Forever You

by Allie Everhart

  “I’m going to check out the town, then maybe I’ll go to the driving range. Or rent a bike. There’s a trail that runs along the ocean.”

  “Don’t you want me to come with you?”

  “No. I want you to spend time with Grace. Just the two of you without me hanging around. Don’t worry about me. I’ll find things to do.”

  “But—”

  “Jade.” He comes back over and places his hands on my shoulders. “You probably won’t see her again for months, so go spend time with her. She needs this, and so do you. I’ll spend tomorrow with you guys, okay?”

  I hug him, realizing that once again, he knows exactly what I need. “Thank you for doing this. I love you.”

  “Love you, too. See you soon.”

  Garret leaves and I go to the kitchen where Grace is cleaning up breakfast.

  “Need some help?” I go around the island and meet her at the sink.

  “No, everything’s put away.” She takes a paper towel and spritzes the counter with cleaner that smells like lavender. “How did Lilly take the goodbye?”

  “She was okay. She still has a hard time saying goodbye to Garret, but at least the fairy party cheered her up a little. Thanks for letting us use your house for it.”

  “I loved hosting it. It’s nice to have people over. When it’s just me here it gets to be too quiet. Sometimes I turn the TV on just to have some background noise.”

  Grace smiles, trying to act like nothing’s wrong, but I know she’s lonely. This empty house is a constant reminder that Arlin is gone. But that’s what happens when your spouse dies and your children are grown, so what do you do? I guess you just have to get used to it, but I don’t know how you do that. I can’t even imagine the loss I would feel if I’d been married to Garret for 50 years and then one day he was just gone.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  30

  “Do you want to go sit in the garden?” I take the spray bottle from the counter and put it back under the sink.

  “Yes, that sounds nice. I enjoy being out there in the morning before it gets too warm.” She tosses her paper towel in the trash and washes her hands. “Where’s Garret?”

  “He went to check out the town and do some other stuff.”

  She nods, her smile fading. “I understand why he’d bored here at the house. There’s not much to do.”

  “Grace, no, that’s not it at all. He just wanted to give us some time alone because I never see you.” I follow her outside and we sit down on the white patio chairs that are nestled among a patch of blue and yellow flowers. “He’ll spend tomorrow with us. He wants to get to know you better.”

  “I’d like to get to know him, too. After all, he did marry my granddaughter.” She reaches over and puts her hand over mine on the armrest of the chair. “So how do you feel being married?”

  “Great. I love it. I don’t know why people always complain about being married.”

  She laughs. “Because it’s not always great. You’re still in the honeymoon phase. You and Garret, like every other couple, will have ups and downs over the years. Arguments. Disagreements. But that’s what keeps a marriage interesting. You’re not always going to agree on things.”

  “Did you ever argue with—” I glance down. “I’m sorry.”

  “Jade, you can talk about him. In fact, I’d like you to talk about him. It makes me feel like he’s still with us, watching over us from up there somewhere.” She points at the sky.

  “That’s where I pictured him, too.” I say it softly as I remember the image in my head.

  “What did you say, honey?”

  “After I found out what happened, I pictured Arlin up in the clouds. He was sailing. And he met my mom.” Saying it brings up all the emotion of that day and before I can stop them, tears run down my cheeks. “He took my mom sailing.”

  Grace notices the tears and gets up from her chair, holding her hand out. “Come here, honey.”

  I stand up and she pulls me into a hug.

  “I miss him, Grace. I miss talking to him. I miss hearing his jokes. I miss sailing with him. I needed more time with him. I finally had a grandfather and then—”

  “I know.” She says it quietly behind my shoulder, still hugging me.

  “I never got to tell Arlin this, but I’m telling you.” I pull away and she takes a tissue from the pocket of her sweater and hands it me. “I’m really happy you and Arlin came into my life. At first I was afraid to meet you, but after I did I knew I wanted to spend more time with you. With both of you. I just wasn’t sure if I should because I felt like I was betraying my mom somehow. Like I shouldn’t even talk to you knowing what Royce did to her.” I wipe the tears off my face. “Sorry. I shouldn’t bring that up. I just wanted to tell you that I really like having you in my life.”

  She holds my hand and we both sit back down in the chairs. “I wish I’d met you sooner, Jade. I wish I could’ve done something all those years ago. Helped your mother. Saved you from all the pain you had to endure when you were a child. I feel so much guilt for that. If only I had seen Royce for the man he’d become, maybe I would’ve known what he was capable of. Maybe I could’ve stopped him somehow.”

  “It’s not your fault. Don’t feel guilty about it. I don’t blame you or Arlin for anything Royce did.”

  She nods, taking another tissue from her sweater to use for her own tears.

  Now I made her cry. That’s just great. Like she’s not already sad enough. I guess this is my chance to say something to her about it.

  “Grace. Are you okay? I mean, are you okay living on your own? Without Arlin? Because I feel like you’re not and I don’t know what to do for you.”

  She smiles, but tears are still falling from her eyes. “It just takes time. When you’re with someone for that long, it just takes time to move on. And I’m not quite there yet.”

  “Can I do something? I could stay here with you. Garret can go home and pick me up later. I could stay here until you leave to go back to the Hamptons.”

  “That’s sweet of you, Jade, but you need to be with your new husband. And I’m only here for a few more days. I’m flying to Virginia on Wednesday and spending time with the girls, your sisters. Victoria called last week and asked if I’d come for a visit.”

  “Well, that’s good, right? You said you don’t get to spend enough time with them.”

  “Yes, it’s good, although I think I’m invited more as a babysitter than a guest. Victoria’s mother is ill so she’s going to stay with her in New York. She’s put me in charge of the girls while she’s gone. But they’re old enough now that they don’t need their grandmother watching over them. In fact they’ll probably be out with their friends. I doubt I’ll see them much.” Grace dabs her tears. “Look at us crying on this beautiful day. We shouldn’t be crying. We should be celebrating. You’re newly married. You’ll be starting a new school soon. And you’re happy, Jade, which is something to celebrate.”

  “You’re right.” I stand up and take a deep breath. “Let’s do something. You want to take a walk?”

  “Yes, that’s a good idea. There’s a park just a few blocks from here that has a rose garden. I think you’d like it.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  We walk through the neighborhood to the park and she shows me the rose garden. Next to the park is a shopping area and a small cafe where we have lunch. Then we go through some of the stores. We don’t get back until 4 and when we get there, Garret’s pulling into the driveway.

  “Where have you two been?” he asks as he gets out of the car.

  I walk over and kiss his cheek. “We went to the park, had lunch, and did some shopping.”

  Grace comes over to him. “You missed a good time, Garret.”

  “Sounds like it.” He smiles at me.

  “You two relax,” Grace says. “I’m going to clean up and take a short nap before dinner. I thought I’d take you to a little Italian restaurant I enjoy. It’s just a few miles from here. Sh
all we leave at 6?”

  “Sure, we’ll be ready.” I wait for her to leave, then give Garret a kiss, on the lips this time. “So what did you do all day?”

  “Hit some golf balls, had lunch, rented a bike for an hour, then went to a movie. Sorry I didn’t stay out longer but I was running out of things to do.” He kisses me. “And I missed my wife.”

  “You love saying that, don’t you?”

  “Calling you my wife? Yeah, I do.” He kisses me again. “Let’s go inside. I need to shower and shave before we go out tonight.”

  The restaurant Grace takes us to has the best Italian food I’ve ever had. We linger there for a couple hours and just sit and talk. Then we go for dessert at a little ice cream shop downtown.

  On Sunday we spend most of the day cleaning. Grace won’t be coming back here after she goes to Victoria’s house next week. She’s moving back to her house in the Hamptons so she wanted to get some things done here before she left. I had to practically beg her to let Garret and me help since she kept saying that guests shouldn’t be put to work.

  After finally convincing her, she gives us each some simple tasks. I help her clean out the pantry and refrigerator while Garret washes off the patio furniture and stores it in a shed she has out back. She could easily hire people to do this but she said she likes to do these things herself. She said it makes her feel like she’s putting the house to sleep until she returns, which probably won’t be for months. She uses this house as a vacation home, only staying here a few weeks out of the year.

  At night, we go out for dinner again, this time to a seafood restaurant that overlooks the ocean. I don’t like seafood but the place also has steaks and other stuff on the menu.

  All through dinner Grace watches Garret and me. She’s been watching him all day, smiling whenever she saw him open a door for me or help me with something.

  As we’re finishing dessert, she looks at Garret and says, “Your mother would be very proud of the man you’ve become.”

  “Thank you.” He pauses, then says, “Did you know my mother?”

  “I didn’t know her well, but I knew her. I met your parents years ago at a dinner party Royce hosted.” She smiles. “I met you, too, that night. Your parents brought you with because Victoria had hired a sitter to watch all the children for the evening. You were maybe two at the time.”

  “What was he like at that age?” I ask.

  “He was a darling little boy. And very sweet. I remember the sitter coming out to get his mother during dinner because Garret was trying to hug all the little girls and some of them didn’t like it.”

  I turn to Garret, laughing. “You’ve been using that hug trick to get girls since you were two?”

  He shrugs. “Apparently.”

  Grace continues. “Anyway, I didn’t see your mother again until years later. She and I were on a committee together for a charity that raises money for leukemia research. A lot of our meetings were held in Manhattan and sometimes after the meetings several of us, including your mother, would go out for coffee or grab a bite to eat somewhere.”

  “My dad never mentioned that.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know.” She smiles. “Us girls don’t always tell our husbands what we’re up to during the day. Just like you men don’t tell us everything.” She winks at me.

  “Was that the only charity she was involved in?” Garret asks.

  “You’d have to ask your father about that. I really only knew your mother as an acquaintance, mainly because of the committee we were on together. That charity was close to her heart so she was very involved in it.”

  “Why was it so important to her?”

  “Because of her sister.”

  “She had a sister?”

  “She had a twin sister who died of leukemia when she was six.” Grace picks up her purse from the empty chair beside her.

  “I never knew that.”

  “It was difficult for her to talk about. Maybe she didn’t want to tell you until you were older.” Grace sifts through her wallet, taking out some bills and putting them on the tray that holds the check. The waiter walks by and she hands it to him. “This is all set.”

  The waiter nods, “Thank you. Have a nice evening.”

  “Shall we go?” Grace scoots her chair back.

  Garret’s gazing down at the table.

  I nudge him, “Garret, are you ready to go?”

  He looks up. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  That night in bed, Garret keeps tossing and turning and it’s keeping me awake.

  “Do you want to switch sides?” I ask him. “You don’t seem to like that side.”

  “It’s not that. I just can’t sleep. I keep wondering why my mom never told me she had a sister.”

  “Like Grace said, it was hard for your mom to talk about.”

  “Then why didn’t my dad tell me?”

  “Maybe he just didn’t think about it.”

  “I wish he’d tell me more about my mom.”

  “Why don’t you just ask him?”

  “Because when I ask him, he doesn’t give me answers.”

  “You should try again. He gave you those photos of her. Maybe he’s more willing to talk about her now.”

  “Maybe.” Garret hugs me and gives me a kiss. “I’ll stop moving around so you can sleep. Goodnight. I love you.”

  In the morning we have breakfast with Grace before we leave. Grace insists we take some flowers home, so she goes out back to cut some while I clean up the breakfast dishes. While she’s out there, the phone rings. I peek my head out the back door. “Grace, your phone’s ringing.”

  “Go ahead and answer it. I’ll be right in.”

  I pick up the phone in the kitchen. “Hello.”

  “Who’s this?” It’s a girl’s voice. It sounds familiar.

  I realize who it is and start to panic. I race over to Garret, who’s sitting at the table reading the newspaper. I shove the paper down and point to the phone as I put it on speaker.

  “Are you there?” she asks.

  “Yes. I’m here. Grace is outside. She’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m um. . .” I look at Garret. I don’t know what to say.

  Garret takes the phone. “That was Jade. Hey, Sadie. How’s your summer going?”

  “Garret? What are you doing there?”

  “My dad and Lilly were staying here for a few days so Jade and I came to see them. My dad took some time off after the wedding to do stuff with Lilly. He took her to Disney and then we had an early birthday party for her here at Grace’s house.”

  Garret uses a calm, casual tone. He’s so good under pressure. He heard Sadie’s voice and just talked to her like a normal human being, unlike me who panicked and had no words. Sadie must think I’m a total idiot, unable to even say my own name when she asked who it was.

  “I heard about the wedding,” Sadie says. “It was a week ago, right?”

  “Yes, it was on the beach.”

  “So I guess I should say congratulations.”

  “Yeah, I guess you should.” Garret smiles at me as he says it. There’s silence, so Garret says, “Are you gonna say it or what?”

  I cover my mouth as I laugh.

  “I just did,” Sadie says, annoyed. “Weren’t you listening?”

  “You said you should say it. You didn’t actually say it.”

  She sighs. “I hate it when you do that thing where you analyze my words. You did it all the time when we were dating. I definitely don’t miss that about you.” She pauses, then says, “So when’s the baby due?”

  “What baby?” Garret looks at me.

  “Your baby. I assume Jade’s pregnant. Why else would you get married at 19?”

  “I’m not pregnant!” I blurt it out, then cover my mouth.

  “You have me on speaker, Garret? You’re such an ass!”

  He tries not to laugh. “Well, now that you know Jade and I are both listening, you can tell us
congratulations.”

  “Just go get my grandmother. Hurry up.”

  Grace walks in and Garret takes the phone off speaker. He hands it to her. “It’s Sadie. We were just telling her about the party we had for Lilly.”

  He’s letting Grace know we’ve already explained to Sadie why we’re here.

  She nods. “Yes, it was a nice party,” she says to Sadie. “We had it out back in the garden.”

  While she talks, Garret and I pack the car. When we go back inside, she’s off the phone.

  “I hope she wasn’t rude to you.” Grace hands me the flowers she wrapped up for us. “Sadie and her sisters put on a good show when they need to, but behind closed doors those girls can be very mean and hurtful. The things I’ve heard them say—well, I’m not always proud of their behavior. But their mother is the same way, so that’s how they were raised.”

  “She was fine.” I give Grace a hug, then grab my purse from the chair in the entryway. “Thank you for the flowers. Do you need anything before Garret and I go?”

  “No, you’ve done more than enough. It was good seeing you both.” She gives Garret a hug. “You take good care of my granddaughter.”

  “I will.” Garret holds the door open for Grace and me as we go outside.

  I give Grace another hug before I get in the car. She waves as she watches us drive away. I feel bad leaving her behind. I know she’s going to visit Sadie and her sisters, but I get the feeling they’re not very nice to her. And I know Victoria’s not.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  31

  When we get home, Garret and I try to continue our honeymoon but Harper and Sean keep stopping over, so we don’t get much time to ourselves. But that’s okay. Garret and I will have plenty of couple time later. We only have three more weeks with Sean and Harper.

  We spend those last three weeks taking day trips up the coast, going to movies, hanging out on the beach, and one day we even go on one of those off-road Jeep tours. And we have dinner together almost every night except when Sean has to work.

  This whole summer has been so great I hate to see it end and I really don’t want to say goodbye to Harper. But it’s now the middle of August and Sean and Harper are moving back to Connecticut tomorrow.