Page 109 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“What are you and Jordan thinking?”

“I haven’t talked to Jordan yet. I hate bugging her. She has so much more she needs to focus on,” she said.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “Don’t take it all on yourself.”

She sighed. “I know. I think getting our own attorney is the way to go. I want that footage. I want to know that the footage has been gone over promptly. I don’t care the cost.”

“Do you want me to reach out to Hailey? Actually, I think it’d be Roark.”

“Roark?” she asked.

“Roark French. That’s Emma’s brother. He’s Hailey’s right-hand man. They are first cousins, and you could say he’s second in command at the firm. He oversees the defense and trial lawyers. Hailey is a business attorney and primarily deals with family businesses.”

“Okay,” she said. “I don’t want to put anyone out.”

“You’re not,” he said. “Stop thinking that. Roark and his wife have a house on the island and both work out of the island and in Boston. Before they had a child, Chelsea was here more than in Boston, but now with their daughter, they are splitting their time together. I’ve got Roark’s number and I’m going to text him the situation and hopefully we’ll hear something by tonight. I’m not sure what states he can practice in, but if there is someone on staff that can practice in Indiana, then you’ll find out.”

She nodded her head. “Thanks. Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “Not many know this, but Laine had a legal issue when she was at a gallery showing in Chicago a few years ago. Roark was called right away and they had an attorney on staff that could practice in Illinois and they got it taken care of quickly.”

“It’s not like I need someone to be in Indianapolis. Just someone to get this footage and go through it and then talk with the DA.”

“One step at a time,” he said. “And I’m glad the first step was to call me.”

“Me too,” she said. “I feel bad that I’m adding to your mental load with this.”

“Don’t,” he said. “What did we talk about recently?”

“I thought of that too,” she said. “But I still hate asking people for help.”

“We all have our pride. But I love you. We haven’t said it again, but I’m going to. Love doesn’t come with strings, Justine. It doesn’t come with answers or guilt either. It’s just there. And I know you feel it too because you reached out when you needed me.”

She felt her eyes itch some. These damn tears never wanted to stop.

“I love you too. We are feeling our way around things. There are going to be hits and misses like anything else in life. We’ll get through this together. Thank you,” she said, standing up and moving toward him.

He pulled her down onto his lap.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for coming into my life. I think we both found the other when we needed it the most.”

“I’ve never thought that way before.”

She wouldn’t admit that the lore of the island just popped into her head either.

Justine never believed in anything like that before, but it was hard to dispute it when she was living it now.

33

BEING IN LOVE

The next morning, Justine rolled over to see Garrett still sleeping on his back, his arm up over his head, a light growth of beard on his face. He’d been keeping it trim and said he debated shaving it off completely for the summer.

She’d never dated a man with a beard before Garrett.

She liked it. Liked it a lot.

Her gaze dropped to his chest which was bare with the blanket having dropped down some.

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