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“What?” Grace gasped as her eyes went wide with shock.
“The night she left town, we were supposed to meet here, all of this,” Tyler said motioning to the flowers and gazebo, “was from me to her. She always ran through here and I wanted her to know no matter what I might say at school or around town that I wanted her, loved her.”
“Then what happened? Why did she leave town?”
“She overheard her parents arguing about what Dad had been doing to them lately, came over to warn me that we should probably stay away from here for longer than we first anticipated and overheard Mom and Dad arguing about what to do with Hailey’s illness.”
“She knew about Hailey?” Grace asked in shock, moving over to sit down on the steps of the gazebo trying to wrap her mind around it.
“She knew how much the twins meant to me, knew with how our parents were acting they’d never begin to accept us together. If Hailey had died…” He stopped, shuddering a bit at the idea of it being possible still.
“Your parents would have found a way to blame the Crawfords,” Grace said understanding that much. “Did she tell you why she was leaving?”
“No, if I’d known that she left to try to protect me—our family—I would have gone and searched every single school in the country until I found her, brought her home and married her right then and there. Then told Dad to shove his fucking feud up his ass,” Tyler admitted, and Grace smiled lightly at his cursing. Her cousin never cursed except when he was really, truly pissed.
“And now?” she asked sensing he wasn’t about to let the feud stop him still.
“Now, I’m doing my utmost best to get Justine to tell me what has her so worried, scared, about her past that she’s refusing to see and admit what we have. She said she had a bad relationship and that’s why she doesn’t want to risk us, but she also can’t turn me away. Hasn’t been able to since she got to town, which tells me she still loves me even if she hasn’t said it yet.”
“What exactly does that mean Tyler?” Grace questioned meeting his gaze head-on.
“I saw her before I shredded my hand that morning when she came home. She’s why I shredded my hand, and at church I couldn’t stop from talking to her again. I was angry as hell with her for showing up right when I’d finally told myself she never would, and that I should just suck it up and marry Angela the way I’d agreed to. Then there she was in the flesh and as tickedas I was at her, I knew I still wanted her, still loved her. I said some hurtful things to her and there was a look that crossed her face when she said she’d hurt just as much for me as I had for her, and I couldn’t leave it like that. So I went to her hotel room that night and she told me why she’d left.”
“And you slept with her…that’s why you didn’t care when Angela took off with her ex,” Grace surmised, and he nodded. “You’ve been sleeping with her since she’s been back, while engaged to Angela?”
“It wasn’t a real engagement, wasn’t ever going to be a real marriage, just something to get everyone off our backs. Then Justine shows up and tells me what she did for me and there wasn’t a chance I could walk away again.”
“Leaving so your parents didn’t try to keep you out of Hailey’s life? What could have been the end of her life, because you’d married her?” Grace questioned seeing the expression that crossed his face as he thought about it.
“That’s not all she did Grace,” Tyler said moving over sit with her. “I just don’t think I can tell you.”
“Tyler, you can tell me anything and I will never tell a soul.”
“Yeah well, it’s not so simple and since you’re Hailey’s primary doctor now and she’s still a minor…”
“What about it Tyler? What does it have to do with you and Justine?” Grace said and Tyler ran his hands over his head before looking back to his cousin needing her word about what he was about to tell her.
“None of this goes beyond this step—I mean it Grace. You cannot tell anyone, least of all my parents…”
“Hand to god, just tell me what’s going on Tyler,” Grace stated knowing whatever it was had to be big if he was this worried.
“You know Hailey’s the only one of us whose blood type is O, let alone her being O negative which means none of us coulddonate blood let alone a kidney for her. Well, it turns out that Justine’s O negative as well,” he admitted, and Grace’s brow rose in surprise. “Justine left here, went to Seattle and sat down with Hailey’s doctor; she got tested and was a perfect match for Hailey.”
“You’re telling me…Hailey’s kidney didn’t come from a teenager who died in a car accident, it came from Justine?” Grace said in shock.
“I saw her medical tests, she has a scar where they extracted her kidney, and she gets regular blood panels ran since she only has one. The woman I love, have always loved, saved my sister’s life and I can’t tell anyone that she did because of a stupid asinine feud that started before any of our existences were ever thought about. You know how close we were to losing Hailey, a couple more months of waiting on a transplant list…”
“She wouldn’t have made it. Her kidneys were fully shutting down, she would have been on dialysis daily soon…Justine’s decision saved her life,” Grace acknowledged reaching out for Tyler’s hand, squeezing it for comfort for them both.
“Yet I can’t tell anyone without both sides going berserk. Justine’s parents would have forbidden her to do it, no matter if she was eighteen and could legally make that decision or not, they would have disowned her for it. Dad would never have allowed it to happen…knowing that a piece of a Crawford has been inside his daughter for the last ten years…”
“He would rather die himself than see that happen,” Grace said when he couldn’t. “I can’t believe Justine would do that and then stay away for ten years though. Why did she do it when no one in the family has ever been nice, let alone kind to any of the Crawfords? Well, other than you.”
“She knew how much I loved the twins, knew that if she’d stayed we would have eventually come out, potentially beendisowned as it was. If it ever came out that she donated her kidney to Hailey…there would have been an uproar about it all.”
“True,” Grace agreed. “I take it you’re no longer angry at Justine then?”
“No, how can I possibly be angry with her for saving Hailey’s life? Yes, I missed her every single second of every single day that she was gone. Hell, I burnt this place to the ground to try to forget about her, but I never could, and I never will be able to, I know that now.”
