Page 119 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“I know,” she said. “I hate so much of his life being on display.”

“There is no way to avoid it,” Jordan said. “You know that. Either way, we need answers.”

“I hope it’s not something we didn’t expect. That there was a part of Dad we didn’t know about.”

“Don’t piss me off, Justine. Don’t go down that road. I didn’t expect it of you.”

She sniffled a little. She was sitting in her car at the docks waiting for the ferry to get here so she could go back to the island.

It wasn’t as hard to get on and off as she thought it might have been.

“I know,” she said. “But it’s true. We didn’t know everything. We are only assuming.”

“That’s right,” Jordan said. “I don’t know everything in your life and you don’t know everything in mine, but we knew Dad was a good person. End of story.”

She needed to be reminded of that. “I know.”

“It’s a waiting game now. Just like it’s been for over seven months. A few more weeks will not make a difference. Go on about your life like me, but keep me posted. I’m not getting myself worked up over this because nothing could come of it but crushed hope. I don’t need to think that any more than you do.”

“I never realized how smart you were,” Justine said.

“Sure, you did, but I don’t always bring it out. Now is the time. Go home to that sexy doctor of yours. Let him give it to you good to get your mind off it.”

She snorted out a laugh. “I can do that.”

There was a pause. “What is going on with you and Garrett?” Jordan asked.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Yes,” Jordan said. “There is something. I can tell by your tone of voice.”

She debated sharing with her sister and only said, “Guess we are finding out the other isn’t as perfect as we thought.”

Jordan laughed. “No one is perfect. I told you there were negatives. Why did you think there wouldn’t be?”

She shrugged, but it’s not like anyone could see her. “No clue. And I’m not sure I thought that just that there weren’t any right away. But you’re right—we’ve all got them. His is avoidance like mine. Shocking, huh?”

“Not really,” Jordan said. “I’m sure he’s tiptoeing around you because of everything you are going through. That doesn’t make him a bad person.”

“No,” she said. “But I don’t want him to do that.”

“You can’t have it both ways,” Jordan said. “That’s being selfish. If he was pushing you, you’d be upset over that too.”

Grrrr. Her sister pretty much said the same thing Garrett had said. There was no winning.

It was hard to be told those things.

“I don’t know how to feel about all of this,” she said. “He told me that he’d like to stay on the island, but that if I didn’t, he could go back to Boston too. But I know he’d rather be on the island. Then he said that he hasn’t said anything because he wants me to make those decisions on my own.”

“That is considerate of him to do that,” Jordan said. “You should be happy.”

“I’m afraid to decide,” she said. “It’s a big decision.”

“What is?” Jordan asked. “You’re not marrying him. If you decide to be located on the island, it’s your job. You said you liked it there. Even if something doesn’t work out with Garrett, you can stay. Or you just pick up and move again. You’ve done it once. You can find a job anywhere.”

The thought of leaving Garrett hurt her heart.

Maybe that was all the answer that she needed.

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