14. To Find Love
14
TO FIND LOVE
“S ee you next week, Troy,” Justine said on Friday when she was leaving work. “Or maybe I won’t since I’ll be on nights next week.”
“You might see me coming and going but not working together,” Troy said. “Hey, before you leave, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” she said. She hitched her purse up on her shoulder more and moved to the side where Troy was standing. “What’s going on?”
“That was going to be my question to you.”
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“With you and Dr. Mills,” Troy said.
“You’ll have to be more specific since there are several of them in the hospital,” she said. She was trying to stay calm but should have realized that this couldn’t stay quiet for long.
She didn’t even know exactly what the two of them had other than a lot of flirting, a few teasing kisses and one that was hot enough on her end that she didn’t want it to end.
But he probably didn’t feel the same way and she didn’t want to come off sounding like an idiot.
Troy just grinned. “Garrett. The one who comes down here with donuts and other morning treats. Who has come down more than twice in the month you’ve been here.”
“He’s being nice,” she said. “He appreciates we take care of his patients quickly. You heard him a few days ago.”
Troy smirked. “I did. And I believe that. But I also heard something last night.”
And here they went. “What’s that?”
“That someone saw Garrett on the ferry on Saturday with a woman.”
“Okay,” she said. She had a good poker face. Or at least she thought she did.
Troy laughed. “They described a woman who looked a lot like you. I don’t know a lot of women with straight blonde hair to their shoulders. The blonde so light it’s almost white. You don’t blend in very well. Oh, and she was tiny.”
Troy’s eyes looked her up and down. “What are you asking me?” she asked.
“Are you dating Garrett Mills?”
She didn’t think he’d be bold enough to ask her that.
“Whether the answer is yes or no, it’s not anything that has to do with work,” she said.
“I know,” Troy said. “And don’t get me wrong. I’m like that cat that is going to get killed with curiosity, but not in a bad way. Garrett, he’s a great guy.”
“So you’re looking out for him?” she asked.
She didn’t know they were friends. But it seemed to her Garrett inspired a lot of loyalty in people so maybe it was nothing more than that.
“No,” Troy said. “He can look out for himself. You never want to hear about the whole island thing.”
She sighed. If she did say yes to tell her, he’d never let her live it down.
She looked at her watch. “Summarize it in two minutes or less,” she said. “You should be working.”
“Oh man. Okay, the lore and legend of the island is love at first sight or fate. That many, many years ago Malcolm Bond was offered the hand in marriage to Elizabeth Rummer if he could find the island in three days. He was the ship’s captain and Victoria Rummer had been left her husband’s shipping empire. She needed a man to help her run it and offered it to Malcolm through her daughter’s hand in marriage.”
“Only if he could locate the island?”
“This island,” Troy said. “He ran into a storm and thought he was lost at sea, but when the storm broke, he saw land. Amore Island. There was Elizabeth. Love at first sight. They were married a long time with five kids.”
“I know the five children’s names,” she said. She’d heard enough about that before she came here. She’d just never heard what this lore or legend was. “So that’s it. People come here to find love?”
“Pretty much,” Troy said. “Those that aren’t even looking for it end up finding it. It hits the Bond family more than anyone else, but I think people come here on vacation trying to get engagements out of significant others.”
She rolled her eyes. “We are friends,” she said. Which wasn’t a lie. “Nothing much to say.”
“Right now,” Troy said, laughing. “And my two minutes are up.”
“Bye,” she said.
“That’s it?” Troy asked. “You’ve got nothing more to say?”
“See you next week,” she said.
She shook her head and went to her car, then drove home.
Garrett was going to come over at seven and they were going to watch a movie. She hadn’t been to his house yet. He hadn’t offered and she didn’t bring it up.
She wasn’t sure why, but it was fine in her eyes too.
She got home, grabbed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to change into, showered, and then went to the kitchen to put together a tray of snacks. He probably ate dinner, but she’d rather snack on these things.
When her phone rang, she grabbed it off the counter and hesitated when she saw it was her mother calling.
She couldn’t be her sister and block people or just pretend they didn’t exist even if everyone said she always avoided or ran.
“Hi, Mom,” she said.
“Justine,” her mother said. “I haven’t talked to you since your father died. How are you doing?”
That long? It seemed like just yesterday.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“You texted you moved to Boston,” her mother said. “Not sure why you went to colder weather. I’m on the Riviera right now. The weather is stunning.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it is.”
“You can’t run from everything,” her mother said.
“I’m not,” she lied. “And I’m on an island right now too.”
“You are?” her mother asked all excited. “On vacation?”
“No. I had to be relocated for work. A satellite office on an island off the coast.”
“So nothing nice,” her mother said.
“It’s beautiful,” she argued.
“I mean the weather,” her mother said. “Otherwise, how are you doing without your father? You’ve never been able to be away from him.”
Her mother only said that because Justine hated to be with her mother.
“Mom. That’s wrong. I was a kid and you guys were going through a divorce. You didn’t even want Jordan and me half the time. You got the life you wanted.”
“I love my daughters,” her mother said firmly.
“You love us because we are your daughters, but you had this life you wanted to live and you got it. That didn’t include having kids.”
“You look at it your way and I look at it my way,” her mother said primly. “You and Jordan could have traveled with Pierre and me and you chose not to.”
She wasn’t going to get into it with her mother who only saw things through her own eyes. “Was there anything else you wanted?”
“I was checking up on you,” her mother said. “With the trial and everything. How is it going? I’m sure Elise is holding everything up while she tries to take what should be yours and Jordan’s.”
It always came down to possessions with her mother. “Nothing has changed,” she said.
She’d told her mother months ago where things stood. The policies and investments in her and her sister’s name and everything else were frozen.
“Your father always had to be in control of everything. I’m not surprised Elise was left with nothing.”
She ground her teeth. “Are you saying that Dad was controlling and violent? Because if he was ever going to be angry or violent it would have been with you. His wife who cheated on him.”
Her mother snorted. “Your father never showed much emotion at all,” her mother said. “No, I believe nothing that Elise is saying, but he controlled everything when it came to money. You don’t know what it’s like because he gave you and Jordan everything.”
Probably because he was trying to make up for the fact that their mother left them.
“You wanted some fancy life that wasn’t Dad. You got it.”
“Your father had it and never spent it,” her mother said sarcastically. “He gave me an allowance for the household and that was it. Everything else was invested.”
“You had a job,” she said. “I heard you arguing back then. Dad told you that you could use your money for anything. He paid for everything else. I’m not sure what more you wanted other than to travel and it’s not like he could.”
“I could have fought him for so much when we divorced,” her mother argued.
“No,” she said. “You couldn’t. I know now. Pierre talked you out of it, didn’t he? He didn’t want the attention on the fact that he was having an affair with a married woman any more than you and Dad wanted it.”
Her mother was silent.
Pierre was fifteen years older than her mother. She was guessing he was seventy or close to it now. Her mother was even younger than her father, but not by that much. Just five years.
Pierre had some import export company or something that Justine didn’t care much about. But it gave her mother the glamorous life she always wanted.
“It doesn’t matter,” her mother said.
Which meant she was right. “Whatever,” she said. “I’ve got someone coming over soon, so I’ve got to go.”
“Are you dating someone?” her mother asked.
She wanted to say no or that it was none of her mother’s business, but maybe if she said yes and then hung up on her mother it’d be better and keep her wondering.
“I don’t know,” she said. She couldn’t even bring herself to do that much.
“So it’s a guy that is coming over?” her mother asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And I need to run.”
“Have fun,” her mother said.
“Sure,” she said and hung up.
She finished setting up the cheese, fruit, crackers, nuts, and some meats on the board. She was just putting dark chocolate pieces on it when her buzzer went off.
She ran to the door and down to let Garrett in.
“Hi,” he said. “Were you looking forward to seeing me?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling.
He laughed. “That’s good,” he said.
He followed her up the stairs and she tried to compose herself. She didn’t want the call with her mother to put her in a mood and should have never answered it.
But she didn’t talk to her mother often and it was the only parent she had left.
She just couldn’t be as firm or strong as Jordan was at times.
“Are you hungry?”
“I had something small when I got home and then went for a run,” he said. “That looks good though.”
His eyes were on the tray. “Thanks. I just got home, showered, changed, and put it together.”
“I should have brought wine,” he said. “That would go with it, but you told me not to.”
“I’ve got wine,” she said. “Not sure if you drink it, but I’ve got beer too. I told you I had the night covered. You’re taking me out tomorrow.”
He didn’t let her pay for anything last Saturday. Even their first dinner at McKay’s that was an impromptu thing, he paid for it.
She didn’t want to put up too much of a stink about it and asked why he kept doing it and he said it’s just the way he was raised.
Not that Garrett knew her wealth, but she made good money in her career too. He had to know that.
So maybe it was just what he said—it was how he was raised.
Her father was the same way and that was why it annoyed her that her mother needed more.
Even Elise.
Guess when it came down to it, her father didn’t have the best taste in wives.
“Do you know what movie you want to watch tonight?” He picked the tray up and brought it to the living room and then sat on her couch, putting his hand out for her to sit next to him.
“We can decide together,” she said.
“Do I get a hello kiss?” he asked.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said, turning toward him and putting her arms around his neck.
He kissed her lightly and she kept it that way at first. Just to be held by someone felt good.
That was the problem when you were alone so much. You missed human contact.
His mouth opened and hers followed and she realized she could get lost in this. That she didn’t want to worry about the outside world or her problems.
Not what people said about her. How they looked at her. Or what they thought.
She just wanted to be in Garrett’s arms and stay like this forever.
She gasped when that thought popped into her head.