Page 20 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“How come you didn’t tell me you were here?” he asked. “You could have stayed with me.”

“Nope,” Gabriela said. “I stay at Mom and Dad’s when the house is empty. You’re just mad because if I was there Vanessa wouldn’t have come over.”

“Yeah,” he said, laughing.

“Sorry,” his sister said. “If I wasn’t on the island, you might not have caught me to save your butt. But I get out earlier here than in Boston.”

“Would you ever come here full time?” he asked.

“Don’t confuse me with you,” Gabriela said. “I like Boston.”

“I did too,” he said.

“Your job is more stressful than mine,” his sister said. “My biggest stress half the time is the crying kids or the parents when I tell them their kids aren’t perfect. When I get a sick one, they get referred to a specialist.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Me. I don’t like that at all.”

“Don’t go there, Garrett. You’re good at your job.”

“I know,” he said.

“You're so good at it because you’ve been on the other side. Don’t forget that. Not everyone has your empathy, but you need to find that line and not cross it.”

“I did,” he said. “I’m paying the price.”

“There is no price to pay,” Gabriela said. “You’ll be fine because you always are. But this year away will give you time to heal and make some decisions.”

“That’s the hope,” he said softly.

He just wasn’t so sure it would happen.

6

CLOSE KNIT COMMUNITY

“Is this going to be a Monday morning routine?” Justine asked the following week when she saw Garrett at the counter before his office opened.

He’d just placed a bag there and it smelled like bagels.

“Do you want it to be?” he asked. “Or is someone else over here trying to sweeten you up to jump the line?”

She laughed when he said it. She would try to make amends for how she reacted last week.

Her first week went better than she expected. She was going to blame that first day on nerves more than anything.

That and all the changes in her life in a short period of time.

And she had other people stopping in to see her in the past week. Some brought food, others just a smile and introduction.

In Boston no one was this personable. Maybe that was why she started out the way she had here.

Troy had told her it was always like this on the island. Like a close-knit community.

“You might not have been the only one to bring me food,” she said, reaching for the bag and opening it. They were still warm. “Yum.”

He put another bag on the counter. “Cream cheese if you don’t have any.”

“We don’t,” she said, smiling. “I’m going to get fat if you keep doing this. I ate two of the donuts last week. I never eat donuts.”

---