She laughed, the low throaty laugh that had always turned him on. "Tyler Granger, my goodness! How are you?"
He smiled, absurdly pleased that she'd recognized his voice, and that she seemed pleased to hear from him. "I'm doing fine, still with the FBI. And you? Enjoying the travel?"
Giselle dealt in art and antiques, travelling all over the world to purchase items for the gallery she ran. "I always enjoy the trips but still, I'm glad to be home. What's the occasion, Ty?"
Tyler hesitated, trying to phrase his question so that he wouldn't offend her, "My family's having a big dinner on Saturday night. Cam's introducing his girlfriend to the family. I was hoping you'd have time to join us, help me round the numbers out."
She closed her eyes for a second, willing herself not to cry. When she spoke, her voice was steady, "Why not? I'd love to see your mother, I've missed her terribly."
He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thanks, Giselle. I'll pick you up at 6pm on Saturday."
-----
Giselle Lataille looked wistfully out the window, thinking back to the day she'd met Tyler Granger.
She'd gone to college with Cameron. They had become the best of friends from the moment they'd met. She had been trying to rescue a couple of kittens from a group of hoodlums, and Cam had come along and done his fancy martial arts on those hoodlums. Smiling at the thought of Cam, she realized that after all these years, she still didn't know what kind of martial arts he'd used. But that was Cam, the eternal rescuer.
The only reason she'd met Tyler and their father, Colby, was because one of Cam's rescues had gone wrong. Cam had refused to tell her all the details, but he'd left her apartment that day in a state. When the police showed up at her door looking for him because they wanted to question him about a murder, she had been terrified and called his father.
She had let herself into his apartment later, only to find Cam safe in his father's arms. Her respect for his father grew by leaps and bounds that night. He had straightened things out with the police, and the abused woman Cam had been protecting still made it safely to the shelter. But it was the sight that greeted her when she opened the door that endeared his father to her forever. She found him leaned back wearily against the arm of the couch, one knee against the back cushions and one dangling off the couch. Cam was nestled against his father's chest in exhausted sleep, left cheek against his father's upper left arm. Colby had his arms wrapped protectively around his son. His eyes were closed, but his cheek rested against Cam's head, like he'd just kissed his son on the top of his head.
She'd looked up then and saw Tyler for the first time. Her heart had leapt to her throat. She had known that Cam had triplet brothers, but she had expected Tyler to look more like Cam than he did. She remembered how his eyes mesmerized her. They were different from Cam's eyes. She'd found out later that Tyler had his father's eyes.
Giselle sighed to herself. She'd fallen in love with him that night, but he'd never made any moves towards her. He must have thought she and Cam were lovers, since she'd had a key to Cam's apartment. "C'est la vie," she thought, shrugging to herself.
-----
The thought that Giselle was only going on Saturday night because she missed his mother hurt Tyler terribly. He remembered the night they'd met like it was only yesterday. It was seared in his memory. She had let herself into Cam's apartment with her own key, arriving in a whirlwind of energy. Her auburn hair framed her delicate heart-shaped face, green eyes huge with worry over Cameron. He hadn't got along very well with Cam before that, but it got much worse after that. Tyler had been jealous of Cam over Giselle, and he was only now willing to admit it to himself.
Tyler still didn't know what Giselle was to Cameron in college, he only knew that they had gone their separate ways after college. He wondered at himself for calling her, sighing when he realized that he was merely a moth to her flame.
-----
"Oh, my God! Giselle!" Cam exclaimed in delight. "How long has it been?"
She laughed and hugged him. "Too long, Cam, too long! Tyler tells me you have a girlfriend. Introduce me, please! I have to tell her all about your exploits in college!"
Cam rolled his eyes, laughing, but he pulled Erin forward and introduced them. "Giselle got me into all kinds of scrapes in college, rescuing animals." Erin smiled warmly at Giselle, she had seen Giselle's wistful looks at Tyler when they came in.
"She's beautiful, Cam. Did you date in college?" Erin asked him softly, as Giselle hugged Hannah tightly and kissed Colby affectionately. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she saw the tears Giselle and Hannah shed in that hug.
"No, we didn't," Cam said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure why. We were close though, going on rescues together. We had each other's keys too. I just never thought of her that way. Why do you ask, Erin? You don't have anything to worry about, you know that."
Erin smiled shyly at him, she was still in a wonder over the fact that they were dating at all. But she didn't tell him why she was asking. She had seen Tyler's eyes widen at Cam's words, and that was more than she had hoped for.
"I didn't even know you had Giselle's number," Cam said to Tyler who grinned.
"I'm with the FBI. Finding a phone number is nothing," he elbowed Cam just for old time's sake.
"Oh, God, Tyler! No fighting tonight, please!" Hannah scolded him.
He shrugged good-naturedly, "Where's Brandon? Do we have to wait? I'm starved!"
"You're always starved," Brandon gibed, as he walked in the door with Jasmine.
"Jeez, Brandon, I can't believe you went to pick Jasmine up in those clothes," Cameron said in distaste. Erin laughed in delight at the expression on his face.
"Yeah, he's a joke, isn't he? Why are you dating him?" Brandon smiled at her, "You must be Erin of the sapphire eyes and alabaster skin."
Erin looked at him in surprise.
Brandon shook his head laughing, "Cam's been talking non-stop about you for the last few days. Tyler and I would have tied him down and tossed him into the ocean if it weren't for the fact that Dad would kill us. Or worse, Mama would cry. God only knows why." He grinned at Hannah and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
"Alright, alright, let's eat, before Tyler goes berserk and shoots everyone," Colby rounded everyone up.
"Don't tell me! It's lasagna!" Darren said laughing. They ate lasagna more often at this household than any other he'd ever known.
Erin and Giselle both giggled when everyone else cut him a dirty look, even Justin and Keeley. Darren looked crestfallen, until Colby took pity on him and slapped him on his back. It propelled Darren into the next room, and everyone cracked up in laughter at the hapless agent. He sighed, the things he did for love. Darren felt only marginally better when Verity kissed him.
Colby smiled at Hannah across the dinner table. He could tell from the sparkle in her eyes that she was happy. He could also tell from the chatter around the table that his family was happy. And that was all that mattered to him.