He frowned. “What have you heard?”

  Her head went back and forth. “Penelope knows we went on a few dates.”

  “Oh,” he said. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “I wasn’t keeping it a secret on purpose. It just didn’t come up. Your brother guessed about me, she did about you. She didn’t tell Griffin. Or she said she wouldn’t, but told me he was bound to hear it the longer it went on. That it might be better if he heard it from me.”

  “I agree,” he said. “Is there a reason you don’t want to tell him?” he asked and told himself not to be bothered or hurt over it.

  “I didn’t want to tell him after a few dates. Anything can happen then and we know it. But now, we are at the next step. He should know. I’d like to be able to dance with you at the wedding in two weeks without there being too much shock.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “I will be there.”

  Which meant he should tell his mother too. She’d be thrilled at least. She might give him a lecture though and he’d have to be prepared for that.

  “I know you will be,” she said as she cooked the eggs. He got the butter out of the fridge and found forks and a butter knife, getting the plates down too. “Penelope told me. I’ll be at the main table obviously.”

  “But I want my hands on you. You’ll be dancing with Crew, right?” he asked.

  “I guess. I know Eli is the best man and Emily the matron of honor. We’ll be lined up that way for the pictures. Who dances with whom is beyond me. Penelope made a joke about Emily dancing with their cousin, so they might swap us for that part of the ceremony. It doesn’t matter to me either way.”

  “Eli is liable to give you an earful about me if that is the case,” he said. He didn’t think his cousin would be too bad, more like trying to get under Griffin’s skin.

  “I’m sure. I know Eli and Griffin bust on each other all the time. I’m glad Griffin has that in his life.”

  He looked at her face when she said those words and then dropped her head down. “I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”

  “I didn’t,” she said. “But neither did Griffin as a kid. I told you, he was homeless for a period of time until in the service. He never had a place of his own until he left. His place at the casino is the only place he’s ever had to call his own.”

  Alex hadn’t thought of that. Or realized it either, but it made sense. Once their parents were gone, it was foster care, or in Griffin’s case, the service.

  “Now he’s got the Bond family,” he said. “You too. Just another branch of it.”

  “The same as Griffin. He’s got Eli’s branch and now Penelope’s.”

  “And you’ve got mine,” he said. If he wanted to fight back those words he realized superglue wouldn’t have kept them from spilling out.

  He was going to have to watch it now because he knew the last thing she wanted was another man trying to protect her, but he was feeling like Superman needing to catch Lois Lane from the building she fell out of while he held her tight in his arms.

  The toast popped and he got to work and pushed those thoughts from his mind.

  “I’ll tell Griffin this weekend if I can,” she said. “He’s working tonight, but he has Sundays off. I hate to infringe on their family time.”

  “You’re family,” he pointed out.

  “I know. You’re working tomorrow and the next three days, right?”

  “I am,” he said. “But you can text me, as you know. I’ll respond if I can. Or call. I’d like to know how it goes.”

  She nodded her head and brought the eggs over to the plates, dumping more than half on his and the rest on hers. “And let me know when you tell people. I’ve learned, on this island, half your family will know in days, the rest before the wedding.”

  “You can count on that.”

  17

  Stand On Her Own

  “Is this some kind of a joke, Jennie?” Griffin asked the next afternoon. She’d texted Penelope and told her the plan and her future sister-in-law invited her for an early dinner. She said she’d make Griffin’s favorite to soften him up.

  She hadn’t thought that was funny, but looking at the expression on her brother’s face, it might have been needed. All it did was put her back up.

  “I’m not laughing,” she said calmly as she picked up her drink. Penelope gave her a glass of wine and she needed it. Zandra was sleeping and she figured it was as good of a time as any to break the news. No reason to sit around waiting for the right time.

  She was realizing that there might not be a right time.

  “You’re dating Alex Bond?” Griffin said. “The same Bond that goes through women faster than I change my socks.”

  She frowned. “No. I’m dating Alex Bond. The same Alex that I’ve been dating for almost a month now.”

  “Fuck,” Griffin said.

  “Language,” Penelope said.

  “She’s sleeping and even if Alexa was awake, she doesn’t know what I’m saying.”

  Her brother was scowling now and the temper she had that she held back most times was starting to claw its way to the surface.

  “There is no reason to swear. Why did you?”

  “I think your brother is more ticked off he didn’t see this. Or didn’t know before now,” Penelope said.

  Griffin turned to look at his fiancée. “You knew, didn’t you? And you didn’t tell me?”

  “It’s not my place to tell you,” Penelope said. “It’s Jennie’s. I don’t see what the big deal is. Did you think your sister was going to remain celibate?”

  “Urgh,” Griffin said, running his hands through his hair. “Stop.”

  “Griffin,” Jennie said. “I’m not a virgin. I lost that a long time ago when you weren’t in my life.”

  He turned to look at her. “And I would have reacted the same damn way if I was in your life back then.”

  “But you weren’t,” she said firmly. “I don’t make a habit of sleeping around. I haven’t dated one person since I’ve lived here. It’s been ten months. I don’t go out and do anything with anyone unless it’s with you and your family.”

  She saw the sympathy in Penelope’s eyes and didn’t want that. “I should have you over more,” Penelope said.

  “No. You’ve got a career and a child. Two children since you live with Griffin.”

  Penelope laughed, but Griffin only narrowed his eyes more. “You always had a mouth on you.”

  “Survival,” she said. “I believe my brother taught me that.”

  He sighed. “Now your playing lowball.”

  “It’s not my intent to play anything,” she said. “I’m dating Alex. I like him. I’m not someone to get walked all over. We share the same blood, you should know that.”

  “I do,” he said.

  “And I’m not stupid. I’m fully aware that Alex gets around and we’ve had this discussion. We had it right away.”

  “My cousin isn’t that bad,” Penelope said. She wasn’t sure if Penelope was saying that for Griffin’s sake or hers. Either way, it was nice to hear.

  “He’s not,” Jennie said. “He treats me well. He’s a hard worker. He might not have your wealth or that of many in his family, but I don’t want that. It’s not me. I like him better.”

  “Excuse me?” Griffin asked. “What does that mean?”

  “It means this fancy life you’ve got or you adapted to isn’t for me. It doesn’t make me comfortable.”

  “It didn’t me either,” Griffin admitted.

  That was news to her. “It sure doesn’t look it now.”

  “I’ve had years of Eli shoving it down my throat. It’s for the business, he’d say. That is why I did it. My own things, I buy them myself and it’s what I want.”

  Just like her brother was dressed in worn jeans and a T-shirt now. He’d always been a big guy, but he was more so now. He probably had a lot more muscle on him than Alex, but again, not what she wanted.

  She wasn’t afraid of men. Or she didn’t think she was. She could stand on her own and had before. Some men didn’t like it. And if they got in her face, she got right back in theirs before she walked out for good.

  Which was funny since Alex was in her face yelling and pissed off the day he pulled her out of the fire. She gave it back without a problem. But she didn’t walk away. Rather she walked toward him.

  She realized he was doing his job. He was concerned about her too. Not many men were concerned about her in life that she could remember. Just Griffin when she was a kid.

  As an adult, she was on her own.

  “Then why are you giving me such a hard time about wanting to pay my way here?” she asked.

  Penelope jumped in. “Because he feels guilty that he has what he does and you didn’t. That he wasn’t there for the years he was here. Right, Griffin?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Jennie knows that.”

  “I don’t want you to give me things out of guilt,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “I’m not,” Griffin argued.

  “Then why are you?”

  “Because I love you and you’re my sister. I should have been there for you and I wasn’t. You can live on your own. You’ve proven it and said it time and again. It’s not that. It’s just why can’t I try to make your life a little easier than it’s been? I don’t think that is such a bad thing.”

  She hadn’t heard much more after he’d said he loved her. She knew he did.

  She knew they were getting to a good place again. But he hadn’t said those words to her.

  “I love you too,” she said. “But I’m twenty-seven and don’t want to feel like a charity case.”

  “No one thinks that,” Penelope said.

  “Sometimes I think Griffin does these things because he doesn’t want others to think badly of him for not doing it years ago.”

  Griffin looked at her, his eyes not leaving hers at all as they stared each other down. He finally spoke, “I don’t need other people to judge me when they can’t judge me as harshly as I’ve done myself.”

  He walked out of the room and she was left there with Penelope. “That went well.”

  “Give him a minute to cool down,” Penelope said. “I know he feels what he said. He beats himself up all the time for the past several years that were wasted.” Penelope looked around as if to see if Griffin could hear. “When I found out about you, I was stunned. I was annoyed that he wasn’t talking to you. Not when I heard your family’s story and history.”

  “What did he say about that? About your reaction?”

  “He said he couldn’t bring his demons into your life. That you were in a good spot. That he’d been watching for years. He knew a lot about you. You know that.”

  She did know. “That makes me feel worse,” she said. “He knew where I was and could have reached out and didn’t. I wonder if I hadn’t made the first step if he would have.”

  “He would have,” Penelope said.

  “Because you would have made him,” she said.

  “No. Because he’d want to. When I tell you your brother wasn’t in a good place, you have to believe me. You both had childhood trauma and different memories. It’s not a secret he felt he failed your mother and he didn’t want to fail you. But he did anyway. At least in his mind.”

  Jennie didn’t want to argue that but felt she should. “I think he failed himself more than me and he has to live with that, not me. I can’t be bought to salvage his conscience.”

  “I don’t think that is what is happening. No one is trying to buy you. He wants you to have the opportunities he was given by Eli. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t want them, but my cousin has a way of making you take them.”

  “Like Griffin is doing with me?”

  “He’s not forcing you like you think. He’s giving you a way to have a better life. It’s not a bad thing. No one who knows Griffin would think his sister would take advantage of anything. I’m pretty sure the whole family is aware you’re just as stubborn as him. I’m guessing Alex does too?”

  “Most likely,” she said.

  “Things are good there?” Penelope asked.

  “I like to think so. He’s a little more touchy feely than I thought.” She lowered her voice. “He’s kind of sensitive.”

  “Alex?” Penelope asked, grinning. “Are you sure we are talking about the same Bond male? Eli, yes, Alex, not really.”

  “Maybe I’m not used to it. It’s just soft words and touches.”

  “Ahhh,” Penelope said. “Your brother is like that with me but no one else.”

  She’d seen glimpses of it but not a ton. Griffin wasn’t one to show a lot of affection, but Penelope was one to do it and put Griffin on the spot. Her brother was a good sport with it.

  She had seen his soft side with his daughter though and she had to remember that too.

  “That is because Griffin loves you.”

  “That’s right,” Penelope said with her head tilted.

  Jennie refused to believe Alex could love her after a month of dating.

  Sure, they got along great.

  And yes, she was feeling a lot for him that she hadn’t for other men she’d dated before.

  But there were still parts of her that were staying locked up and losing her heart to a man was one of those things.

  She’d been down this road before and it never ended well.

  Griffin returned to the living room with his daughter in his hands. “Did you wake her?” Penelope asked.

  “No. I went upstairs and heard her moving around. No reason to make her cry if I’m right there,” Griffin said. Her brother dipped his head down and rubbed his nose against his daughter’s. “I’ll always be there for those I love, even when I’m not. I need her to know that.”

  Griffin turned to look at Jennie and she felt her eyes fill a little. Yeah, he was still struggling.

  They both were.

  Rather than fight, they needed to get past the horrible memories in their childhood. “I’m sure she knows it,” she said. “Just like me.”

  He nodded. “Then maybe she’ll cut me some slack when she is older.”

  “Or not,” she said. “Knowing it and accepting it are different things. But you’re going to have to accept the fact I’ve got a boyfriend and we’ll be by each other on your wedding day. You won’t make a scene, will you?”

  “He wouldn’t dare,” Penelope said.

  “No,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have words with him.”

  “I don’t think either of us expected any differently.”

  It was the best she could hope for now and it’d have to be enough.

  18

  A Girlfriend

  “You’ve got a girlfriend?”

  “I do,” he said to his mother on Tuesday morning.

  Jennie had told him about the conversation with Griffin. He wasn’t surprised that Griffin gave her a hard time or that he was going to talk with him at some point. He expected as much.

  Other than that, he supposed it was the best outcome he could have hoped for.

  Now it was time to tell his parents. He didn’t want to come over after work on Sunday or Monday, but since they were retired he figured it’d be easier to come before he went to the garage to work with Carter on Tuesday. He had to go into work tonight too, so he’d only spend a half a day with Carter.

  “I’m stunned,” his mother said. “When was the last time you could say you were dating someone?”

  “He dates,” his father said. “A girlfriend is different. I’m not sure I’ve heard that word out of your lips since Lizzie.”

  It was the last thing he wanted to hear. “Probably right,” he said, shrugging.

  “She wasn’t for you,” his mother said. “She was snooty and stuck up. I’ve passed her a few times on the island since. Or her parents at least. Her mother is the same way and turns her nose and goes in another direction.”

  “If you were Janet or Helena she wouldn’t do that,” he said.

  “She still would,” his father said. “You know it and I know it. It’s the way they are. They think they are better than other people, but their shit still stinks up the bathroom like yours and mine.”

  He laughed over his father’s words. Bill Bond always said it like it was.

  Alex was known for that too, but he would have added a smile to his face for it. That was one thing Lizzie didn’t care so much for either. She said it was embarrassing and that he was uncouth.

  He found there was a lot Lizzie thought was embarrassing. Like the line he’d come from.

  “She’d lift her nose up at me for saying that,” Alex said. “Then she’d tell me that is gross and inappropriate.”

  “Not sure what you saw in her,” his mother said.

  He shrugged. “We met in Plymouth. I didn’t know her parents had a home here.”

  He was in college at the time and working in a bar. She came in and hit on him. He’d told her his name and didn’t think anything of it. If he were from James or Edward’s side of the family, common sense would be he wasn’t working as a bartender. Nor did he feel the need to explain things.

  She said she knew the Bonds. Her parents had a summer home on the island. Again, he didn’t care. It meant nothing to him, as he’d never met her before.

  They’d dated two months. He had fun with her. She’d met his parents once.

  Yes, he’d used the word girlfriend and his mother was right—he hadn’t done it since.

  “It doesn’t matter now, Alice,” his father said. “It’s over with. Who are you dating? Sorry, who is your girlfriend?”

  “And how long has it been going on?” his mother asked.

  “It’s Jennie Zale.”

  “Griffin’s sister?” his father asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Aww,” his mother said. “Is it because you saved her?”

  His father snorted. “I heard she went up one side of Alex and down the other. I’m surprised he could walk out of the hospital with his tail between his legs the way it was.”