Becoming Us

by Allie Everhart

  “I need to think about it some more, but yeah, I’d like to do something like that. Something related to swimming. I’d actually like to have several businesses. Start one, and then when it’s established, start another.”

  “You’re going to be busy. Are you going to have any time left for me?”

  “I’ll always make time for you.” I pull her onto my lap. “Now going back to the house, when are we going to build this thing?”

  “Well, I guess if we’re working for ourselves, we can build it after we graduate. We just need to figure out where in California we want to live.”

  “Maybe we should start taking trips on the weekends. Check out some areas.”

  “You’re really in a hurry to do this, aren’t you?”

  “I don’t want to finish college and then be stuck living in an apartment. We don’t need to build the house right away but we should find some land to buy.”

  “Then Iet’s start looking. We’re still going to live on the beach, right?”

  “Yeah, but it’s hard to find land for sale along the ocean, which is why we need to start looking now.”

  “This is so exciting! I can’t wait to build our house.” She hugs me while still on my lap, pressing herself into my crotch.

  “Hey, don’t get me going again. I really need to study.”

  “It’s just a hug.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, it’s always just a hug.”

  “It’s your fault. You’re the one who taught me how to hug.”

  “I didn’t teach you how to hug like that.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She smiles at me as she gets off my lap. “I’ll let you study. I need to study, too.”

  We study all afternoon and order takeout for dinner. Afterward, Jade says she’s calling Harper so I go out on the deck to give her some privacy. I check the messages on my phone and as I’m doing that, a call comes in. It’s Kyle, the football player. He keeps texting and calling me, trying to get me to do stuff with him. I know he’s only doing it because of my dad. Kyle’s a business major, like me, and he thinks if we become friends, I’ll introduce him to my dad. The guy acts like my dad’s a celebrity or something.

  I usually ignore his calls but I decide to answer because otherwise he’ll keep calling. “Hi, Kyle.”

  “Kensington, how’s it going? You’re a hard man to get a hold of. I’ve been trying this number for days.”

  Get a clue, idiot. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t say that, but I want to.

  “I’ve been really busy. Did you need something?”

  “I just wanted to invite you to a party I’m having on Sunday.”

  “Is this a Halloween party?”

  “Yeah, but costumes are optional. Stop by anytime after eight.”

  He always just assumes I’m coming to his parties. It’s another reason I don’t like him.

  “And tell your wife she’s invited, too.”

  The fact that he has to make that clear just shows how clueless he is. I’m married. I’m not going to show up without my wife at a party full of drunk girls wearing sexy costumes. Those parties are for single people looking to hook up. Everyone knows that.

  “I don’t think we can make it,” I tell him. “But thanks for the invite.”

  “Come on, Garret. You never show up at my parties. Or any parties. This is college. Live a little.”

  Kyle reminds me of Blake, always pushing me to go to parties. I’m glad that asshole’s out of my life. He probably flunked out of college by now. I still talk to Decker now and then but he doesn’t mention Blake. And I don’t ask.

  “Garret, are you there?”

  “I can’t go to the party. I forgot that Jade and I are going to Santa Barbara this weekend to visit a friend of the family.”

  “On Halloween? That sucks. But hey, the party will go all night. Just stop by whenever you get back.”

  The guy doesn’t take no for an answer. He just keeps talking. This is why I avoid answering his calls.

  “I’ll think about it. I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

  I hang up before he can say any more.

  Since he’s the most popular guy on campus, Kyle’s party will be huge. Jade would hate it. She loves Halloween, but going to a party like that is not how she’d want to celebrate it.

  I’m not sure how we’ll celebrate it. We’ll probably get back from Santa Barbara late afternoon. Maybe we’ll do like we did last year and I’ll get some scary movies and load up on candy. Jade loved it when I had that party in my dorm room. I tried to decorate the place with some cobwebs and orange lights. I knew she’d never celebrated Halloween so I wanted to make sure she had the basics; cobwebs, candy corn, and every kind of candy bar I could find. I had so much candy. Jade was still eating it months later.

  Most other girls would say that party was stupid or boring, but not Jade. She thought it was amazing.

  That was such a great night. Just her and me. And then she stayed with me. Wrapped in my arms. All night.

  Best Halloween I ever had.

  17

  JADE

  Sean texted me and said now would be a good time to call Harper. He said she’s been asleep but just woke up and is watching TV at his apartment.

  I call her. “Harper, how are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay.” She sounds either sleepy or depressed. I can’t really tell. I hope she’s just sleepy.

  “You’re not okay. You hurt your shoulder. How does it feel?”

  “It’s not a sharp pain. It’s more like a constant aching. I don’t even know how I did it. I was using one of the weight machines and my shoulder just snapped. My tennis coach said it might’ve been weak from overuse. I’ve been practicing my serve a lot.”

  “You talked to your tennis coach?”

  “Yeah, right after I left the hospital. I told her what the doctor said. She was almost as disappointed as me.”

  “I’m sorry, Harper. I know how much you love being on the team.”

  “It’s not just that. I can’t play at all anymore.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” I’m sure there isn’t, but I have to ask.

  “You can tell Sean to stop babying me.” Her voice switches to a much happier tone. Sean must have walked in the room. “He won’t let me off the couch. He acts like I broke my leg or something.”

  “You were in the hospital just a few hours ago,” I hear Sean say. He must be sitting next to her.

  “Yes, but I can still walk.” She laughs.

  “Can you move your arm?” I ask her.

  “I can, but I can’t lift it above my head so it’s going to be hard getting dressed.”

  “Which is why I’ll be there every morning,” Sean says.

  “Sean thinks he’s going to show up every morning at my dorm room and help me get dressed. But I told him I don’t need him to do that.”

  “I’m doing it because I love you,” I hear him say.

  “You’re so sweet.” I hear her kiss him, then say, “Jade, I put you on speaker. Tell Sean to stop worrying about me.”

  “Jade, the woman’s driving me crazy,” he says.

  “Yeah, it sounds like you have a difficult patient there.”

  “And now she’s yelling at me because I took off work tomorrow to stay home with her.”

  “I don’t want you missing work and getting in trouble,” she says.

  “You come before work, Harper. You know that.”

  Isn’t that the truth? He gave up that great job offer for her. If she only knew.

  “When can you go back to class?” I ask Harper.

  “Tuesday. Tomorrow I’m seeing a specialist who will take a closer look at my test results and figure out when I’m going to have the surgery. It sounds like it’s going to be over Thanksgiving break.”

  “So you’re having it done in LA?”

  “Yeah. That way I can recover at home for a few days.”

  I hear the oven timer buzzing in
the background. “Pizza’s ready,” Sean says.

  “Sean made me one of his famous pizzas because I slept through dinner,” Harper says. “And he rented a bunch of movies for me, too. All romance ones that he hates. He takes such good care of me.”

  “Garret’s the same way with me. When I had the flu, he never left my side.”

  “How’d we find such great guys? And in the same town?”

  “I don’t know. Must be fate.”

  “Oh, I almost forget to tell you, I babysat Lilly yesterday. Don’t tell Pearce. He’s not supposed to know.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because his wife was out on a date. That’s why I was babysitting. Pearce wasn’t home and Katherine needed someone to watch Lilly.”

  “Pearce knows she’s dating someone. They have kind of an open marriage thing going. It’s weird.”

  “It’s not that weird. I mean, it is, but it’s not uncommon. Everyone in Hollywood does that. Anyway, she didn’t want Pearce to know she was going out. I think he’s mad that she’s never home with Lilly.”

  “Did you see Katherine’s boyfriend?”

  “I was upstairs when he got there, but I heard his voice when I was going down the hall so I peeked over the balcony and got a quick look at him. I recognized him as soon as I saw him. He’s been to my house before for one of my parents’ dinner parties.”

  “Who is he?”

  “A senator from New York. You see him on the news all the time. He’s the head of some committee in Congress that has something to do with the military. I don’t know exactly what. I don’t pay attention to that stuff.”

  “That sounds like someone Katherine would date. She likes powerful men and Pearce isn’t powerful enough for her.”

  “She was gone all afternoon and didn’t get home until seven so Lilly and I got plenty of girl time. I love Lilly’s bedroom. It’s all pink, just like mine.”

  “Did you go to her tea party?” I laugh.

  “Of course. Everyone who visits has to have tea.” She says it seriously, like Lilly always does. “And then we watched a princess cartoon and had dinner. Their cook, Charles, made the best mac and cheese.”

  “Hey!” I hear Sean yelling.

  “The best after yours,” Harper yells back. “You know I love your mac and cheese.”

  “Charles is a great cook, but not as great as you, Sean.” I yell it so he can hear.

  “He’s bringing the pizza over, so I should go. But thanks for calling. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  Garret comes in from the deck.

  “I just talked to Harper,” I tell him.

  “How’s she feeling?”

  “She said her shoulder aches all the time. Is that how your shoulder felt, too?”

  “No, I had more of a sharp pain.”

  “I wish you’d told me that. I hate knowing you were in pain all those months.”

  “I’m good now, so it doesn’t matter.” He sits next to me on the couch. “You want to give me another one of those hugs now?”

  “What hugs?” I play innocent.

  “The one you gave me earlier. One of your I-want-sex hugs?”

  I try to hold my laughter in. “I’ve never heard of that kind of hug.”

  “You’ve not only heard of it, you’ve perfected it.”

  “So I’m good at it?” I climb on his lap, straddling him.

  “You’re very good at it.”

  “Then I guess I don’t need to practice it.”

  “You should always practice.” He puts his hands on my backside and pulls me into him. “If you don’t, you won’t be good at it anymore.”

  I practice the hug. And as predicted, it leads to sex. I guess I am good at it.

  The next week goes by fast because I have a ton of homework. I also have two more counseling sessions. During both of them, I spend the whole time talking about school and how I don’t know what I want to do for a major. Jennifer gave me some worksheets to fill out that are supposed to assess your personality and help guide you to careers that fit you best. We still haven’t talked about my mom. I know we will eventually but I’m putting it off as long as possible and Jennifer isn’t pushing me.

  I’ve been checking in with Harper several times a day. She’s still in shock about the end of her tennis career. Like Garret said, it’s a loss and it’ll take time for her to accept it. Right now she’s in the denial stage, acting like maybe she’ll be able to play next year.

  She’s having the surgery the Friday after Thanksgiving. Sean is going to LA with her and will be staying at Harper’s house until Sunday, which has Garret and me questioning our theory about Kiefer. If he really was joining the organization, there’s no way he’d agree to let Sean stay at his house. And he’d be trying harder to break the two of them apart. I don’t know what’s going on with Kiefer, but for now I’m choosing to believe our theory is wrong and that Sean and Harper can be together.

  Saturday morning, Garret and I go to Grace’s house in Santa Barbara. As we’re pulling in the driveway, I open the window so I can smell all the flowers. I love this house. The one in the Hamptons was nice, too, but this one is surrounded by flowers and their scent fills the air.

  Grace comes outside when she sees us.

  I go up and give her a hug. “You need to come here more often. I miss you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too, honey. It’s good to see you again.”

  Grace gives Garret a hug. As she does, I notice she looks thinner and more tired than usual. Ever since Arlin died, she hasn’t been the Grace I knew last spring. She used to smile all the time and was full of energy and would joke around. But now, it seems like it’s an effort for her to smile. And her movements are slower, like she doesn’t have the same energy level anymore.

  She’s in good health, so her lack of energy isn’t because she’s sick. I think it’s because she’s depressed. She lives at her house in Florida now and although she has some friends there, they only go out a few times a week. The rest of the time she’s by herself, which is why I call her every day.

  “Let’s go inside,” she says, looping her arm in mine. We go in the house, with Garret following behind us with our suitcase. “I slept later than I’d planned to so I don’t have breakfast ready, but I have coffee made.”

  That’s another thing that’s changed. Grace sleeps late all the time now. She never did that before. She and Arlin used to get up at 5:30 in the morning. They’d have coffee and read the paper together. Now she rarely gets up before eight, usually later than that. And based on how tired she looks, I don’t think she sleeps. I think she just lies in bed thinking about Arlin.

  “Grace, I can make breakfast,” Garret says. We’re all standing in the kitchen and Grace is pouring us coffee.

  “Yeah, Grace, let Garret make it. He makes really good pancakes and scrambled eggs.”

  Garret opens the fridge and takes out the carton of eggs and the milk.

  She takes the eggs from him. “No, Garret. You just got here. I’m not making you work. Go sit down and relax.”

  He puts his arm around her. “It’s not work. I make breakfast for Jade every day. So if I don’t make it today, the whole day will feel off. You’d be doing me a favor if you let me make it.”

  She smiles. “The skillets are under the stove. I’m afraid I don’t have any flour or sugar to make pancakes. I threw all of that out last summer when Jade and I cleaned out the pantry.”

  “Then we’ll just have eggs and toast.” He grabs the loaf of bread from the basket on the counter.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have more ingredients,” she says. “I need to make a trip to the store. I was so tired last night after the flight that I just stopped and got eggs, milk, and bread and nothing else. After breakfast, I’ll go to the store.”

  “I’ll go,” Garret says. “Just make a list.” He cracks open some eggs in a bowl. “I always grocery shop on Saturdays, so again, you’d be doing me a favor by letting
me go. Otherwise, like I said, my whole day will be off.”

  Garret made that up. He doesn’t always go to the store on Saturdays. He just wants to help Grace out and give her and me some time alone.

  When he does stuff like this, it makes me love him even more. I don’t think he realizes how much that stuff affects me. He probably thinks I don’t even notice. But I do. It reminds me that he’s not just a great husband. He’s also a great person. He cares about Grace as much as I do and he can see she’s not doing well. So he offers to help without even being asked.

  Grace smiles at him. “Then I guess Jade and I will take care of things here at the house. I have a grocery list already made out. I’ll give it to you after we eat.”

  During breakfast, Garret asks Grace, “How long are you staying in California?”

  “Until Wednesday. On Monday, I’m meeting with a real estate agent to sell some land I own about an hour north of here. I’ve been meaning to sell it but haven’t gotten around to it.”

  “Is it investment property?”

  “Actually, Arlin and I bought the land years ago thinking we would build a house there. It’s right on the coast. It has a beautiful private beach.” Her eyes drift to her plate and she sets her fork down. “We both fell in love with the land. We just never built the house. We talked about it many times but didn’t do it.” She clears her throat and dabs her mouth with her napkin. “And now, it needs to be sold.”

  It’s obvious she doesn’t want to sell the land. But Arlin is gone, and she’s not going to build a house just for herself.

  “How many acres?” Garret asks.

  Grace looks up at him. “I believe it’s four, but I’d have to check the paperwork again to be sure.”

  “Would you mind if Jade and I took a look at it?”

  My eyes shift to Garret, but he keeps his gaze on Grace.

  She was just about to sip her coffee, but sets it down. “Of course you can. You could have a picnic there if you’d like. That’s what Arlin and I used to do. The land is up on a cliff so it offers a magnificent view of the ocean.”

  “On a cliff, huh?” Garret’s mind is working. He’s up to something. “So when are you putting it up for sale?”