“I’m guessing you don’t want to go for breakfast now,” Garret says.
“I’m not really hungry anymore. Maybe we could go somewhere else. I know I should clean this up, but I just want to get out of here. I can’t be in this room right now.”
“Then let’s go. I’ll just drive until you tell me to stop, okay?” Garret opens the door and his dad’s standing there.
“Are you two all right?” Mr. Kensington walks in looking very serious.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Garret says. “What are you doing here?”
“The dean called me. He said there was a break-in. And then he mentioned Jade’s name and I raced right over.”
I look at him confused. “The dean? How does he know?”
“Jasmine’s required to call him,” Garret explains. “And my dad is good friends with the dean.”
“Do you know when this happened?” Mr. Kensington asks me.
“No, but I’m guessing it was when I was at your house last night.”
“What did they take?”
“Nothing. At least I don’t think they took anything. I don’t have much and it looks like everything’s here on the floor.”
He glances around my room. “It looks like they took your TV.”
“I don’t have a TV.”
“Oh, I see. Well, that’s strange that they didn’t take anything.”
“Dad, you didn’t need to come all the way down here for this.” Garret uses an accusatory tone. I’m sure he assumes his dad is really there to lecture him about last night.
Mr. Kensington goes over to Garret and hugs him. “I was worried, son. I had to make sure you were okay.” Then he hugs me quick. “You, too, Jade.”
I’m speechless. Where is this coming from. Hugs? Concern? Has he lost his mind?
“Was that it, Dad?” Garret asks.
“Well, no.” His dad seems more fidgety than normal. “Can we talk upstairs?”
“We can talk right here.” Garret crosses his arms over his chest, ready for a verbal battle with his father.
“Okay, then. I would like you to attend Thanksgiving in the Caymans with the rest of the family. I know you don’t want to, but I really need you to be there.”
His dad is being very polite about this. Normally, he’d just demand that Garret do whatever he says.
“I can’t. I need to work on a paper that weekend. And I have to swim. We have a meet the following week.”
“You can do all that in the Caymans.”
I’m really hoping Garret doesn’t mention my role in his decision to stay home. The last thing I need is for his dad to hate me even more.
“Jade isn’t going home for Thanksgiving. I’m staying here with her.”
Shit! I cringe, preparing to get yelled at.
Mr. Kensington looks at me but he doesn’t seem mad. In fact he seems fairly calm. “Why aren’t you going home?”
“It’s too long of a drive for that short amount of time.”
“So you’re staying here? In the dorms?”
I’m so shocked he’s not yelling at me that it takes me a moment to answer. “Um, yes. I’m staying here.”
He nods and looks like he’s thinking about something. “Then I guess you should as well, Garret. I’ll tell Katherine you can’t make it.”
Okay, now I’m convinced the man has lost his mind. I don’t understand anything that’s going on right now. I glance at Garret, who seems just as confused.
“And Jade, you’ll stay at the house with Garret.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay. I don’t mind staying here.”
“You can’t stay here. They turn the heat down during breaks. You’ll freeze. I’ll have a room set up for you at the house.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Garret stares at him like he doesn’t know him.
“What about Thanksgiving dinner?” Mr. Kensington asks Garret.
“I’ll take her somewhere. I’m sure some restaurants will be open.”
“Charles will be at the house. I’ll have him make dinner. Unless you want to go to the club. They’ll be open.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out.”
“Anything else you need before I leave? You need any help with this mess?”
I almost pass out. Now he wants to help clean up my room?
“No. We can handle it,” Garret answers. “But thanks for offering.”
“Jade, I’m truly sorry this happened. This is normally a very safe campus. If you need anything, just call. Garret, give her my private number, not the main one. Katherine doesn’t know I stopped by today and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Okay. Bye, Dad.”
“Bye, Mr. Kensington,” I say as he walks out.
Garret and I don’t speak again until we see his dad in the parking lot.
“What was that about?” I’m whispering for some reason.
“I have no idea. Who the hell was that and what did he do with my dad?”
“He actually told you to stay here with me for Thanksgiving. And to stay at your house!”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t get it. But I’m not going to worry about it right now.” He steps over a pile of clothes to my desk. “So the guy took out every drawer but this one. He wanted to make it clear that he was here for the letter.”
“I guess.” I join Garret at the desk. He opens the drawer and moves some papers aside. “I’ve already looked. It’s not in there.”
“What’s this?” He holds up a small piece of paper. Written in red marker are the words, Keep Silent. Silence is rewarded. “Did you write this, Jade?”
“No.” I snatch the paper from him and read it again. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Here, sit down.”
I take his place on the chair and stare at the piece of paper.
“What should I do? Should I tell Frank? But this says to stay silent.”
He hesitates. “Maybe we should tell my dad.”
I set the piece of paper down. “Are you crazy? Why would we do that?”
“Come here.” He goes over to my bed and pushes the mattress back on it so we can sit down. “My dad deals with this kind of shit all the time. Threats from people he doesn’t know. The cops are never involved. He just takes care of it. I don’t know exactly how, but he gets them to go away.”
Although Garret has mentioned this before, I still don’t understand what he means. It’s like his family’s part of the mafia or something. But Garret assures me that this is how it works in wealthy families. People are always using threats and blackmail to try to get money from rich people, and the rich people somehow get them to go away. Getting the police involved would only bring publicity to the problem and wealthy people don’t want that type of publicity.
“I don’t want your dad involved in this. Besides, this should end now. Like you said, the guy got what he wanted. Any evidence of what happened that night is gone.”
“You’re not gone.”
I don’t think he meant to, but Garret’s statement totally freaks me out. I shudder as I think about it.
He hugs me. “I’m sorry, Jade. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“But you’re right. I’m proof of what happened. I’m proof of what that guy did to my mom all those years ago. That guy’s going to come after me, isn’t he?”
“If he wanted to do something to you, he would’ve broken in when you were home.”
“But he left that note. He might still be watching me or listening to my calls, making sure I don’t say anything. If I do, he’ll come after me.”
“You need to stop using that phone.” Garret points to the room phone. “I’ll get you a cell phone. For now, you can use mine if you need to call Frank or Ryan.”
“I don’t understand this. Why is this happening? What does he want?”
Garret kisses the top of my head as I rest it on his shoulder. “I don’t know, Jade. But he’s not going to hurt you. I won’t let him. Do you want to go shower before
we go?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I’ll start putting your stuff back.”
“I don’t think I want it put back. That guy touched all my clothes and my sheets. I feel like I need to wash everything. Could you take me to the laundromat? The machines here will take all day.” I run over to my desk, checking the drawer again. “At least he didn’t take my laundry money.”
I turn back and see Garret on the phone. “Hey, Dad. Will Katherine be home today?” He listens. “We wanted to stop by and wash Jade’s stuff.” He listens again. “Okay, thanks.” He hangs up.
“What did you do that for? I’m not doing laundry at your house!”
“Relax. We’ll drop it off and pick it up later. The housekeeper will do it. We have four washing machines. It’ll be done in a couple hours. Katherine left for some event with Lilly. She won’t be back until tonight. And my dad’s going into the office.”
“But, Garret—”
He stops me. “Go shower. What should I put your clothes in?”
I go to the closet and pick up the box of garbage bags sitting on the floor. I hand it to him, then leave to take a shower. When I get back, all my stuff is in bags.
“I’ll start taking these to the car. I’ll be right back.”
As he leaves, I realize how much I really do love him. My whole life I’ve never been able to count on people. Growing up, I had to take care of myself and my mom. Even when I moved in with Frank, I took the role of caretaker, fixing meals and cleaning the house. I felt like I had to in order to pay him back for taking me in. I’ve never had anyone take care of me the way Garret does. The way he just steps in without me even having to ask.
He walks back in my room and picks up another garbage bag.
“Hey.” I grab hold of his arm and look up at him. “I love you.”
He sets the garbage bag down and smiles. “I love you, too.”
I walk away, leaving him standing there confused. “That’s all. You can go back to work now. I just wanted to say it.”
He laughs. “Okay.” He picks up the bag and goes back out to the car.
I never thought I’d say those words to someone and now I’ve said them three times in less than 24 hours. And the weird thing is that I like saying them.
15
We drive to his parents’ house and give the bags of clothes, towels, and sheets to the maid. It’s so strange to me that Garret’s family has people to do things like clean their clothes and make their meals. I know that’s what wealthy people do, but it’s still strange.
Rather than wait around at the house, we go to a coffee shop in town and eat breakfast.
“Garret, are you going to have maids and cooks when you graduate and get your own place?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I guess I might get a maid, but only because I can’t stand cleaning. But I wouldn’t have a live-in maid like my dad has. And I don’t need someone to cook for me. I can do that myself.”
“You can cook? I didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t say I was great at it, but I can put stuff together and make a meal. Why are you asking me all this?”
“It’s just that when I go to your house, it’s like a different world with all the hired help. It doesn’t really seem like your type of lifestyle.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to live that way. We didn’t have all those people working for us until after my mom died. But we also lived in a much smaller house back then.”
“Is it around here? Your old house?”
“It’s in the next town, like 20 minutes from here.”
“Could we go see it?” I say it, but then realize that I probably shouldn’t have. “Never mind. We don’t need to.”
“We have some time to kill. We can drive by it. I haven’t been back there since we moved.”
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have suggested it. It’ll just remind you of her.”
“It’s okay. I like being reminded of her. And I’d like to see the house. Come on. Let’s go.”
The town where he used to live reminds me of the small towns in Iowa. It has a white steeple church and a town square with little shops all around it. He drives down a winding road that leads to a neighborhood. I’m surprised he even remembers how to get there.
He stops at a two-story brick colonial style house. It’s big, but not even close to the size of his current house. This one looks like a normal house, not a mansion or an estate. A tall maple tree stands in front and well-groomed bushes line the sides.
“This is it,” Garret says, parking on the side of the street. “I used to climb that tree all the time. I fell out of it and broke my arm. Twice.”
“It’s a nice house. Let’s get out and walk around.”
“Why? I thought you just wanted to drive by.”
“We drove all the way here. Let’s check out the neighborhood.”
“Okay.” He turns the car off and races over to open my door. I get out before he gets there. It’s sweet that he opens my door, but not always necessary.
We stand in front of Garret’s old house and he points to an area by the front porch. “My mom used to have this huge flower garden all along there. And she always filled the window boxes with flowers. She loved flowers.”
“I think I would’ve really liked your mom,” I tell him.
“She would’ve liked you, too.” He takes my hand as we stroll down the tree-lined street.
“This is a nice neighborhood. I’d like to live on a street like this someday.”
“Me too.” He smiles at me as if I was hinting at something.
“No. I didn’t mean . . . I’m just saying that it feels safe here. Like you could let your kids play outside and not worry.”
He smiles again. “And how many kids do you plan on having, Jade?”
I stop walking. “What? No. I wasn’t talking about me. It was just a general statement. I’m not having kids. I don’t even like kids.”
“You like Lilly.”
“Yeah. But she’s the exception to the rule.”
“If you had your own kids, you’d like them.” He pulls on my hand and we continue down the sidewalk. “I’m going to have three kids.”
“Three? You’ve just decided this? Don’t you think you should wait until you’ve consulted with the woman who’s having these kids with you?”
“I guess you’re right.” He glances over at me. “So what do you think? Three kids?”
The question stops me again. “Real funny, Garret. I don’t think I’m the woman to ask. You need to wait and see who you’re with in 10 or 15 years and ask her.”
“I’m looking at who I’ll be with in 10 or 15 years.” After he says it he starts walking again.
I follow him. “You don’t know what’s going to happen that far off.”
“No. But I know that I want to still be with you. Are you planning on dumping me before then? Finding someone else?”
I can’t imagine being with anyone else. But I also can’t imagine him sticking around that long.
“I’m sure you’ll be tired of me in a year and want to date someone else.” There I go again. Saying something that ruins this great moment we’re having. Between last night and this morning, he’s made it perfectly clear that he wants to be with me and then I say something that invalidates it all.
“Why do you say shit like that?” He stops and spins me around to face him, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “I told you I love you. And I meant it. I’ve never said that to a girl. I want you in my life, Jade. Not just for a year or two. For longer than that. A lot longer. But maybe you don’t feel the same way.”
“No. It’s not that. I just . . . I just don’t know why you’d want that. Me. I don’t understand it.”
“You don’t have to understand it. I love you. That’s all you need to know.”
I begin walking again, looking at the houses on each side of the street, noticing how quiet the town is and how peaceful it seems.
&n
bsp; I notice that Garret is no longer beside me. I turn back and see him still standing there. “What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”
“What do you think of this one?” He’s pointing to the house next to him; a white two-story with black shutters.
“It’s nice, I guess.”
“You don’t like it. Okay, we’ll keep looking.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was trying to find us a house. You like this neighborhood, right?”
“We’re not looking for houses, Garret. We’re 19. So stop it. You’re freaking me out.”
He catches up to me. “That’s why I said it. It’s funny to watch you get so freaked out by the idea of a future with me.” He pauses. “Well, I guess it’s not that funny.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m not freaked out. I’m just not ready to think about it yet. I just told you that I love you and that was a huge step for me. I never thought I would say that to someone. I have to get used to that before I think about where we go next.”
“So you’d consider a future with me?”
“Of course I would.”
Truthfully, I want that more than ever. But every time I want something really bad, I don’t get it. It doesn’t work out and I’m left disappointed. But if I lose Garret, I’ll be more than disappointed. Losing him will hurt. A lot. So I’m not ready to go there yet. I’m not ready to consider a future with him.
“We should head back. By the time we drive to your house, my stuff will be ready to pick up.”
“Thanks for suggesting this, Jade. It was good to see everything again. It’s just like I remembered.”
When we get back to his house, my laundry is stacked in white boxes, waiting to be picked up.
“They even folded everything,” I say, looking in one of the boxes. “I should go say thank you to whoever did this. That was a lot of work.” I look in another box. “Check out my sheets. There’s no wrinkles. They ironed my sheets, Garret!”
He’s laughing at me. “Yeah. I know. I grew up here, remember? My sheets were always ironed.”
We bring the boxes to the car, then drive back to campus. We see Harper as we’re carrying the boxes to my room.
Knowing You (The Jade Series #2) Page 12