10. A Moment Of Weakness
10
A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS
“Y ou went to a holiday dinner with a guy’s family?” Jordan asked her two days later. “A guy that you just met? My sister, who won’t go on a date with a guy until she’s talked to him for a few weeks? Not even texts, but actually talked in person or on the phone?”
She rolled her eyes at her sister’s laughter. “Not true,” she said.
“What isn’t true? That you didn’t go to a holiday dinner with some guy? Or that you need more than a few weeks to talk to a guy before a date?”
“Now you’re just riding my butt,” she said.
Justine didn’t date often because she was the shy one between the two of them.
But she did date. When she found someone she was interested in.
It’d just been a few years since it was more than a few dates.
“Maybe a little,” Jordan said. “It has you laughing. I can hear the humor in your voice.”
No use denying it. “I met Garrett at work. He’s a doctor.”
“So you said. His whole family is? I can’t believe you met them all. Are you sure you’re okay? None of this is like you.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “It just sort of happened. And I didn’t meet them all, just most of them.”
She told her sister how she went to have dinner alone on Thursday night and Garrett was there and came over. They were talking and she caved in a moment of weakness.
“Were you thinking of backing out?” Jordan asked.
“I was close to it. I’m glad I didn’t. I think Dad would have been so proud of me.”
“He would have been,” Jordan said. “Tell me more about Garrett. Is he just a friend?”
“Right now,” she said. “I think it has to stay that way.”
“Why?” Jordan asked.
“Because I’m only here six months.”
“So?” Jordan said. “He’s only there a year. He lives in Boston. You work for the same hospital. You’ve got a lot of time to work things out. You could both stay there or both go back. Don’t lock yourself into a strong no without even knowing what the future will hold.”
She snorted. “I’m not sure what tomorrow is going to bring. Jordan, I’ve got so much drama in my life.”
“I’m going to sound like a broken record. So? Do you think you’re the only one in the world who does? I also know my sister. She doesn’t let her drama spew anywhere. Hence the reason you’re states away.”
“Good point,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure he’s got something going on too.”
“Why is that?” Jordan asked.
“He’s an oncologist.”
“Hard job,” Jordan said.
“Yes. He’s young. A few years older than me, so probably not practicing long. But he said he volunteered to work on the island for a year for a change of pace and to reevaluate his career. When I mentioned it was a hard job to balance, he said he obviously wasn’t doing it well.”
Which went back to her not wanting anyone else’s drama in her life.
“Did he explain anything else?” Jordan asked. “You said his family is full of doctors. What field?”
“All over the place,” she said. “But his father is an oncologist and now chairs the department. His sister is a pediatrician. His cousins are ER, radiologist, and OB-GYN, his uncle a surgeon.”
“Guess they’ve got a lot covered,” Jordan said. “But he followed after his father.”
“Just like you,” she said.
“Don’t feel bad about that,” Jordan said. “Dad knew you would never be a doctor. You can’t stand blood.”
She laughed. “I don’t care for it. No. I followed him the best I could. In the medical field without having to worry about blood and gore. I give shots when I need to. I can handle that.”
Jordan was coughing she was laughing so hard. “Sorry. It’s just funny.”
“I know,” she said. “So there you go. I’ve talked to him a few times and most of it on Easter was about the island and things to do. There were a lot of kids so I kind of kept it to that.”
She didn’t want to hear stories about the island or legends or lores or any of that.
Garrett’s family kept their word, and they avoided any uncomfortable topics.
“You like kids,” Jordan said.
“I do. It worked out well. We were the first to leave. I didn’t ask, but I think Garrett knew I’d had my fill.”
“What’s next with the two of you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We both worked yesterday, but I didn’t see him. I don’t often. I had today off. We’ll see what tomorrow might bring.”
“If he asks you on a date, will you go?”
“I brought up being friends,” she said. “Said I wasn’t looking for anything here. I think he understood that.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jordan said. “Have some fun while you’re there. He knows it’s only six months. You know he’s got a year. You’re both located in Boston. You’re making a bigger deal about this. Just see where it takes you more than anything.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” she said.
“Live a little,” Jordan said. “We know how short life can be.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Has Elise tried to reach out to you?” Jordan asked.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“It was the tone of voice you just used. I know you. There was a reason for it.”
Justine sighed. “She called on Saturday, but I didn’t answer it. She texted, but I didn’t reply.”
“What did she say?” Jordan asked. “Just block her like me.”
“I can’t,” she said. “Until the trial is over I want to have some inside information. I can’t just walk away completely, but I can’t be there for it day in and day out. I’m not on her side and she has to get over thinking I am.”
“Does Garrett know about Dad?” Jordan asked.
“I did tell him.”
“Wow,” Jordan said.
“I know. It’s shocking,” she said. “I’m not sure why I even said it. But he’s so easy to talk to.”
“Which could be part of why he is struggling with his job. Maybe he takes on people’s problems and it’s hard to turn them off.”
“I’m wondering that myself,” she said. “Which then made me feel bad I told him about Dad. As for Elise, she was complaining about money. That she’s going to continue to contest the will, and the longer this goes on, the harder it is for us to get our money. Like she is trying to guilt me into things.”
Elise wasn’t even fighting for everything by contesting it, just most. Her stepmother thought she was being reasonable that way. It was a joke.
“We both got our life insurance policies and all of Dad’s investments. She can’t contest that. He’s had our names as the beneficiaries for those things since before he met Elise. That was thrown out. That is the bulk of everything right there. All that is left is Dad’s savings account that her name wasn’t on and the house and assets in it.”
“The house is worth a million,” she said. “She needs that and the few hundred thousand in the savings for legal fees. I’m worried that with this going on she is racking up debt against his estate.”
“I talked to an attorney here. An estate attorney. If she’s convicted of murder, she gets nothing. Dad’s estate can’t be touched for her legal fees either. This debt she has, it’s hers incurred after his death. She knows that and she’s panicking.”
“You’re sure?” she asked.
“That’s what I’m being told. We have to let the courts do what they can. Right now, they aren’t deciding on the will because of the criminal investigation. But there is no reason she can win much. He had one life insurance policy at work with her name on it and it’s being held up over her arrest. That’s on her. Dad never changed his will. It’s been the same since Mom left. Not one person can say he wasn’t making a sound decision. Do you want to get an attorney and push this more?”
“No,” she said. “Unless you do?”
“I don’t need the distraction right now,” Jordan said. “Let it ride. As long as you’re fine that the bills are being paid out of the estate to keep the utilities on and maintenance on the property.”
“I’m fine with it,” she said.
“And you don’t want to talk about this,” Jordan said. “But we have to at times.”
“I know,” she said. “And we are. I didn’t reply to her. There is no reason to. She will not intimidate me to give her anything.”
“She always thought she could intimidate you,” Jordan said. “Stay strong.”
“I plan on it,” she said and hung up with her sister a few minutes later.
Justine looked at the clock and saw it was almost six. She wasn’t hungry and needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air.
She changed into leggings and a T-shirt, then tied a sweatshirt around her waist, put her sneakers on, and grabbed her phone and key.
A walk might be the best thing to clear her mind.
She took the path to the back of the apartments that would bring her to the road. There wasn’t much traffic and she’d be fine walking there.
Five minutes into her walk, she saw a runner coming her way.
As he got closer, her jaw dropped.
Garrett crossed the road and came toward her. “Well now, look at this. We meet again.”
“We do,” she said.
Why did this keep happening to them?
She realized now this was the guy that she had seen running before. Sometimes he looked like he was on a mission to win some race.
Today it was more of a casual run.
Her eyes traveled the length of him.
Seeing him up close in his shorts, she noticed he had some mighty fine muscular legs.
“I didn’t see you today at work,” he said.
“My day off,” she said. “I didn’t see you yesterday.”
“Busy day,” he said.
She decided maybe she was going to prove her sister wrong. Garrett was jogging in place while they talked. “Did you get home and just leave to run?”
“I did,” he said. “It’s a beautiful day out and I got out on time.”
“So no dinner yet?”
“Nope,” he said, smiling. “You?”
“No,” she said. “How about a home-cooked meal? My treat since I spent Sunday with your family and had a surprisingly good time.”
He laughed. “No way I’m going to say no to that.”
“I’ll head back now if you want to come over after your run. Not sure how long you’ve been running?”
“About ten minutes,” he said. “And I’m turning around to go back now.”
She laughed. “Then I’ll do the same.”
“See you soon, Justine.”
“The same, Garrett,” she said, smiling.
Her heart was racing and she had the biggest urge to run back home herself.