Becoming Us

by Allie Everhart

  When I pull in the driveway, I see Garret’s car there. He’s supposed to be at class now. Maybe he got out early.

  I get that fluttery feeling inside because I can’t wait to see him. I know I see him every day, but when I’m away from him all day I get excited when I’m about to see him. Maybe that’s crazy but I can’t help it. I love that man.

  26

  GARRET

  Jade bursts through the door. I’m standing there waiting for her because I heard her drive up.

  “Hey.” She gives me a kiss. “What are you doing home? Did you get out of class early?” She sets her backpack by the door.

  “Class was canceled.” I try to act normal, hoping she doesn’t pick up on the fact that I’m a fucking mess right now.

  “So no swimming today?” She loops her arms around my neck.

  “I thought I’d take a day off.”

  “Good.” She hugs me. “I want you home. I missed you.”

  “You see me all the time.”

  “I know. But sometimes I have these days where I miss you even though I just saw you. Like I don’t want to be apart from you. It’s weird. I can’t explain it.”

  What the hell? Does she have psychic powers now? Could she feel that my grandfather was here, trying to take her away from me? The thought of that makes me hold her tighter.

  She laughs. “I think you’re cutting my circulation off.”

  “Sorry.” I loosen my arms a little. “I guess I missed you, too.”

  “Do you want to show me how much?” She bites her lower lip and her eyes dart to the bedroom.

  This may be the first time I’ve ever thought this in the entire time I’ve known her, but I’m not really in the mood for sex. Not after what happened earlier.

  “Maybe later. Maybe after dinner.”

  “You’re turning me down?” She slides her finger down my chest. “What if I do all the work? I’ll be on top.”

  My wife wants to have sex and I’m telling her no? What the hell is wrong with me? Now I’m letting my asshole grandfather control my sex life?

  I dip my head down to her neck and kiss just below her ear.

  “I thought you said later,” she whispers.

  “I changed my mind.”

  We make our way to the bedroom and I slowly undress her, taking time to look at her. Memorize her.

  As we’re having sex, I pay attention to every detail. The way she feels, her scent, how we move together. I did this last spring, too, when I thought I’d never see her again.

  But this time is different. This time, I’m savoring every detail, burning it in my brain—not so that I don’t forget her, but to make myself stronger. To make sure I never even let myself think I can’t fight this. Jade will never be taken from me. My grandfather will never win this battle. I don’t know how I’m going to defeat him, but I will find a way. Because he is not taking Jade from me. Not now. Not ever.

  We have dinner later but I’m not hungry and can only eat a few bites. Afterward, I lie on the couch but Jade remains in the kitchen.

  I look over and see her taking stuff out of the fridge. “What are you doing?”

  “I thought I’d clean the fridge before we go out of town. I need to toss stuff out and wipe the shelves down.”

  “Just leave it and come over here.”

  “I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

  “Jade. Just come over here.” I need her next to me, held safely in my arms.

  She tosses whatever she took from the fridge in the trash and comes over to the couch. I put my arms out motioning her to get in her spot.

  She smiles and lies down in front of me. “Are you trying to get me to be lazy with you?”

  “I just want you here.” I wrap my arms around her, tugging her into place.

  She turns the TV on, then rotates her head back to kiss me. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  We remain there and Jade falls asleep. At midnight I take her to bed and watch her sleep until my eyes finally fall shut.

  On Tuesday morning, as Jade’s filling her travel mug with coffee, I say, “I forgot to tell you. My dad’s coming by here today.”

  She sets the coffee pot back on the warmer. “Your dad is coming? Here? Today?”

  “Yeah, he’ll be here later this morning.” I reach in the fridge and grab the milk and hand it to her.

  “And you just forgot to tell me?” She pours some milk in her travel mug, making her coffee so light it almost doesn’t look like coffee.

  “I just found out last night. He called and said he’s out here for a meeting and wanted to know if he could come by and see us.”

  “Where’s his meeting? I mean, like where in California?” She screws the cap on her mug.

  “I can’t remember. We didn’t talk long. Anyway, he’ll probably be here when you get back from class.”

  “You have class at 10. Are you skipping it?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like I’ll miss anything. We weren’t doing much in class since so many people have already left for Thanksgiving.”

  “Isn’t your family going to St. Croix? I thought they were leaving tomorrow morning. Shouldn’t your dad be getting back to Connecticut?”

  “They’re not going. Katherine canceled the trip so she could spend the weekend with her boyfriend.”

  “Oh. So they’re having Thanksgiving at home?”

  “Yeah. I guess Charles will have to make the big turkey dinner again like he did for us last year.”

  “Last year was so great. That dinner was so good. And remember when Charles made those homemade donuts? I wish I had one right now.” She opens one of the cupboards. “Do we have any granola bars? I don’t have time for cereal.”

  I open a drawer and pull one out. Even after living here for months, Jade still doesn’t remember where we keep stuff. I hand it to her, but keep hold of it when she takes it. I pull on it, forcing her to walk toward me and then I grab her around the waist. “You know what else we did last Thanksgiving?”

  She thinks about it, then smiles. “We had sex for the first time. Which means Wednesday night is our sexiversary.”

  I laugh. Leave it to Jade to make me laugh even when I’m completely stressed. “I don’t think that’s a word.”

  “It’s a new holiday. Just for you and me. But we won’t be able to celebrate our sexiversary because we’ll be at Frank’s house.”

  “How do you celebrate it? By having sex?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess. I’ve never celebrated it before.”

  “We have sex all the time, Jade. It wouldn’t be any different if we did it on Wednesday night, so I don’t think it’ll be much of a celebration.”

  “I still think we should celebrate it. Maybe when we get back on Sunday.”

  “If you really want to celebrate it Wednesday night, we could have sex at Frank’s house. We’ll have our own bedroom.”

  “We could, but it seems wrong.”

  “Jade, we’re married.”

  “I’ll think about it.” She gives me a quick kiss. “I have to go. I’ll see you in a couple hours. How long will your dad be here?”

  “I’m not sure. Probably not very long.”

  “Tell him I want to see him before he leaves.”

  “I will.” I catch her arm as she walks away. I go around her and hug her and don’t let go. I’m working my ass off to act normal, but watching her leave really got to me. I don’t want her out there alone. Out in the world where bad people are lurking, waiting to hurt her.

  Maybe I should go with her. But then she’ll know something’s up.

  She’ll be okay. My grandfather won’t do anything. Not yet. He gave me his deadline and he wants me to suffer. And waiting for something to happen? Wondering if it will? It’s agonizing. Pure torture. He’ll want to keep that going as long as possible. He wants me to be punished for not following orders, just like he punished my dad.

  “It’s too tight again.” Jade laughs. “I think
you need to go back to hug school. You’re doing it all wrong.”

  “Sorry.” I release her, but I don’t want to.

  “I’m just kidding. I love your hugs. Loose ones. Tight ones. All of them.” She walks to the door. “See you soon.”

  Ten minutes later, my dad arrives. We skip any small talk and get right down to business.

  I’m sitting on the couch and my dad is sitting in the same chair where my grandfather sat.

  “Tell me exactly what he said.” My dad turns his phone off and sets it on the coffee table.

  I replay the conversation, almost word for word, stopping before I get to the part about my mom and Jade. Up until now, I’ve told him how my grandfather wants me to transfer to Yale, work at the company every summer, and take it over someday. I haven’t told him the really bad stuff yet.

  “Garret, go ahead.”

  “I don’t know if I can tell you this.” I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees and staring at the floor.

  “I’m your father. You can tell me anything.”

  I nod. “Okay. Here it is.” I take a deep breath. “Grandfather killed Mom.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t want to see my dad’s expression.

  “He didn’t kill her, Garret. The organization killed her. You saw the memo.”

  “Yes, they arranged for the plane to go down, but he…your father…it was his idea. They were going to punish you by doing something to the company. I don’t know what. He didn’t say. But he didn’t want them touching the company so he offered them an alternative. A different punishment.” I pause. “Mom.”

  The room is silent. I still can’t look at him. I need to get this out first. It’s hard enough just saying the words. Seeing his reaction would just make it harder.

  “Once they agreed, he decided when it would be done. They were going to do it right after you married Mom, but he told them to wait.” I finally look up at my dad. “He picked the timing. And he waited 12 years.”

  My dad’s rubbing his chin, his face blank, expressionless. His eyes are on the floor, barely blinking.

  “No. That’s not true. He wouldn’t do something like that. He may not have approved of Rachel, but he wasn’t involved with her murder.”

  “Dad, I swear to you, he wasn’t lying. He was dead serious. He said he purposely waited because he wanted you to suffer, always wondering if she would be harmed. He wanted you to suffer for years because he was so mad that you didn’t do what he told you to do. He said that was your punishment for disobeying him.”

  I see my dad’s chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. It’s the only sign of any kind of emotion. He’s angry. Extremely angry. But for some reason, he’s holding it all inside.

  His eyes return to me. “What else did he say?”

  I tell him how my grandfather made it sound like he knows about Arlin and what he did for me last spring. Then I describe the plan my grandfather has for Jade, and how he said I have to make a decision by the end of the year.

  “Dad, I’m not leaving Jade. I’m not divorcing her. There’s no fucking way. Which is why I need your help. After Grandfather left yesterday, I tried to think of ways to stop this. And I was thinking that the only option is for Jade and me to go into hiding. Get out of the country. Change our identities. I haven’t figured it all out yet. That’s why I need your help.”

  “You and Jade aren’t going anywhere. I’m not losing my son. Or my daughter-in-law.”

  “Then what are we going to do?”

  “You’re not doing anything. Let me handle it. This is between my father and me.”

  “But now it involves me.”

  “Yes, but it’s not about you. This has nothing to do with you.” He huffs. “It all goes back to him and me. That’s what this is about, Garret.”

  “No, this is about me. He’s trying to control me. He’s angry I didn’t go along with the plans he had for me. And now he’s punishing me, just like he punished you.”

  “Did he say you needed to keep what he told you confidential? Did he say not to tell me?”

  “No.”

  My dad shakes his head. “Then he wanted me to know. He was sending me a message. He’s using you, Garret. He’s using you and he’s using Jade. And it’s all to get back at me.”

  “Dad, that’s not true. He wants me to run the company and be part of the organization. That’s his goal here. That’s what this is about.”

  “That’s just part of it. You don’t understand my history with him, Garret. He’s tried to control me my entire life, and for the most part, he’s succeeded. Until I married your mother, and had you, and started raising you differently than my father wanted me to. And ever since then, he’s been trying to get back at me. This is his way of doing that, by taking away your choices, destroying your life, taking away the person you love. He wants to punish me twice. He’s already ruined my life and now he wants me to watch as he ruins yours.”

  I sit there quietly, letting this sink in. So by doing this, my grandfather punishes both my dad and me. As if killing my mom wasn’t enough.

  My dad lets out a heavy sigh. “I think he knows.”

  “Knows what?”

  “I think he knows I had a part in what happened last spring. You just said he knew Arlin was involved, and if that’s true, then he knows about me and knows I was partially responsible for you being released of your obligation to become a member. Which is all the more reason why my father wants you back at the organization. He has to prove to me that he’s the one in control. And that he will remain in control until the day he dies.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  He gets up from the chair. “I’ll take care of it. And in the meantime, don’t tell Jade about this.”

  I stand in front of him. “I can’t keep hiding this from her. She’ll know something’s up with me. I’m a fucking mess right now.”

  “Then pull yourself together because you can’t involve her in this.”

  “Why? Do you think the organization is in on it?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but as of now I don’t think they are. They don’t want you back, at least not the people I’ve talked to. I’m guessing your grandfather used his new position to force them into reinstating your membership. I think this plan is all his doing. But I still don’t want Jade knowing about it. It’s best if she doesn’t.”

  “How do we stop this? How do we get him to end this? Just tell me. I’ll do anything.”

  “Just stay out of it.” He walks quickly to the door.

  I race after him. “Stay out of it? I’m not staying out of it! Jade’s life is at stake here!”

  He turns back. “She’ll be safe. I promise you.”

  “Safe until the end of the year. But then what?”

  “She’ll be safe.”

  “You mean after his deadline?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you’re saying I have to leave her? No! I’m not—”

  “Garret!” He grips my shoulders. “Listen to me. Ignore everything your grandfather told you. There’s no decision to make. There’s no deadline. You will go on living your life with Jade as if the conversation you had yesterday never occurred.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll take care of this.” He opens the door and hurries down the steps to the driveway.

  I follow him. “You’re leaving? Right now?”

  “I have things that need to be done.”

  “Can’t you just stay for a few hours? Jade wants to see you. She’s going to ask me why you left so soon. What am I supposed to tell her?”

  He gets in his rental car. “Tell her I’m sorry and that I’ll see her another time. Goodbye, Garret.” He goes to shut the car door but I grab it.

  “Dad, just tell me what you’re going to do.”

  “I’m going to settle the score with my father once and for all.” He rips the door from my grasp and slams it shut, then starts the car and peels out of the drivew
ay and speeds off.

  He’s angry, but not nearly as angry as I thought he’d be. I thought when I told him what happened, he’d yell and scream and maybe throw something or bang his fist into the wall. He has a bad temper and when he’s really angry, he can’t control it. After I told my dad about my grandfather, I was sure he’d go into a total rage. But he didn’t. His reaction was almost robotic. Lacking emotion. And when he said goodbye, his eyes were cold and dark, and he wouldn’t look at me.

  I don’t know what he’s going to do. But I know what he’s capable of.

  My family is all about rules.

  Rule number one? Never ask questions.

  Rule number two? Protect your family above all else.

  Protect your family

  Above all else

  But what do you do when your enemy is also your family?

  My father knows the rules.

  He lives by the rules.

  So when he said he’ll take care of it, he will. I know he will.

  I’m just not sure what that means.

  From the AUTHOR

  The last book will be out soon!

  How will Pearce stop Holton? Or will Garret try to do it himself?

  Is anyone working with Holton in his plan to get rid of Jade?

  How will Garret keep this secret hidden from Jade?

  What will happen to Harper and Sean?

  If Kiefer joins the organization, who will Harper have to marry?

  Will Sadie and her sisters ever find out about Jade?

  Who’s Justin and why is he looking for Jade?

  Can Jade really trust William?

  In the last book, things will be wrapped up and an extended epilogue will give you a glimpse into the future!

  I’d like to say thank you to all of you for supporting this series and loving Jade and Garret as much as I do. I read all of your comments and reviews and I appreciate you taking the time to write them.

  A lot of people have never heard of these books so if you’re a fan of The Jade Series, please spread the word by telling others about it or leaving a review.