Chapter Thirty-Nine
Justin – Friday
I pulled my suit on and grinned at the reflection staring back at me. Outwardly, I was still the same man, I still looked exactly the same, but I could tell that there was something very different about me. I looked happier, lighter, like I had a whole lot more to live for.
I grabbed my phone quickly when it started to ring, hoping that it would be Annie on the other end of the line, but instead I found myself faced with another number that was becoming annoyingly familiar to me: Garrett’s lawyer.
The problem was every time I spoke to him now, it was bad news. He never had anything positive to tell me, which drove me insane. Why couldn’t Garrett just play ball for once? Just to help out the people who were trying to help him!
“Hey, there,” I answered wearily. “What’s going on now?”
“I just thought that you should know that the court case date has been set. The trial will be in four months’ time.”
“Okay,” I replied slowly. That seemed quite quick to me; usually these sorts of things took up to eighteen months, but maybe there was a reason for that. “Does Garrett know?”
“Yes, I’ve spoken to him about it, but, well, you know how he is.”
I knew only too well. He had clearly abandoned his plan of getting out of jail now that he’d seen how impossible that was, and he’d decided to get locked away for as long as possible. He was doing everything that he could to make everyone else’s lives harder. At this rate, he would never get out, but if that was what he wanted, then so be it. There was nothing that I could do anymore.
“Okay, well, I might go and see him today,” I replied decisively. Even if it was the last time that I saw him, I had to give it one last try. Even if there was nothing that I could do, I wanted him to know that I would be there when he needed me.
My father would just have to understand that I’d done all that I could, and that all I had left was just being there.
“All right. Good luck.”
After I hung up the phone, I glanced at my watch to see that I still had enough time before heading into the office. I didn’t have a lot planned, I just wanted to discuss my idea moving forward with Lucia. As my PA, she would have to be very involved with whoever I got in for the managerial position because it was likely she would then be working under them. She was an awesome personal assistant; I didn’t want to do anything that would get rid of her.
I definitely had enough time. It was time to suck it up and go and see him.
***
“Thank you,” I murmured to the guard as she showed me the way. “I appreciate it.”
I sucked in a deep breath to calm me down and turned to face Garrett, who looked even more aggressive than he had the last time I laid eyes on him. This wasn’t going to go well, that was immediately apparent, but to be honest, I hadn't really expected it this time. This wasn’t really about that anymore.
“How are you, Garrett?” I asked cautiously. “Did you hear the news about your court date?”
“Yep,” he snapped back, anger dripping off his tongue. “So why the fuck are you here, because it sure as hell can’t be about that. You haven’t given a shit so far, so why would you now?”
I sighed loudly and sat in front of him. He was just doing what he could to push me away; I needed to be the bigger person about this. “Of course I care about it; you just need to face up to what you’ve done. It has to be made right.”
He rolled his eyes at me and folded his hands stubbornly across his chest. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that. What I imagine is that you’re here to tell me that you’ve decided to ignore my advice, and you’re still going to hook up with that woman.”
Wow, he was good. I mean, I hadn't come to tell him that, but the fact that he could tell that was the case was something else. I didn’t dignify the comment with a response, but I didn’t really have to.
“Well, you carry on, brother. You’ll soon see that you’re just like Dad.”
“Give that a rest,” I warned, unable to help myself. “I’ve made my decisions in life, I know what I want, and there’s nothing you can say to change my mind. Maybe the Gains gene is a bad one, I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean that I have to behave in a certain way. I am my own man, and I can do what I want.”
I stared at him intently. If this was going to be the last time that I ever saw him, then I needed to say it all. “I feel bad for you that you found Mom’s suicide note. I know that must have been hard for you. Maybe if you shared that with me at the time, I could have helped you, but you didn’t.
“However, that doesn’t mean that you need to carry the burden, either. You are your own man, as well, and the choices that you’ve made are your own. You can’t blame that on anyone else.”
“You know nothing,” he spat back. “Don’t you dare come in here all high and mighty when you have no idea about my life.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” I replied simply. “You never wanted to share yourself with me, so I didn’t ever stand a chance.”
It hit me how he’d lived with me for all those years, carrying all that weight on his shoulders and I never noticed it. We might have been there together, but there was never any real support going on. I was wrapped up in the business, and Garrett was on a downwards spiral that had consumed him.
“Look, I know that you don’t want me here, so I won’t come again. But please know I’ll be there at your court case, and that I’m always willing to come and visit you, whenever you need me to. All you have to do is ask.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” he shot back coldly. “Just go.”
I did as he asked, but I felt much lighter as I left the prison this time. He would be in one place for years, contemplating what he’d done. He would come back to me when he was ready, I was sure of it. And when he did, I would be a better big brother. I would make up for all the mistakes I’d made the first time around.
Now it was time for my meeting with Lucia, to see what she thought about the future of the company.
***
“So, that’s my plan,” I smiled at Annie across the dinner table. She hadn't been expecting me to come until tomorrow morning, I hadn't told her about it, but after my amazing meeting with Lucia where she told me how willing she was to help with the next step in the company, it felt like the right thing to do.
“I’m going to start looking for managers now and spend as long as it takes to train them up, then I will be free to move down here. I’ll still have to go back to Portland for things now and again, but mostly I’ll be here with you…if you want me, of course.”
“Oh my God,” she gasped loudly, clapping her hand across her mouth. “Are you serious? That’s incredible.”
“I want you to come and live with us!” Rae squealed excitedly. “You can have my bedroom if you want; I’m hardly ever in there.”
That made us all laugh appreciatively. The future wasn’t here yet, and it would take a while for all of that to happen, but the fact that we were planning for it was enough. It showed Annie just how committed I was to making this work.
“I just can’t believe you would do all of that for me. I mean, I know that I said I wanted to stay in Florence, but I didn’t expect…” She was starting to lose her words now as she welled up with tears. “I don’t know, it’s all just so much.”
This was it, the moment was here, no time would ever feel quite as perfect as this one. Sure, it was chaotic and slightly messy, but so was our relationship, so actually it felt really right. I took her hands in mine and stared deeply into her eyes.
As I looked at her and smiled, I wondered what had taken me so long. I should have known that any declaration of emotions would only please Annie, not push her away. Honesty was what she needed, especially after all that she’d been through.
“I love you,” I told her quietly. “I love you, and I love Rae, too. You’re both the best people that I’ve ever met.”
Annie was gone, tears streaming down her face, but luckily Rae was there to jump right in. “I love you, too, Justin,” she smiled excitedly while bouncing up and down in her seat. “I liked you the first time I saw you.”
“Me, too,” Annie eventually managed to blurt out through the tears. “I liked you from first sight, too.”
“No you didn’t,” I teased her playfully. “You thought that I was arrogant and annoying…I know I came off that way.”
It still made me cringe how weirdly show-offy I became around Annie the first time we met. I thought that I’d impress her by letting her know how successful my company was, when really what I should have been doing was showing her who I really was deep down. “But I don’t blame you for that. I’m just glad that you stuck around for long enough to see me.”
“Well, admittedly that was only because I wanted your money,” she joked back. “But I’m glad, too. I don’t know what I would do without you in my life now.”
The same was true for me. Being here with her in Florence made me feel peaceful in a way that I never had done before. It was like I belonged there. Sure, Florence was the place I’d planned to retire to much later in life, but places could always change. I was nothing if not flexible. I loved it here, and if I could find a way to keep my company mostly running with me working from a virtual location, then everything would be perfect.
Then, if one day I could make things right with Garrett, my life would be complete.
“Wow, so you’re going to be busy for a while, then,” Annie interjected, shaking me from my thoughts. “Getting everything sorted with the company.”
“True, but I’m not the one who has more books to write. I guess you’ll just have to make time for me somewhere…”
She tugged me from my chair and planted a kiss on my lips, not even caring who was watching. “I’ll always have time for you,” she told me sincerely. “No matter what.”
“Even if I have to sit there and watch you write books?” I asked through a smile, feeling so special that I clearly meant so much to her.
“Even if you have to write them for me!”
In that moment, I felt complete, like I finally had a properly functioning family that wanted me. All the past simply melted away, and all that was left was me, Annie, and her adorable daughter, Rae. And that was perfect, all that I would ever need.