Forever You

by Allie Everhart

  Garret watches her leave. Pearce notices his disappointment and puts his hand on Garret’s shoulder. “The fireworks will be starting soon. Why don’t you and Jade go find a place to watch them?” His face brightens, as if he’s trying to pretend the scene with his parents never happened.

  “Yeah, okay.” Garret plays along, his serious expression gone. “Come on, Jade. Let’s go look out back.”

  Pearce turns to leave, then says, “Oh, Charles picked up some bug spray when he was at the store earlier. He has it inside if you need it.”

  “We could probably use that,” I say to Garret. “I’ll go get it. I’ll be right back.”

  I walk quickly through the house, hoping I don’t run into Holton. I still can’t believe he stormed off like that. I wonder if he’ll hide in the house for the rest of the night. Or maybe he’ll just leave.

  This really sucks. I feel like everyone would get along if I weren’t here.

  When I get to the kitchen, I see Charles arranging the firecracker cookies on a large platter. “Hi, Jade. You need anything?”

  “I was looking for the bug spray.”

  “It’s in the closet.” He walks down a short hallway to the closet by the back door and pulls out two spray bottles. “I meant to bring these out earlier but I got busy cooking and forgot.”

  He hands me the bottles and we walk back in the kitchen.

  “Everything all right out there?” Charles asks.

  “Um, yeah, it’s fine.”

  He smiles, knowingly. “They can be a little intense. Believe me, I know.”

  I love Charles. He always knows what to say. It’s like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. I feel like we have this special bond as the two outsiders in this crazy, drama-filled house.

  I glance back to make sure nobody’s around. “Intense doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

  “Just ignore them and have fun.”

  “Yeah, I’ll try.”

  “If you see Lilly, tell her I’ll be bringing the cookies out in a few minutes.” He laughs. “She keeps coming in here asking when they’ll be ready.”

  “I will. See you out there.”

  I feel more relaxed after talking to Charles. He’s so laid back. He doesn’t let stuff bother him, which is the only way he could survive working for Katherine. That woman treats him like crap. I’ve never seen her have a conversation with him or even say hello to him. She just orders him around. At least Pearce is nice to Charles. That’s probably why he keeps working there.

  As I’m going down the hall, I hear Holton talking in the dining room. He sounds angry. I peek inside and see him standing in the back of the room with his phone to his ear. I wait outside and listen. I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop but if he wanted privacy, he should’ve shut the door.

  “Eleanor forced me to come. She wanted to see Lilly. But if I’d known he was bringing that trashy girl to the house, I wouldn’t have agreed to it. Now I understand why they didn’t have the big party this year. Can you imagine what an embarrassment it would’ve been having her show up at such a gathering? It makes me sick seeing her with Garret. It was bad enough at Christmas but now she thinks she owns him, the little tramp. And Pearce just stands by and allows this to happen. I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into him.” Holton stops talking as he listens to whoever’s on the other end of the phone. Then I hear his voice again. “He’s always lacked good judgment when it comes to things like this. That’s clear now more than ever.” He listens again. “Yes, we’ll talk about it on Monday. Let’s plan on having drinks after the meeting.” He pauses. “Yes. You as well.”

  “Did you find it?” Pearce startles me as he approaches me in the hall.

  “Yes.” I hold up the bottles of bug spray. “Did you need some?”

  “No, the bugs never bother me. They never have.”

  “All right. Well, I’m going outside to find Garret.”

  Pearce walks toward the kitchen while I head back to the patio. Garret appears behind me just as I’m opening the sliding glass door.

  “Where did you come from?”

  He laughs. “Nice to see you, too.” He holds up a sleeping bag and a blanket. “I found us a spot to watch the fireworks but I needed to get something to put on the ground.” He takes my hand. “Come on. The show will be starting soon.”

  It’s dark now and Pearce lit the tall metal torches sticking out of the grass. There are also white lights strung around the cone-shaped shrubs that are in giant pots around the edge of the patio. It’s really pretty.

  As Garret and I make our way around the pool, I spot Holton sitting at the table having some kind of liquor in a short, fat glass. He’s seated next to his wife, who’s holding Lilly on her lap. Lilly’s telling her something, her arms flailing around as she talks.

  I feel Holton’s eyes on Garret and me and I start to get nervous again. Then I remember what Charles said and I force myself to relax. I’m not letting Holton get to me. And I’m definitely not letting him ruin this evening that Garret is trying so hard to make special for me.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  11

  Garret takes me to a secluded spot he found out back by the woods. He spreads the sleeping bag over the ground. “Lie down and test it out.”

  “Test what out?” I lie down as instructed.

  “The spot. Make sure it’s good.”

  “I’m not sure how I would know that until the fireworks start.”

  He lies down next to me and stares up at the sky. “It’s good. It’s the perfect spot.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just do.” He sits up and grabs the blanket.

  “Then why did you ask me?”

  “Here. You might need this.” He hands me the blanket.

  I toss it aside and pull him closer. “I’d rather have you keep me warm.”

  He leans down and puts his lips on mine.

  Just as we kiss I hear a crackling noise followed by a loud boom. It startles me and I jerk up, hitting Garret in the head.

  “Jade, what the hell?” He rubs his forehead, laughing.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” I lean up and kiss his forehead. “There. You’re all better now.”

  “I don’t think so. I think you just cracked my skull open.”

  “I did not.” I watch as he continues to rub his forehead. “Shit! Did I really hurt you? Maybe we should go inside.”

  “I’m fine. But you could kiss me again and make it better.”

  I give his forehead another kiss, then lie back on the sleeping bag.

  “That’s it? It’s going to take a lot more than that to feel better.”

  The sky booms again, raining sparks of color over us. “We’ll kiss later. I don’t want to miss the fireworks.”

  “That’s true.” He lies down beside me. “You don’t want to miss this.”

  Fireworks continue to shoot off and as Garret promised, they’re spectacular. Garret says this is his dad’s favorite holiday so he goes all out on the fireworks every year.

  “What do you think?” Garret holds my hand as we gaze up at the colorful sky.

  “This is amazing! I’ve never seen fireworks this close up before. As a kid, I just went outside and tried to see if I could spot some in the sky, but I never actually went to see fireworks.”

  “Well, now you get your very own show.”

  Two big blue and red ones shoot off, followed by a white one that’s in the shape of a star.

  “How is your dad able to do this? Aren’t fireworks illegal in this state?”

  “My dad has an arrangement with the cops.”

  “What kind of—”

  He squeezes my hand. “Don’t ask. Just enjoy the fireworks.”

  Another Kensington secret that probably involves bribes or blackmail or other things I don’t want to know about.

  As I watch the red, white, and blue explosions lighting up the dark sky, Garret turns on his side and kisses my cheek. “I love doing this.�
�

  I keep my eyes on the fireworks. “Doing what?”

  “Lying next to a beautiful girl on a warm summer night watching fireworks. I’ve never done this before.”

  I flip on my side to face him. “You’ve never watched fireworks with a girl?”

  “No. I usually just stand by the pool and watch.”

  “Why haven’t you ever brought a girl over?”

  “Because normally we have like two hundred people here for the Kensington Fourth of July.”

  I glance around at the woods surrounding us. “You could’ve taken her out here and got some privacy.”

  “I guess.” He runs his hand down the side of my face, his eyes on mine. “But I didn’t have the right girl to do this with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Holidays are a big deal to me. I’m not going to ask just any girl to watch fireworks with me.” He gives me a soft, sweet kiss, then looks at me and smiles. “It had to be the right girl. And she didn’t show up until last September.” He lies on his back again. “Took you long enough.”

  I laugh. “Sorry. If I’d known you were waiting around for me, I would’ve moved to Connecticut a lot sooner.”

  Another firework shoots off creating a canopy of red and blue sparks.

  He puts his arm out and I snuggle up next to him, my hand on his chest, my eyes aimed up at the sky.

  “Garret, if I’d gone to your high school, do you think you would’ve dated me?”

  “Probably not.”

  I jab him. “Hey! You’re supposed to say you would have.”

  “It’s not about me. You’re hot. Of course I would’ve asked you out. But you would’ve said no. You never would’ve dated someone like me. I was messed up in high school. I drank constantly and partied every weekend. You probably wouldn’t have even talked to me.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Another blast of color explodes in the sky. “But then why weren’t you that way when I met you?”

  “I sobered up a little over the summer when I was living in DC.”

  “Why? Because you didn’t want to lose your internship?”

  “I didn’t even want that internship. I didn’t care if they fired me.” He hesitates, then says, “I cut back because Sadie’s not much of a drinker.”

  Garret and I try to avoid the topic of Sadie, given that she’s my half sister and he dated her for two months last summer.

  “So Sadie got you to stop drinking?”

  “I still drank, just not as much. But after she broke up with me, I went back to drinking like I used to. And if I hadn’t met you, I’d still be drinking like that, probably even more than that.”

  I’m quiet as I try to imagine what Garret’s life would be like if we’d never met. Would he be drinking every night? Failing in his classes? Getting in trouble all the time?

  “Well, sorry I took so long to get here.”

  “Thank God you did.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the inside of my wrist. “I love you.”

  I smile. “I love you, too.”

  Fireworks start shooting off, one after another.

  “Check it out, Jade. The ending’s the best part.”

  The sky lights up with color, a continuous stream of red, white, and blue. About a minute later it gets quiet and the sky is left with a smoky haze.

  “Wow! That was amazing.” I scoot up so that my face is even with his.

  “I told you it was a good show.”

  “It was a great show. It’s official. We have now celebrated every holiday together and they were all great.”

  “Some of them were better than others.” He lightly rubs my hand as he says it and I know he’s referring to Easter, which we weren’t able to celebrate together. I never asked Garret what he did that day, or any of the days we weren’t together. I don’t want to talk about it. I try not to think about last spring. Both of us do.

  “But this year all the holidays will be great,” Garret says.

  “Really? Are you already making plans?”

  “Not yet. But this year each holiday will be our first holiday together as a married couple so we have to make each one memorable.”

  “You like celebrating stuff, don’t you?”

  “You got a problem with that?” He kisses me.

  “No. I love that about you.” I kiss him back and we keep kissing until Garret pulls away.

  “We should probably go back to the house and say goodbye to my grandparents.”

  Say goodbye? They didn’t even say hello. That’s what I want to say, but I don’t.

  We both get up and I grab the blanket.

  “Just leave it.” Garret draws me into him and talks by my ear. “Maybe we’ll come out here later when everyone’s asleep and check out the stars.”

  “Check out the stars? Really? That’s all we’d do?”

  He laughs and takes my hand, pulling me back toward the house.

  When we get to the patio, Garret’s grandparents are standing there like they’re about to leave. They see us coming toward them and Holton takes hold of his wife’s arm, turning her away from us and leading her to the sliding glass door. Garret stops abruptly and watches as they open the door and step inside the house.

  “Wait,” Garret calls out. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye?” His comment makes his grandmother stop which forces Holton to stop as well since he’s holding her arm. But neither one of them turns around. Holton gets a firmer grip on his wife’s arm and the two of them walk away.

  I see the hurt in Garret’s eyes and on his face. It makes me want to run after Holton and tell him he’s a mean, awful person but I know I can’t do that.

  I turn to Garret. “Are you okay?”

  He puts his arm around me. “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Lilly runs out of the house. She’s in her pajamas. “Did you see the pink ones?”

  She’s referring to the pink fireworks that started off the show.

  I pick her up because she’s so cute and tiny and I really miss her. “I saw the pink ones. They were pretty.”

  “Daddy got them just for me. I like pink.”

  Garret laughs. “Yeah, we know.”

  Pearce comes out on the patio. “Lilly, honey, you need to get to bed. You were just supposed to say goodnight to them.”

  She hugs me. “You want to sleep in my room tonight? I could make my dolls sleep on the floor.”

  “I don’t think that would work. I’m kind of big. I need a bigger bed.” I set her down.

  “Okay.” She holds her arms up to Garret. “Night, Garret.”

  He leans down to hug her. “See ya tomorrow.”

  Pearce takes Lilly inside. Garret and I stay out on the patio and take a seat by the pool, enjoying the warm summer evening.

  “This is a nice set-up back here. The pool and the lights. I like it. Maybe we could get a pool someday.”

  “Jade, I’m a swimmer. We have to have a pool. And I want to teach our kids how to—” He stops, his eyes on the water. “I just think we need a pool.”

  I don’t respond. I wasn’t expecting the kid topic to come up and it’s not something I want to discuss right now. I know we should. We’re getting married in a couple weeks and kids should be discussed before we do that. And we have discussed it. Garret knows how I feel and says he’s okay if we don’t have them. But I know he’s not.

  “Did you enjoy the fireworks, Jade?” Pearce is standing next to me. I was so deep in thought I didn’t even notice he’d come back out to the patio.

  “Yes, they were amazing. I don’t know how you did all that.”

  He laughs. “I just wrote a check and let other people do all the work.”

  “Well, it was great. I loved it.”

  “Mind if I sit out here for a few minutes? I’d like to spend some time with you two before you leave tomorrow.”

  Garret pulls out a chair. “Have a seat.”

  We start talking but avoid any mention of what happened with Garret’s grandparents. Ins
tead Pearce asks us how we like living in California. We tell him about the town we live in and what we like to do there. There’s a lot to say because Garret doesn’t talk to his dad much.

  Then we talk a little about the college we’ll be going to in the fall.

  “And school starts after Labor Day?” Pearce asks Garret.

  “Yes. The Wednesday after Labor Day. Just like Moorhurst.”

  “When are you moving?”

  Garret looks at me. “We haven’t decided. The real estate agent said we could move into the beach house the end of August so probably around then.”

  “I’d like to come out and visit before the semester starts. I’ve been meaning to fly out there and check out the school but I haven’t had time.”

  “You don’t need to check it out, Dad. It’s a good school. You already talked to Kiefer about it and I sent you that information packet they give to parents.”

  “Yes, and I read through it, but I would still feel better if I saw it for myself. I want to see the campus and see where you two are going to be living.”

  This is strange. Why is Pearce suddenly so interested in us? He’s usually too busy with work to even call us.

  “When do you want to come out?” Garret asks.

  “Maybe early September, once you’re settled in your new place. I was hoping we could celebrate your birthday while I’m there. I wasn’t sure what your plans were for your actual birthday, but I have a meeting that day in New York so I wouldn’t be able to make it in time anyway.”

  “That’s okay. Jade and I will do something.”

  Garret doesn’t know it, but I’m already planning his birthday. I special ordered the surfboard he really wants and I’m making him a birthday dinner. I don’t really know how to cook so Sean’s been secretly giving me cooking lessons. We’ve had two so far but I need a lot more than that.

  Garret, Pearce, and I hang out on the patio until 1 in the morning, then Garret and I head upstairs to his room but Pearce remains outside. I think he’s still upset about his dad. I feel bad for Pearce, growing up with someone like that for a father. Even now, Holton’s a bad father. And a bad grandfather.