a hand through his hair. Amanda Wright had given him a good cut, but he wasn’t sure what to think of her. She looked soft and pretty but she didn’t pull punches, and ordinarily he appreciated straight talk—he was known for being a hard hitter himself—but he didn’t need her lecturing him on his grandmother. Who was she to judge him? Furthermore, who was she to come between him and his grandmother?

He didn’t want to move Gram, but he didn’t have a choice. She was almost eighty and she wasn’t as strong as she used to be. She needed her family around her. She needed to be looked after, and not by strangers. Once she moved to Austin he’d be there to keep an eye on her. He could have lunch with her and dinners with her. Their visits wouldn’t be so painfully infrequent. He hated that it took multiple flights to get to his grandmother, requiring him to schedule visits weeks, if not months, in advance.