Always Us (The Jade Series #8)

by Everhart, Allie

  I love that Jade has such a good attitude about this. My grandmother ignores her. Katherine’s mean to her. And yet Jade still wants to be here for Christmas.

  We go past the security checkpoint area and I stop and give her a kiss. “I love you.”

  She smiles. “I love you, too.”

  “Garret! Jade!” Lilly comes running up to us, slamming into our legs. “Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas.” Jade hugs her.

  Lilly holds her arms out to me. I pick her up. “Where’s Dad?”

  “Over there.” She points to him as he walks toward us.

  “She ran ahead of me.” He goes up and hugs Jade. “Welcome back.”

  She laughs. “I know. We were just here. You’re going to be sick of us by the end of the week.”

  “Not at all. I wish you two lived closer so I could see you every day.” He smiles at me. “Garret.”

  “Hey, Dad.” I half hug him since Lilly’s attached to me.

  I set Lilly down and she grabs my hand as we walk to the baggage area. “Daddy said we can watch a movie tonight.”

  I can’t imagine Katherine going along with that. She’ll be doing everything she can to keep Lilly busy so Jade and I can’t spend time with her.

  “Is your mom going to watch the movie with us?”

  “Mom isn’t home.” She swings our arms back and forth as we walk.

  “Where is she?”

  Lilly shrugs. “I don’t know. Dad said she had to go somewhere. She won’t be back till after Christmas.”

  Katherine’s gone? For the entire week? That can’t be right. Lilly must be confused.

  I look back and see Jade and my dad talking.

  “Dad.” I wait until I have his attention. “Did Katherine go somewhere?”

  “Yes. I was just telling Jade that Katherine and her parents went to see Katherine’s sister in Paris. They’ll be having Christmas there this year.”

  Jade smiles at me.

  My dad nods toward Lilly. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” I look down at Lilly.

  She’s still holding my hand and skipping a little as she walks. “We’re gonna swim in the pool and watch movies and make cookies and play the race car game.”

  I smile at her. “Sounds like a busy week.”

  Now I’m glad we came. Lilly needs us here. Her mom left her on Christmas, and even though she doesn’t act upset, I know it hurts her. Lilly’s good at hiding her feelings, but what kid her age wouldn’t feel sad when her mom just takes off like that at the holidays?

  “Don’t forget sledding,” I say as we arrive at the baggage claim area.

  “Sledding!” She jumps around. “Daddy, can we go to the big hill again?”

  “Yes, honey.” He takes her hand. He has to keep a close watch on her, especially in a crowded airport. Even if he wasn’t part of the organization, he’d still have to watch her. That’s just what you have to do when you have his kind of money and people know who you are. You always have to be extra cautious.

  As we’re driving to the house, I hear Jade talking to Lilly in the back seat.

  “So how are your swim lessons going?” Jade asks her.

  “Good.” She pauses, then says, “Mom and Dad are getting divorced.”

  The car goes silent. My dad glances back at Lilly, who’s sitting behind me. I don’t think he told her about the divorce yet. I think she just knew.

  Jade breaks the silence. “I’m sorry, Lilly.”

  “It’s okay.” She says it softly. “They didn’t like each other.”

  “Lilly, why don’t we talk about this at home?” my dad says.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she says.

  I turn back and see her looking down at her shoes. Jade’s holding her hand.

  The car goes silent again. It’s awkward, but luckily, a few minutes later we’re at the house. As Jade helps Lilly out of the car, my dad comes up to me, lowering his voice. “Go ahead and get settled. I need to talk to her.”

  “Yeah. We’re fine. Take all the time you need.”

  I get our luggage from the car while he takes Lilly inside. Jade and I go up to my room.

  “Did he already tell Lilly about the divorce?” Jade asks.

  “I don’t think so. I think she just guessed.” I set the suitcase on the floor by the closet. “I think Katherine might’ve already moved out.”

  “And she didn’t say goodbye to Lilly?”

  “It doesn’t sound like it.”

  “How could Katherine just leave like that without even telling Lilly goodbye? And she does this at Christmas? How could she do that?”

  “It’s just the way she is. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Her parents are like that, so it’s how she was raised.” I open the suitcase and start hanging stuff up in the closet.

  “Garret?”

  “Yeah?” I turn around and see Jade sitting on the bed.

  “Do you think Lilly could stay with us this summer?”

  “Maybe. We’d have to ask my dad.” I go and sit next to her. “Do you want her to stay for a couple weeks, or what?”

  “She could stay as long as she wants. Maybe even the whole summer. Your dad works all the time and I don’t want Lilly to be all alone in this big house.”

  I smile and hug her into my side. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

  “For a while.” She puts her head on my shoulder. “I feel really bad for her, Garret. She’s always alone and she gets ignored and then she tries to pretend everything’s okay. It sounds like me growing up. But it shouldn’t be like that for her. And she shouldn’t have to spend the summer all by herself in her room.”

  “I don’t know if my dad would agree to the entire summer, but I’m sure he’d let her stay with us for a few weeks.”

  She nods.

  “Hey.” I lift her face off my shoulder so I can kiss her. “I love you. And I love that you care about Lilly so much.” I stand up and pull her up from the bed. “Let’s go downstairs and watch TV. I think my dad will be talking to Lilly for a while.”

  Jade and I go in the game room and watch the last half of a movie that’s playing. An hour later my dad comes and finds us and we follow him to his office.

  “How did Lilly take the news?” I ask him.

  “She knew it was coming, but she acted like it didn’t bother her. I told her it’s okay to be upset or cry but she still didn’t react. Katherine has forced Lilly to hide her emotions for so long that it’ll take a while for her to open up. Maybe you two could help with that. She opens up to you, Garret, more than anyone else.”

  “I know. I’ll talk to her. What did she say when you told her you got custody?”

  “That’s the only time she showed any emotion.” My dad smiles. “She was happy. She hugged me, then asked if we could move to California and live next door to the two of you.”

  “Speaking of that.” Jade glances at me. “Do you think Lilly could come stay with us this summer? Just for a few weeks?”

  My dad nods. “I think that’s a good idea. She would love that.”

  “Do you have to ask Katherine?”

  “I don’t think she’ll have much involvement in Lilly’s life anymore. Katherine has her own issues to deal with now. She has no time for Lilly.”

  “Is the organization going to do anything else to punish Katherine for what she did to Grandfather?” I ask. “They have to do more than just ban her from marrying the senator.”

  “They’ll be taking away the money she receives from the divorce settlement and giving it back to me. They don’t want her getting any benefits from the organization. And they’ll likely put a limit on how much money her parents can give her.”

  I smile. “She’s gonna hate that. She won’t survive without money.”

  “She’ll still have money. It just won’t be the type of wealth she had before.”

  “She must’ve been pissed when she found out.”
/>
  “Actually, she doesn’t know about the money yet. They’ll tell her later this week. Her other punishment affects her ranking in society. Her social standing is being destroyed as we speak. The organization planted some rumors about her, which have already started circulating among her friends. Damaging stories and photos of her will follow in the society pages. She’ll never be allowed back in our world.”

  “Does she know this is going on?”

  “Yes. They didn’t tell her, but she quickly figured it out when none of her friends would return her calls. She was furious. That’s why she left. She took off to stay with her sister in France and didn’t say when she’s coming back.” He stands up. “One of you go get Lilly. We’re going out for dinner. It’s the holidays and I don’t want to spend it talking about Katherine. I’d like us all to enjoy this week together as a family and try to relax and have a good time. Lilly needs that, and I’m sure you two would like that as well.”

  As he picks his phone up from the desk, Jade says, “Before we go, can I ask you something?”

  “Go ahead.” He sits back down.

  “I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, but I have to know. What’s going to happen to Harper?”

  He sighs. “Jade, you know that’s confidential.”

  She scoots to the edge of her chair, pleading with him. “I’m not asking you about Kiefer. I just need to know about Harper. Please. If you could just tell me something. Anything.”

  “I’m sorry, Jade, but I can’t—”

  “Dad,” I say, interrupting him. “Just tell us. You know we won’t tell anyone. Or if you can’t say anything, just nod if she’s okay.”

  He doesn’t nod, but he says, “I only know about Kiefer, not Andrew. And I can’t tell you anything about Kiefer.”

  Jade’s eyes shift to me, then back to my dad. “But he can’t try to take Harper, right? It’s against the rules. They had a deal. Andrew can’t just—”

  “Jade.” My dad uses his warning tone, the one I’ve become quite familiar with over the years. “I’m not discussing this. You’re part of this family now and you know the rules.”

  She slumps back in the chair and nods. “Yeah.”

  “Dad, she was just asking.”

  “You both know the rules.” Now it sounds like he’s scolding us, which annoys me.

  I roll my eyes. “Don’t ask questions. Yeah, we’ve got it. But we can’t exactly enjoy the holiday knowing our friend might be in danger.”

  He rubs his jaw, his eyes on Jade, who’s now staring at her hands, avoiding his gaze.

  “Jade.” He waits for her to look at him. “If I knew for sure he wouldn’t bother her, I would tell you. But I honestly don’t know. I’ve heard nothing. All I know is that he’s currently in Europe and will be spending the holidays there.”

  “But you’ll see him at the meeting next week,” I say.

  “Perhaps. Although, knowing him, he’ll continue his partying across Europe all next week and end up staying there for New Year’s. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s skipped out on the meetings.”

  “And he didn’t get in trouble?”

  “As Cecil Roth’s son, Andrew was able to do whatever he wanted. But now that Cecil is gone, I think Andrew will have to start playing by the rules.”

  “Maybe he’s found someone else by now,” Jade says quietly.

  I take her hand. “He probably has. I’m sure he’s not interested in her anymore.”

  My dad shoots me a look, not wanting me to give Jade false hope. But I’m not going to ruin her holiday with this. And who knows? Maybe Andrew really will lose interest in Harper.

  My dad gets up. “It’s getting late. We should head out for dinner.” He goes around us and out the door, leaving Jade and me there.

  “You okay?” I ask her.

  She shrugs. “I guess.”

  I rub her hand. “Jade, he wasn’t trying to be mean. And I don’t think he’s lying. I think he really doesn’t know.” I lean over and kiss her. “Let’s just try to have a good holiday, okay?”

  She gives me a weak smile. “Okay.”

  Her smile gets bigger when Lilly runs into the room and jumps on her lap. “You wanna have a tea party? Or watch a movie?”

  Jade perks up, seeing Lilly so excited. She gives her a hug. “We’re going to dinner and then we’ll watch one.”

  Lilly seems to be feeling better now that my dad talked to her. Or maybe she’s just happy having Jade and me here.

  My dad pokes his head in the room. “Ready to go?”

  Lilly hops off Jade’s lap and runs up to him. “Daddy, can we make Christmas cookies?”

  “Not tonight. But maybe tomorrow.”

  Jade and I meet them out in the foyer.

  Lilly’s twirling around. “We’re going to go sledding and play games and go swimming.”

  My dad laughs. “Yes, we’ll do all those things.”

  We go out for dinner, then go home and watch a movie. And for the rest of the week, we do just as Lilly said. We swim, watch movies, play video games, make Christmas cookies, and go sledding. My dad works from home all week, but takes lots of breaks to do stuff with us. And he shuts his computer down every night at five so we can spend the evenings together. Even Charles joins in on the activities.

  It snowed on Monday and again on Thursday. With the piles of snow outside, and the lights and decorations inside, the house has a real Christmasy feel. I don’t even mind the white lights. Instead of reminding me of Katherine, they remind me of being here with Jade last year. And my dad made sure to have the decorators put colored lights in the game room just for me. There’s a small tree with colored lights in my bedroom as well.

  With Lilly as a distraction, Jade gets into the holiday spirit, setting aside her concerns about Harper, or at least acting like she has. But we both still think about it, especially since Kiefer’s been in the news all week.

  Last Monday, the news reported that Kiefer is currently being investigated for stealing funds from the movies he’s worked on. The story’s been everywhere; national news, the newspaper, gossip shows, talk shows. It’s a huge scandal. The story is that Kiefer made up fake expenses, then took the money for himself. They say he’s stolen millions over the years. Earlier this week he was fired from the studio, and some are saying he’ll never work in Hollywood again. Right after he was fired, Kiefer released a statement admitting his wrongdoing and saying he’ll give all the money back, which I’m guessing won’t leave him with much.

  I asked my dad about this but he wouldn’t tell me anything. But he did nod when I asked him if this was Kiefer’s punishment. Kiefer should be thankful. Instead of being killed, his punishment is this made-up scandal. They ruined his reputation, he lost his job, and now they’ll take his money.

  I don’t feel that bad for him. He got himself into this by being greedy and selfish. And in the process, he destroyed his relationship with Harper. He might’ve also destroyed his relationship with Kelly. The rumor is that Kelly and Kiefer are separating and Kiefer’s moving out after the holidays. I don’t know if Kelly knew the whole story about the organization or just part of it, but I know she wasn’t happy with her husband. Last fall, Harper kept saying that her parents weren’t getting along and weren’t spending as much time together. It wouldn’t surprise me if Kiefer and Kelly end up getting divorced.

  Harper’s been calling Jade all week but she hasn’t said much about her dad. She used to be really close to him and it’s devastating for her to think of him as a criminal. And Kiefer will never be able to tell her, or anyone else, the truth. He has to accept his punishment as given and be happy the organization didn’t do something even worse to him.

  Harper hasn’t spoken to her dad since this happened. She said she’s waiting for him to call her and explain what’s going on, but so far he hasn’t. Her sisters moved into a hotel. They didn’t want to be around their dad. They’re angry with him as well, because of what he did, but also because his scan
dal could negatively affect their careers, especially Kylie’s. Movie studios won’t want to hire her for acting roles, knowing her dad stole from them.

  So that leaves Kiefer and his wife alone at Christmas, assuming Kelly is still there. She might’ve gone to stay at the hotel with Kylie and Caitlyn. I’m sure she’d rather spend the holiday with her daughters than her husband.

  Kiefer really screwed up. His whole life is destroyed, which I’m sure is exactly what the organization wanted as punishment for him rejecting their offer. And I assume they’ll still make him work for them. That’s probably part of the deal. He has to do whatever they say or he’ll face additional punishment. He’ll never be free.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  34

  GARRET

  The past week has gone way too fast. It’s already Saturday, Christmas Day. This morning, my grandmother finally showed up. She only lives a half hour away but didn’t bother coming over until now. She’s been here all day, and it’s not like she’s mean or says anything rude to Jade or me, but she’s being very cold and distant.

  Katherine called Lilly earlier, but they didn’t talk long. Katherine’s flying home tomorrow morning and going to stay at her parents’ house. My dad assumed she’d want Lilly there, but she doesn’t, which means he has nobody to watch her while he’s in his meetings next week. Luckily, Charles offered to take care of her. Charles is great with kids and Lilly loves spending time with him. I have no idea why Katherine refused to take Lilly. She hasn’t seen her for over a week. She’s such a horrible mother. I’m so glad she isn’t here for Christmas. She would’ve ruined it for everyone.

  We opened presents this morning and had Christmas dinner this afternoon. Now my grandmother is upstairs with Lilly, my dad’s playing cards with Charles in the kitchen, and Jade and I are watching TV in the game room. We’re both stuffed from eating too much. We’re lying on the couch in front of the TV, cuddled up under a blanket. We turned the main lights off so we could see the sparkling Christmas lights. We agreed that we would suspend any discussion of the Harper issue until tomorrow. It’s Christmas and we want to spend the day being happy.

  “Did you have a good Christmas?” I kiss Jade’s head because it’s all I can reach. She’s got her face on my chest, the blanket pulled up to her chin.