Page 51 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

When she sat down, he put the foil-covered treat in her hand. “Have this, you’ll feel better.”

She laughed. “I might eat the entire bag in embarrassment over my meltdown.”

“It’s not much of a meltdown,” he said.

It’s not like she went to a place and screamed where no one could hear her like he did. He was just as guilty as her when it came to hiding how he felt.

“I’ve had worse but in private. Troy asked what was going on with us.”

“Oh,” he said. “And that made you cry?”

What was he missing here?

“No,” she rushed out. “That started things. I was walking out the door and he asked what was going on with us.”

He listened while she explained the conversation. “Do you have a problem if people know? I know you don’t want any talk since we both work there, but we don’t work together. I’m not your boss, you’re not mine.”

“I know,” she said. “And it’s not a secret and we are going out tomorrow too. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t. I said we were friends.”

He wasn’t going to be hurt over that. Or even annoyed.

Though he wanted to be both.

“I’d say we are a touch beyond that. Date five, you know.”

“I figured you’d be counting them all,” she said, grinning.

“Am I wrong?”

“Not technically,” she said.

“So you’re not bothered by what Troy said?”

“Not really. But it got me thinking. Not in a bad way. I come home and I’m putting the food together and my mother called.”

“You don’t talk about your mother much,” he said.

“Because we aren’t close.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he said.

“No reason to be sorry. It is what it is. The short version is, that she cheated on my father when we were younger. She left him for the man she’s married to. A much older wealthier man that could give her this fancy lifestyle that my father wouldn’t give her. She’s on the Riviera right now. She splits her time between there and the States and travels a lot too. Pierre has companies in several countries.”

“Something tells me you were just as happy to stay with your father,” he said.

“I was. So was Jordan. My mother brought up a few things about my father and it upset me. I tried to put it behind me, but guess I couldn’t.”

“I’m sorry if she upset you,” he said. He was rubbing his hand on hers.

She opened the chocolate and ate it, then took a sip of the wine.

“She annoyed me first and then upset me some. She said my father was controlling. He wasn’t.”

He had to play his words carefully here. “Was he with you and your sister?”

“No,” she said. “We had rules like every kid does and we obeyed them mostly. Me more than Jordan, but that is just who she is. My mother liked to spend money. It all came down to money with her. When she says my father was controlling, it’s because he only gave her a certain amount of money she had access to, but trust me, she wasn’t deprived.”

He laughed. “Okay, that makes more sense.”

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