Page 54 of Playing for Keeps
“I did. He came to visit me at work when he saw the photo of us online.”
“He went to the station? Are you kidding me?”
“I’m glad he did. We’ve talked things out, and he’s not ready to chop me up into little pieces and feed me to the pigs anymore.”
“That’s a relief,” Caroline said, panting, even though she hadn’t moved. “So, everything is okay?”
“Better than okay. He’s a good guy, and we care about the same thing.”
Caroline tilted her head slightly. “What is that?”
Justin’s chin dipped slightly lower until their foreheads almost touched. “You.”
Oh, wow. That one little whisper of a word had somehow stolen her ability to breathe.
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I wanted to get to know Jordan without worrying you if we couldn’t get along for some reason.”
“You think that was a possibility?” she asked. All of her thoughts and dreams about Justin meeting her family had been a jumbled mess from the beginning.
Maybe everything was happening at the right time. Jordan had gone through a lot during his time with the Marines. He’d lost part of his leg, been medically discharged, and been forced to take up a new career after his old one let him go. Before he met Alicia, he could have given Oscar the Grouch a run for his money.
“I’d like to meet Clint too,” Justin said. “Do you think he’d be willing to meet with both of us? You know, in case he decides I look like a punching bag?”
Caroline snorted a laugh. “Clint isn’t the one you should have worried about. If you’ve won over Jordan, Clint will be a breeze.”
Justin wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing them even closer. The heat from his body seeped into her chest.
“Do you think I could meet your parents too?”
There was a soft vulnerability in his question that broke her heart. Justin didn’t deserve to be shutout for the sins of his father, and her family would see that. Why had she believed they’d react any differently?
“I’d love that. I’ll ask Mom when we could all have dinner together. You know, Mom already likes you.”
Justin’s eyes widened, reflecting the light-blue moonlight off the whites around his irises. “Really?”
“Yeah. I told her about us shortly after you left. She said she understood why I hid it from her, but she also reminded me that I can go to her with any of my problems.”
“I’m glad I didn’t cause a rift between you and your family. That was one of my worst fears. You have everything I never did, and I know how important that is.”
Her heart still squeezed every time she thought about Justin’s childhood. She couldn’t imagine growing up without a loving family. They’d lived so close to each other, yet experienced such different lives.
“I’m sorry about your grandparents. I looked for any news about a service after I heard they’d passed.”
“I didn’t see a point in doing anything if no one would show up. Plus, if Chuck came, it would only be because he wanted to pick a fight with me.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.”
Justin let out a small huff, and a plume ofsteam billowed out his nose. “It’s my fault for pushing you away. I know that, and I hope you can forgive me.”
Caroline slid her hand up his chest. “I already have, and I understand why you did it.”
“You do?”
“You didn’t ask me to choose between you and my family because you know I’d choose you, and you thought choosing you would mean losing them in a way. I wish I could have had the chance to explain it to you at the time, but I can love my family from wherever I am. Distance doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter between us either.”
Justin rested his forehead against hers and whispered, “I thought it would, but you’re right. It didn’t change the way I loved you.”
Caroline closed her eyes, content to stay here in his arms. “It’s over now. Time for a new beginning.”
