“We did,” TJ answered, accepting a mug of coffee from Gavin.“Forensics team was there.First floor looks completely gutted, but from what I could see, the upstairs didn’t look too bad.”
“Hopefully she’ll be able to save most of her things up there.”Bristol pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and slid a second tray of bacon into the large wall oven.
Tristan stopped talking when a door opened down the hall, looking toward the kitchen entry.Cassie appeared there in one of his button-downs and a pair of sweats.She’d folded them over several times at the waistband, but they still swallowed her.
“Hey.”Her hair was still mussed.
Tristan immediately went to her, drew her into a hug and kissed her temple.Autumn nudged Gavin with an elbow, and he hid a smile, well aware that she was jumping up and down inside.
He shot a smug look at Marley.See?
“Did we wake you?”Tristan asked Cassie.
“No.”She eased back and smiled politely at everyone.Gavin hated all of this for her.Her life had been turned upside down, she was still under threat, and now she’d lost her home and most of its contents.“Hi.”
Bristol crossed the room to give her a big hug.“Hi, babe.I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.”She looked to Tristan.“Nothing else from CPS or the Sheriff’s Office yet?”
“No.But we’ve made a big brunch.Hope you’re hungry.”
“Smells fantastic.”
“Here, Cassie.I set you a plate right here next to Uncle Trissy.”Carly gestured to the spot at the island, and Cassie walked over to her.
Once the food was ready and set out on the center island, Gavin hung back, watching Tristan and Cassie.It was extremely telling.
They might be identical physically, but he and his twin were different in a lot of other ways.Tristan was quieter.Contained.People sometimes overlooked or underestimated him when the two of them were together because Gavin was louder and liked the attention, whereas Tris preferred to stay in the background.
Their childhood and parents’ deaths had affected them, Marley and Decker differently.All four of them had dealt with it and coped in their own ways.Marley and Decker the parental figures.Gavin had goofed around pretending nothing fazed him.But the double tragedies had still left deep scars.If it hadn’t been for Autumn and her family giving him the stability of a safety net, he didn’t know what would have become of him.As for Tris...
He had turned inward.Hard.
Deep down, all of them feared abandonment.But Tristan especially.Food insecurity had left him starving for both nourishment and stability.
Tris felt things deeply.He was quietly emotional, kept things to himself and covered his pain with quiet determination and control.But an intense inner fire burned inside his twin that few people ever got to see.
And Gavin had just seen it now with Cassie.
His twin sat next to her as they ate, with Tristan watching her closely the whole time.And when she’d finished what was on her plate, she took some from his.Not only did Tristan not react, he gave her more.Willing to go hungry again to make sure she was taken care of.
“Hey, I thought I was the only one Uncle Trissy shared his food with,” Carly said with a laugh.
Tristan just smiled, and Cassie gave him a curious look, but it was telling that even Carly had picked up on the significance.
That outwardly innocent gesture told Gavin just how invested Tristan was.And it also told him there was no way to make him back off now, whether Cassie was as invested in the relationship as he was or not.
The kitchen was crowded.He angled between TJ and Warwick to make himself a plate.As soon as he finished, Autumn steered him out into the living room.“What?Why were you looking at him like that?”
“Him and Cassie.He’s all in.”
“I wondered.You think?”
“I know it.”It was a revelation.He’d never seen his twin like this, that inner intensity on display for everyone who cared to notice it.
Autumn shot a worried look over her shoulder.“Do you think she’s...emotionally available?I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Autumn had loved Tristan like a brother since they were kids.Almost as long as she’d loved him.“No idea.But let’s hope so, for his sake.”
