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“I’m sorry if I ever came across like I hated you,” Caroline said while the groups finished watching the video. “I don’t, never did. I just didn’t like the way you treated Tyler in high school.”
“What?” Isabelle said staring at her sister in shock, her brow rising in disbelief. “Howshetreatedhim? Pretty sure big brother was the instigator basically every single time they got into it from everything they’ve told us about them.”
“Which yes, we’ve heard directly from them when we went to see them because we have absolutely no problem with Justine being our sister-in-law,” Hailey added.
“What does that mean?” Madison asked looking from her towards Caroline then back towards her and the twins.
“You and Kevin were already out of school, so you didn’t know. Freshman and the first half of sophomore year Tyler wouldn’t leave me alone. I’d try to just ignore him, but he wouldn’t let me do that either. I didn’t know why…not until he followed me when I left a party because he kept bugging me while, I think it was Devon, was flirting with me. I was tired of it because I never instigated anything with him. I’d take a seaton the opposite side of the room from him so there wouldn’t be any issues, but he’d still find a way to call me out on it. That night though, he followed me, and I demanded to know why he couldn’t just let me exist. Why he had to irritate and annoy or pick on me all the time, and instead of answering with words…he kissed me, and everything changed,” Justine admitted, a smile slipping across her face at the memory. “I freaked out and hurried home very quickly but not because he’d waylaid me with a kiss but because everything inside me was telling me to never stop kissing him.”
“And the two of you started dating without anyone else being the wiser?” Madison asked and she nodded, laughing softly with a glance down towards Caroline.
“At school, nothing really changed. He still ‘picked’ on me but instead of just walking away or letting it upset me, I’d push back, and whenever we saw each other next, he’d always kiss me to make up for every single bit of it. It went from being the worst part of my days to one of the best, because I knew he didn’t mean a single word of any of it, knew how much he loved me just as much as I loved him.”
“Until you all graduated and then you left town without telling any of us that you were going to school early,” Madison said, and she avoided looking towards the twins as she nodded.
“That was when Grant dug down deep on the feud to avoid dealing with what was happening at home,” Barb said with a gentle smile at Hailey. “He didn’t want to risk showing any fears when you were sick, but it made him and Tyler butt heads more than usual. We didn’t tell him or Caroline that Hailey was as sick as she really was. Told them that the doctor needed to run some tests to make sure it wasn’t something genetic causing her kidney issues when really it was to see if any of us were a match for her to have a transplant. We were so focused on Hailey that it honestly wasn’t until he was home after graduating collegethat I realized just how hard he was when it came to women. I felt bad for ignoring him so much and tried to overcompensate by trying to find someone that would make him happy, soften him up so he wouldn’t become as hard when it came to his emotions as Grant was. When he and Angela started dating I wanted to cry because it felt like he was giving up, which is why I bugged him so much about the wedding, wanting it to be perfect, for him to voice his real opinions on it, tell us what he wanted. Really, I just wanted to know that he actually loved her because it felt like it was all just a chore for him.”
“Yeah, that relationship was as fake as Tyler and Justine barely knowing each other,” Isabelle teased, making Justine laugh softly.
“They’re friends but that’s all it ever was,” she confirmed for her mom and sister.
“That’s very clear to me now, as is the fact that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to my son growing hard because this,” Barb said, holding up the phone with the video paused showing Tyler holding her close, his head down next to hers, his hand resting on the back of her head, “is the son I knew was in there. The boy I knew would be an amazing husband and father when I saw him with the girls when they were little. I don’t know how much work it’ll take to get the men in our lives straightened out, but I won’t let any of them steal this from him. I’m so glad you came back when you did Justine. You’ve brought two of my kids back to me now.”
“And if this is how he treats you even just part of the time, I think you’ve pretty much won the lottery when it comes to men, Sis,” Madison said making the twins laugh drawing attention to their group and Justine noted the shock when people realized who they all were.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much constant when you’re with them,” Hailey told her. “Even if he’s not next to her, he’s constantlyreturning his attention to her to make sure she’s good. We were over there the day after that video was taken. Tyler was grilling but whenever he wasn’t checking on the meat, he was making sure she had what she needed.”
“Putting her on his lap unable to let her more than two feet from him, but it was all in the best way,” Isabelle added, and Justine smiled more because it was true. Every bit of it.
“That and seeing this…how he treated you in this video, makes it easier to know that you’re with him, no matter what your father might say about it,” her mom said, calming her heart further. “I want you to be happy, sweetheart and it’s clear that you are with him, so I want to be able to support this, spend time with you and Tyler together to see it in person. Your father has a lot of animosity and hatred for the Anderson family still though, so it might take a bit to get to a place where he’ll be able to handle hearing, let alone seeing the two of you together.”
“I know, it’s why we’ve pretty much stuck around home still. We’re not hiding it, but we know how the families are likely to react if we’re out and about everywhere and we don’t want it to feel like we’re instigating anything. Plus after being apart for almost ten years, we just want to spend time together, especially with his work commitments taking up more of his time since the summer season started,” she added with a grin as Madison wiggled her eyebrows at her.
“I guess the only question I really have right now is are you staying?” Madison asked drawing Barb’s full attention as her eyes widened a bit as though she hadn’t imagined that they might leave town. “I mean, I know you’ve been on vacation and then medical leave until you were better, but now that it looks like your arm is healed, are you going back to D.C. to your team? Or are you going to try and commute to Seattle? Maybe stay there during the week but come home on weekends sort of like Kevin did during college?”
Justine saw the worry on the twins’ faces at the questions and gave them a soft smile before looking back at her mom and sister to tell them the truth—or most of it at least—as to why she came home in the first place. “I technically was on medical leave the entire time, still am for at least another five or six weeks. I wasn’t physically injured, any bruises I got at the end of my last assignment were gone by the time I got here. It was my head that needed a break. That assignment didn’t go the way we wanted and the group we were after found out that I was FBI, came after me. Right now they think I’m dead, so that works to my advantage.”
“That’s why you were so…distant, remote, when you got home?” Madison asked and she nodded.
“I’ve been doing therapy, and it’s helped, but even more than that was just being with Tyler, feeling the love and care from him. I was in a place where I didn’t think I deserved to have someone love me. We lost someone on that assignment that I was close to, she was my responsibility, and it felt like I let her down. Tyler wouldn’t let me hide behind the wall I threw up to try and protect myself and mixed with being here, where it felt safe, it let me get to the place where the therapy could help with the rest. I haven’t had a panic attack or felt the need to go running to shut everything out for weeks now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything to us? Until Kevin came to the house, asking if it was true and you worked for the FBI, none of us had a clue what you were doing,” her mom said, cupping her cheek with a worried look on her face that melted away any of the resentment that she’d stood behind her father the last few weeks that was still lingering.
“I knew if you all didn’t have issues with me working for the FBI, you definitely would if you knew the kind of work I was doing. The danger that was inherent in it,” she admitted. “Ididn’t want everyone showing up trying to stage an intervention. I love the work that we do. It’s important.”
“We know it is, sweetheart. We just don’t want you to be so far away anymore, and with Tyler’s business established here, I’ll admit I was really hoping it meant you’d be staying,” her mom said, and Justine grinned making her mother’s brows lift, hope sliding through her eyes seeing it.
“I knew I couldn’t go back to what I was doing when I first got here. I just wasn’t sure what my next move was going to be once I was recovered enough to be back on duty,” Justine offered, and that hope grew even higher. “When Tyler started pushing me to make what was happening between us not just a diversion, but to find a way back to what we once were, I’d made my decision. I called my boss and told her that when my leave was up, I wasn’t coming back. That was just after the reunion,” she added sending brows upward around the table. “When Isabelle went missing, she cleared it with the higher ups for me to temporarily return to active duty because time was of the essence, and when we were all back, I let them know I hadn’t changed my mind. I still fully intended to leave and nothing in any of my therapy sessions has made me second guess that.”
“So you’re staying—for good?” Madison asked and she nodded. “Well I for one won’t complain about that at all. And now that everything’s out in the open, maybe I’ll finally get to hang out with you again.”
“I’d like that,” she mused smiling entirely as her mom cupped her face with both hands, giving it a little squeeze.
“Will you be looking for a job in town then? You have a master’s in psychology, don’t you?” Grace said and she nodded.
“I do and actually, Sheriff Davies mentioned something about his office as well as the police department needing someone to help with online things. It was a little over a month ago, but they were going to look at their budgets and see whatthey could swing. It would entail some of what I was doing with the FBI just from behind a computer and not me going undercover. I think I’m at a point that I could handle getting back into it, especially with Tyler behind me and the therapist on speed-dial.”
“Will there be anyone from D.C. coming to try and sway you back? Personally not professionally, that Tyler might lose it on, which would really not give him any points when it comes to your brother,” Olivia asked making her laugh at the absurdity of the possibility.
