Page 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JADE

Garret doesn’t talk at all during breakfast. I feel so bad for him. His grandfather basically just gave him an ultimatum: Work for the company or I want nothing to do with you. Who does something like that? Is having Garret run the company more important than having him as a grandson? Like they can’t find someone else to take over the company in 20 years, or whenever Pearce steps down?

My phone rings as we’re finishing breakfast. Garret motions to it. “Go ahead and get it. I’ll clean up.”

I pick it up and see it’s Grace calling. “Hi, Grace. I was just going to call you.”

“Honey, you don’t have to call me every day.”

“You don’t want to talk to me?” I ask, kiddingly.

“I love talking to you. But I know you’re busy.”

“I’m not that busy. When am I going to see you again? You need to come visit me.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m calling. William will be in Los Angeles for work next week and Meredith is coming with him, so I wondered if this might be a good time for us to all get together.”

“Like during the week?”

“No, next weekend. I was thinking we could all meet at my house in Santa Barbara. Everyone could stay over Saturday night and leave on Sunday. Unless you have plans. Sunday is Halloween. I wasn’t sure if people your age celebrate Halloween.”

“We don’t have plans, but let me check with Garret.” I run over and meet him at the sink. “Do you care if we go to Santa Barbara next weekend?”

He shrugs. “I don’t care.”

“Okay, we can go,” I say to Grace. “What time should we be there?”

“Afternoon would be good. That will give me time to clean the house and air it out after being closed up for so long.”

“I’ll get there in the morning so I can help.”

“Jade, I don’t want to put you to work.”

“Well, you’ll have to because I’m getting there early. I want to spend time with you. I never see you.”

“Okay, honey. Then what time will you be there?”

“We could be there around nine.” I look at Garret as I say it. He nods in agreement.

“Wonderful. We’ll have breakfast together out on the patio.”

“Sounds good. So what else is going on? Do you have any plans for today?”

“I was just heading out to my bridge club, so I can’t talk. I just wanted to ask you about next weekend.”

“See? You’re the one who’s too busy to talk to me.”

She laughs. “No, not at all. But I do have bridge club every Saturday.”

We say goodbye and I follow Garret into the bedroom.

“So the plan is we’re going to Santa Barbara and staying at Grace’s house overnight. We’re meeting William and his wife there.”

“He’s not bringing Walt with him, is he?”

“I don’t think so. Why would he bring Walt?”

“It doesn’t matter. Never mind.” Garret takes his swim trunks and a t-shirt from the drawer. “So what about Halloween?”

“What about it?” I meet him at the dresser.

He kisses me. “We have to celebrate every holiday. It’s tradition.”

“We’ll be at Grace’s house in the morning but we could do something when we get back. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to think about it. I’ll figure something out.” He goes in the closet to get his gym bag. “We need to get ready. They want us at the pool an hour before the kids arrive.”

Today is the swim class we volunteered to work at. It’s all afternoon and since this is the first time we’ve done this, we have to get there early to go over how everything works.

When we get to the pool, we join the other new volunteers who are standing around waiting for instruction. Keith is in charge of the program so he goes over all the details and answers any questions. Then he introduces his wife, Lisa, and their two teenage sons, who are also volunteering. Their sons are on the high school swim team.

The people who have volunteered in the past show up a half hour later since they already know how this works. Most of the volunteers are from the men’s and women’s swim teams here at Camsburg. They arrive suited up and ready to go.

The kids arrive at one and Keith does a short welcome speech, then each volunteer is paired up with a kid. I’m working the snack table with Lisa but I also have to supervise a six-year-old girl in the locker room.

When they call off her name I go over and stand next to her. Her name is Emma. She has long red hair and her skin is covered with freckles. Her eyes haven’t left the pool since she arrived. She looks scared to death.

“Emma, let’s go to the locker room and you can change into your suit.”

Her head jerks when I say it, like she didn’t realize I was standing there. She grabs my hand, clutching it for dear life. The kid’s got some strength. She’s holding my hand so tight it hurts.

“You don’t have to be scared.” I lean down so I’m more on her level. “It’s just water. It’s fun. You get to splash around.”

She shakes her head, like there’s no way she’s getting in the water.

“How about if you start by just putting on your swimsuit?”

She lifts her shirt up a little and I see she already has a bright yellow swimsuit on.

“Okay, well, we should probably put your hair up. Let’s go in the locker room. Come on.”

She walks next to me, so close she almost trips on my legs. I spot Garret next to a boy around eight who’s kind of chubby with a buzz cut that makes his face look even rounder. He’s staring at the ground and walking really slow, like he doesn’t want to be here.

“Mrs. Kensington?” Emma is tugging on my shirt. I’m surprised she remembered my name. It didn’t seem like she was paying attention when Keith was introducing the volunteers.

“You can just call me Jade.” We’re in the locker room now and I take her to the mirror to put her hair up.

“I need to go home.”

“But you just got here. Don’t you want to go in the pool?”

“I can’t swim.”

“That’s why you’re here.” I point to some of the girls from the swim team. “Those girls are going to teach you how to swim. They’re really good swimmers.”

Emma’s lip starts quivering and tears run down her cheeks. Crap! Now what do I do? All the other kids are running around the locker room, happy to be here, and I get the only one who isn’t.

“Let’s go sit down, okay?”

I lead her to one of the benches at the end of the locker room where it’s quiet. She’s still clutching my hand and crying.

“What are you scared of?”

“I’m gonna drown in the water and then it’ll be all black.”

“What’s going to be black?”

“My sister said when you die everything’s black. You can’t see. It’s like you’re in the dark. And I don’t like the dark. I’m scared of the dark.”

“I don’t know where your sister heard that, but she’s wrong. When you die, there’s light everywhere. It’s so bright you have to wear sunglasses.”

Her eyes get big and she puts all her attention on me. “Who told you that?”

“My mom did.” It’s a lie, but it sounds better than telling her where I really heard it, which was on a TV show about death. “But Emma, you’re not going to die. You’ll have your swim teacher with you the whole time and you’ll wear these floaty things on your arms so your head stays above the water.”

“Can you swim?”

“Yeah. I learned when I was your age. But I had to teach myself.”

Actually, I’m surprised I didn’t drown. A house down the street from mine had a small above-ground pool and one summer day I snuck into the back yard and jumped in the pool. It was only four feet deep but I was only six so not very tall. I couldn’t keep my head above the water, but I was close enough to the edge that I was able to get out. It was scary, but I went back later that week and did it again. The owners were always at work during the day so I just kept sneaking into their back yard and using their pool. By the end of the summer, I learned how to swim.

“Can you get in with me?” Emma has stopped crying but she won’t let go of my hand.

“I can’t. I’m in charge of snacks. And I don’t have my suit here.”

“Please?”

“What if we just stick our feet in the water? Would you do that?”

She nods.

I put her hair up, then she takes her shorts and t-shirt off. Her swimsuit has a yellow ruffle at the bottom. It’s cute.

We go back to the pool. All the other kids are in the water. A lot of them look scared, especially the younger ones.

I take Emma to the edge of the pool and we sit down. I put my feet in, but she scoots away from the edge.

“Try it, Emma. It feels good on your feet.”

She inches toward the edge, grabbing the back of my shirt and holding on as she dips one foot in the water. Her lips turn up a tiny bit.

“Now try the other one,” I tell her.

She grabs my shirt even tighter as she puts her other foot in the water. Her eyes are on the pool and I turn and see her looking at Garret, who’s just a few feet away.

He comes over to us, along with the chubby boy with the buzz cut. “How’s it going?”

“We’re getting our feet wet. This is Emma. Emma this is Garret. He’s my husband.”

“Hi, Emma,” he says to her.

She glances at him, but is too scared to say hi.

I peel her hand off my shirt. “Let’s put some floaties on you, like that boy has on.” I point to the kid next to Garret.

“This is Seth,” Garret says.

“Hi, Seth.” I smile at him, but he won’t look at me when he says hi back. He’s very shy.

“Is everything okay over here?” I turn and see Lisa behind me, holding a clipboard.

“Emma isn’t sure she wants to get in the water.”

“It looks like you’re assigned to Haley.” Lisa waves at one of the girls from the swim team. “Haley, I found her. Emma’s over here.”

Haley swims over. She’s wearing a bright pink, one-piece suit and has pink and green ribbons weaved into her long blond braid.

Haley smiles really wide. “Hi, Emma. I couldn’t find you.”

“We took a little longer in the locker room.” I turn to Emma. “I have to go now, okay?”

She shakes her head, keeping hold of my hand.

“Haley will take care of you. Look at her hair. It has ribbons in it.”

Haley turns around to show her. “My friend did it for me. You like it?”

Emma smiles and finally lets go of my hand. “It’s pretty.”

Haley jumps out of the pool. “Let’s get your floaties on.” She takes Emma away.

Garret smiles at me as his hand touches my foot in the water. “I’ll see you later.”

The swim lessons continue and the kids start to have fun. Mid-afternoon, they break for snacks, then it’s back to swimming. I talk to Lisa while the kids swim. She tells me about her sons and all the sports they’re in. I like Keith and Lisa and their boys. They seem like a nice family. And Keith is a good coach. He really cares about his team. I don’t think Garret would’ve ever fixed his shoulder if Keith hadn’t talked him into it.

At five, it’s time for the kids to get back on the bus to go home. I help Emma in the locker room and dry her hair for her.

“So did you have fun?”

She nods. “Haley’s nice. I like her.”

“And now you’re not afraid of the water.” I finish brushing her hair. “Okay, you’re all set.”

She hugs me. “Thank you.”

I hug her back. “For doing your hair?”

“For letting me know it’s not dark.” She picks up her backpack.

“What?”

“Bye!” She waves at me as she follows another little girl out the locker room doors to the bus.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Lisa’s next to me, picking wet towels off the floor. “She’s still so sad, but I think today was good for her. She was smiling a lot.”

“Why is she sad?”

“Her father was killed in a car accident last summer. The past few months have been difficult for her and her family.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

Lisa drops the wet towels in a bin. “You and Garret are free to go. Keith and I will finish up here.”

“Okay.” I wait in the hallway for Garret, still thinking about Emma. So that’s why she thanked me for telling her it wasn’t dark. She didn’t want her dad to be in the dark. Because the dark is scary and bad. No wonder her face lit up when I told her it was light.

Garret comes out of the locker room, his gym bag over his shoulder. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” I turn to walk down the hall. My eyes are tearing up from Emma’s comment and I don’t want Garret to see.

“Hey.” He steps in front of me. “Are you crying? Your eyes are all red.”

“No, it’s just the chlorine in the air. Sometimes it irritates my eyes.”

He takes my hand. “I’m starving. You want to go eat?”

We go to a pizza place for dinner and as we’re eating, he tells me about Seth. He said Seth gets made fun of and bullied all the time because he’s overweight. He doesn’t go to the pool in the summer because he’s too embarrassed to be seen in swim trunks. And when he goes to the beach, he always keeps his t-shirt on and doesn’t go in the water. That’s why he never learned how to swim.

“How was Emma?” Garret gets his wallet out to pay the check.

“She was sweet, but really afraid of the water.”

“You seemed to calm her down.”

The waitress stops by and picks up the money Garret left.

“Emma’s dad died last summer so she was asking me about death.”

“What did you tell her?”

“She thought when you die that everything’s dark, so I told her that it’s not dark at all. That it’s so bright you need sunglasses. And when she left, she thanked me. She didn’t want her dad to be in the dark.”

Garret reaches across the table and holds my hand. “If we ever have kids, you’re going to be a great mom, you know that?”

I don’t answer. I’m not ready to have another kid discussion. But I admit I liked being around them today, which surprised me because I usually don’t do so well around kids. But I must be getting better at it because all the noise and chaos didn’t really bother me. And I liked watching Garret teach Seth how to swim. He helped some of the other kids, too. He’s really patient and a good teacher. As I watched him, I kept imagining him teaching our own kids how to swim someday and it made me smile.

Garret wakes me from my thoughts. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You want to go to a movie?”

“Let’s watch one at home.” He gets up from his chair, holding his hand out for me.

“Are you in a hurry?’

“Yeah, kind of.”

“What are you in a hurry for?”

“I’ll show you when we get home.”

As soon as we walk in the house, he holds my face in his hands and kisses me, his tongue doing all kinds of yummy things that have me struggling to remain standing.

I guess this is why he was in a hurry to leave the restaurant, although I’m not sure what got him in the mood. Whatever it was, now he’s got me in the mood, too.

“Can we go to the bedroom?”

“We can go wherever you want.” He unbuttons my shirt as he kisses me. “I just need to have you.” He slides my shirt off, letting it fall to the floor.

“Why do you need to have me?” I smile as he unhooks my bra, then takes if off and tosses it aside.

“Because you’re hot.” He kisses me as he walks forward, pushing me backward toward the bedroom. “And beautiful,” he says in between kisses. “And sexy.” We reach the bed and he lifts me onto it. “And all mine.”

He slides my shorts and panties down. I flip over and toss the pillows aside and rip the comforter back. I feel Garret’s hands on me, strong and firm around my hips. I remain on my hands and knees as he kisses my lower back. He must’ve got naked when I turned around because I feel his bare chest on my skin as his kisses move up my spine. We stay there a moment, then I flip back around and lie beneath him.

“You going somewhere?” He smiles.

“Just changing positions.”

“But I like that one.”

“I want this one tonight.”

“And that one tomorrow?” He lowers his body over mine.

“Yeah,” I close my eyes and smile. “That one tomorrow.”

His lips brush against mine, then he kisses me as he inches in excruciatingly slow, and pulls out just as slow.

“Damn, you feel good.” He says it in a deep, sexy voice.

I kiss him back and push my hips into him. Then it’s an all out race to the finish. It’s not that we’re in a hurry, but sometimes when we get to this point, we can’t slow down. Other times, we’re able to control ourselves better, but tonight it’s fast and furious.

We collapse on the bed, Garret on his back and me sprawled over his chest.

“That was fun,” I say, a post-sex smile on my face.

“Always is.” He strokes my hair. “You want to go to a movie now?”

“I guess we could. It’s still early. What do you want to do tomorrow ?”

“Make you pancakes.”

I laugh. “At Garret’s Pancake House? I don’t know. I’m not sure I like their prices.”

“You love their prices and you know it. So what kind of pancakes am I making?”

“Apple cinnamon.”

“Interesting choice.”

“What? It’s fall, and you eat apples in the fall so I’m in the mood for apple-cinnamon.”

“You sure it has nothing to do with the price?”

I hear him laughing and look up at him. “I wasn’t even considering the price.”

“Yeah, right.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The price for apple-cinnamon pancakes is shower sex, which we haven’t had for a while. And I know that’s your favorite place to do it.”

“No, it’s not. I like the bed just as much.” I try to sound convincing.

“Just admit it, Jade. You like the shower. You like being wet.”

I rest my chin on his chest. “Whatever. You like it, too.”

“Of course I like it. Shower sex is a combination of my three favorite things; water, sex, and you. I love feeling your slick skin and your wet lips and—”

“Let’s just do it right now.” I jump off the bed, already turned on by his description.

He chases me into the bathroom and scoops me up in his arms. “You know you can’t pay for the pancakes ahead of time.”

“I’m not.” I smile. “So we’re doing this again tomorrow.”

“You are seriously the best wife ever.” He kisses me as he reaches in to turn the shower on.

I’m sure Garret thought that once we were married, I wouldn’t want to have sex as much. That’s the stereotype, right? The wife doesn’t want sex anymore but the husband still does? Well, it’s not true for me. I love being with Garret this way. And not just because he’s hot and totally turns me on. It’s more than that. The longer we’re together, the closer we become. Our love just keeps getting stronger and that makes the sex even better. So yeah, we’ll be doing this again in the morning.