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“We have no desire to hear any of your negative responses to that news. In fact, if we hear anything negative or derogatory about it or the other family, be it via call, text, or email, we will block you until such a time comes that you can respect our decision to be with the person we love most,” Tyler warned, as he traced her face gently with his knuckle. “Now, as I said before, we’re sorry for hijacking your service Pastor, but we knew this information needed to come out in a neutral location all at once. We know there is going to be a lot of questions and comments regarding our decision to get married, let alone that we’re together to start, but, I am taking my wife on a honeymoon to enjoy some time with just her without all of your interference.”
“We hope by the time we get home you’ll all be willing to discuss things civilly, and if there are any issues while we’re away, know that the sheriff and police departments are already aware of this news, and they won’t put up with trouble from anyone. We will respond to polite messages while we’re away, but we do not intend to answer calls. If something urgent comes up, text us and we’ll get back with you,” Justine suggested.
“Which means hopefully at least one person in the family hasn’t been blocked if that happens,” Tyler tagged on making her grin. “Enjoy the rest of your service,” he added towards Pastor Adams who was sitting on the edge of the stage in frontof the pulpit shaking his head at the grumbles and exclamations coming from everyone before they turned to head out the door.
Footsteps hurried after them, but they were already down the front steps before her father made it out the door, the sheriff on his heels.
“Justine Elena Crawford!” he shouted after them and she turned, giving him a smile.
“I love you Dad, but Tyler’s the man I love and if you want me in your life, you’re going to have to accept that,” she told him before slipping into the car as Tyler held the door open for her.
He leaned over once he was inside it, giving her a quick kiss as Sheriff Davies stood with a hand on both of their father’s chests as they shouted after them and at one another.
“Do we turn off our phones or just put them on silent?” Tyler asked when they both began to go off as they pulled out onto the road.
“Let’s just put them on silent. I’ll keep an eye on them, make sure nothing comes through saying our dads tried to kill each other and are at the hospital,” she suggested, and he turned off the ringer on his after taking it out of his pocket to pass over to her.
She turned off the ringer on hers, glancing through the messages from everyone that’d already come through on hers before moving over to Tyler’s to make sure no one had said something awful enough they didn’t want to deal with them right now. A laugh bubbled up seeing the message from the twins.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, and she turned the screen for him to see the photo they’d sent of the two of them giving the phone a ‘stern glare’ and his brow rose. “And what did they say?”
“Let’s see, Hailey said you’re a rat for getting married without her there to see it happen, and Isabelle said…you better not have been picking on me meanly in high school after we were togetheror she’ll kick your butt,” she told him and he nodded, leaning over to give her a quick kiss before turning his attention back onto the thankfully straight highway out of the area.
“I wouldn’t say it was meanly would you, babydoll? I think most of it was more foreplay than anything,” he mused, and she laughed lifting a brow at him making him chuckle. “What?”
“You think telling your sister that we were having bantering foreplay during high school won’t have her asking more questions, or asking why you’re so hard on the guys they date then?” Justine asked making his eyes darken a hint. “Didn’t think so.”
“Well, the difference is, you were always mine while most of the guys that come around are asshole little boys that just want some fun. I might have wanted lots of fun with you, past and present, but it was always with love behind it.”
“I know and it’s the same with me,” she said, resting her head back to enjoy the long drive with him.
The cabin was gorgeous, but she hadn’t doubted it after seeing Daniel’s place in Seattle. They’d stopped by on their way to Vancouver since Angela wanted to loan her the bracelet she’d worn for the wedding but forgot it at the house.
It was late afternoon when they got there, and they dropped their stuff off before going to get groceries not wanting to have to go out again the rest of the day beyond maybe taking a walk. Once they were back, all thoughts of a walk along the coast disappeared and they slipped into the bedroom spending most of the evening and all night in it wrapped up in each other.
The days slid from one into the next as they checked messages once or twice a day, blocking a few that sent threats or ‘hopes that they burned in hell together’ from some of the more vocal members of their extended families. The only real outside contact she had beyond a few responses to her mom and sister’s messages was with her therapist. Tyler respondedmostly to the twins’ questions, Grace, and his mom who unlike the twins wasn’t so easily accepting of their relationship let alone marriage.
She was sitting at the kitchen island after her therapy session ended, watching Tyler cook their lunch. He’d gone down to fish while she talked with the therapist, giving her privacy although she told him it wasn’t necessary. His smile said he’d be glad to do some fishing and that was one thing she hated. The only reason she ever went while they were in school was to spend time with him. Most of the time she just laid around on a blanket or with her head resting on his thigh reading while he did it.
He’d come in with a couple fish already cleaned and deboned, ready to cook and while she might not like to fish, eating it was another story entirely—especially the way Tyler cooked them. Her mouth watered at the thought of the savory herbs and butter with the flaky fish and a soft sigh slipped out.
“You okay, babydoll?” he asked, slipping up behind her and she nodded, resting her head back against his chest, tipping it back to look at him with a grin.
“Just dreaming about your delicious garlic butter and herbs fish recipe,” she said glancing back to her computer when a call came through it. She answered the video request from Melissa, smiling at the surprise that spread across her face finding Tyler’s arms wrapped around her, his muscle tank style shirt revealed more of his chest than it covered but she loved it. “What’s up?”
“I think that should be our question. Living dangerous still are you?” Melissa asked as the rest of the team leaned in to get in the frame.
“Not exactly…just enjoying my honeymoon with my husband,” she said drawing gasps from the group but none of them were angry sounding unlike at the church Sunday.
“I’m sorry, your husband?” Luke said and she nodded, holding up her hand to show off the band and Tyler lifted his as well with a smile, his head resting against hers. “Damn, when did you get married and where are you now because I’m sure you wouldn’t be that relaxed knowing how many family members could find you unexpectedly at his place.”
“Officially we got married two weeks ago today, in Vancouver to help avoid any chance of anyone discovering our plans ahead of time. Originally we didn’t intend to tell everyone so soon, but we were tired of hiding after just a week so we told everyone at the church Sunday then came down to the Oregon coast, using a friend’s place while they dealt with the news,” she answered with ease.
“We won’t be back until late next week, weekend maybe. I don’t have any jobs I’m needed at until a week from Monday so we’re playing it by ear until then. If it seems that we’re still getting more angry rather than supportive messages then we’ll take every moment of peace we can get before heading back,” Tyler added, dropping a kiss onto her smiling lips before moving back to the stove to check on their food.
“So, was there a reason you called?” Justine asked as the group just nodded looking between them in surprise still.
“We thought you’d like to know that Wendell flipped on his brother to weasel out of all of the kidnapping counts. He didn’t join his brother until he got out of jail and Harvey had come out here, so you were right. The first time we were after Harvey he was working alone. And the reason the coms didn’t work on the property is because they had a signal jammer and only their walkie-talkie’s worked on a specific frequency that was too low for the coms to work on,” Melissa added making her feel better about that.
