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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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?”

“This week, hopefully. Why?”

He puts his arm around me. “I think I might buy it.”

“What?” Grace and I both say it at the same time.

“It sounds perfect. Central coast. Four acres. Private beach. On a cliff. What do you think, Jade?”

“Um, yeah, we should check it out.”

I wasn’t ready to buy anything yet. We said we’d start looking for land, not buy some this weekend.

“Are you planning on building on it?” Grace asks him.

“Yes. Jade and I want to stay here after we graduate and we’re looking for a piece of land we can build a house on later. What you described is exactly what we’re looking for.”

Her face brightens. “It would be wonderful if we could keep it in the family. I offered it to William but he prefers living on the East Coast. I would love for the two of you to have the land.”

“How much do you want for it? And don’t think you have to give us a deal because we’re family.”

“Garret, don’t be silly. I’ll give you the land.”

“We’re paying for it, Grace. Just tell us how much.”

She waves her hand in the air, dismissing the idea. “Nonsense. You need the money from Jade’s trust fund to build the house and pay for your future expenses.”

“ I’m paying for it,” Garret announces. “We won’t touch the trust fund.”

I don’t know how much Grace wants for the land but I know that four acres on the coast would cost at least a million dollars, if not more. Buying it would use up most of what Garret has in his account.

Grace puts her hand on Garret’s arm and gives him her stern grandma look. “You’re not paying me a penny. I would be absolutely thrilled if you and Jade took this land and lived on it someday. And if Arlin were here, he would be, too. He never wanted to sell that land and truthfully, I’ve put off selling it because I don’t want to say goodbye to it. It’s such a beautiful spot. I used to imagine the flowers I would plant there. I even plotted it out. I’m sure I have my flower map around here somewhere.”

Garret holds my hand under the table and smiles at me. “What do you think? I know we haven’t seen it, but something about it feels right.”

I nod, smiling. “Yeah, it does.”

He turns back to Grace. “Sold.”

She claps her hands. “Oh! I’m so happy!”

I go around Garret and give Grace a hug. “Thank you, Grace. Really. This is a huge gift.”

“I’m happy to give it to you. This feels like it was meant to be. The timing of you coming here right before I put it up for sale. The fact that the topic even came up is unusual. I hadn’t even considered that you two might want it. I didn’t know you’d be staying in California.”

“We both like it here.” Garret takes our plates to the sink. “So we decided to stay here after graduation.”

“Have you told Frank that?” Grace asks me.

“No, but he knows I never planned to move back to Iowa.”

“What about your family, Garret? You’ll be so far from Connecticut.”

“I can still fly out to see them. Or my dad and Lilly can come here.”

Grace’s smile keeps getting bigger. “I’m going to call the real estate agent and tell him I’m not selling the land. Then I’ll call my lawyer and have him start the paperwork that will transfer it to your name.”

She races off to the room down the hall that she uses as an office.

Garret pulls me into his side and kisses me. “So I guess we have some land.”

“I guess we do.” I smile as I think about it. “Did you see how happy Grace was? I haven’t seen her that happy since our wedding.”

“What about you? Are you happy?”

“Yes, but I think we’re completely crazy for doing this. We haven’t even seen the land yet. And now we have to live there. We can’t disappoint her.”

“Jade, we’re living there. I trust Grace and Arlin. All of their homes are in beautiful locations, so if they loved this land as much as she described, I know we will, too.”

“We’ll go see it tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll stop on the way home.”

“This is so crazy. We just decided to build a house in a place we’ve never been.”

Garret and I finish cleaning up breakfast and a few minutes later, Grace walks back into the kitchen. “It’s all set. The paperwork is underway. You will soon be landowners.”

“Thanks again, Grace,” Garret says. “That’s very generous of you. Now do you have that grocery list? I should get going.”

“Yes, I have it right here.” She hands him a piece of paper she had sitting by the phone. “Let me give you some money.”

He laughs. “No. I got this. You just gave us four acres of oceanfront property. I’m paying for the groceries. I’ll see you guys later.”

While Garret’s at the store, I help Grace take the covers off the furniture and fold them up. Then I sweep the wood floors while she dusts. Grace has housekeepers at her other houses, but this house is smaller than those and she likes to do the work herself. Plus, it’s good for her to get the exercise.

When we’re done we go to the back yard and sit in the gazebo, which has flowers all around it.

“So what’s Meredith like?” I ask Grace as she pours iced tea into some glasses. “She’s not like Victoria, is she?”

“No. Not at all. She’s very quiet. Very smart. She has a PhD in economics but never used it. She just enjoys learning. Sometimes she audits college courses in topics that interest her.”

“How long have William and Meredith been married?”

Grace pauses to think. “It’s been about 23 years, I think.”

“That’s a long time. They must’ve got married right after college.”

“Yes, they were young.”

I wonder if William was able to choose his wife or if Meredith was picked for him. When he talked about her that night we had dinner, it seemed like he really loved her. He smiled whenever he mentioned her and he had nothing but good things to say about her. So maybe he was allowed to choose her. I still don’t know how all that works and I know nobody will tell me. But I know in order to be married to William, Meredith’s father has to be part of the organization, which makes me kind of nervous to meet her.

“So William and Meredith never wanted kids?” I ask Grace.

She coughs a little on the iced tea she was drinking, then shakes her head as she clears her throat. “No. But they both love children.”

She’s acting kind of strange. Maybe it’s a sensitive topic. Maybe they tried to have kids and couldn’t.

“Does Meredith ever do anything with Victoria?” I ask.

“Rarely. They see each other at dinner parties or charity events but that’s about it. They don’t have much in common. They saw each other more when the girls were younger, but now the girls are too busy to have time for their Aunt Meredith or Uncle William.”

“They don’t have holidays together?”

“No. Royce and Victoria always used to take the girls on trips for the holidays. And William and Meredith would either come to our house or go to her parents’ house for the holidays. This year, I’ll be going to William’s house for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“Maybe sometime you could spend the holidays with Garret and me.”

“I would enjoy that.” She winks. “Maybe when you build that new house.”

“Yes. Definitely.” I sip my iced tea.

She shuts her eyes, inhaling the air through her nose, then smiles as she opens her eyes again. “I love smelling the flowers. They smell different here than in Florida. They’re the same flowers, but they have a slightly different scent. Perhaps because the air is so much drier here.”

“Do you like living in Florida?”

She sighs. “I do, but it’s not the same without Arlin. We used to spend all our time together when we lived there. We’d go golfing, take walks, play cards. It wasn’t like at our house in the Hamptons, where Arlin would work on his sailboat and I would read or do other things. So it’s different being in Florida alone.” She runs her finger along the bottom of her glass.

“Grace, why don’t you move?”

She thinks I’m kidding and smiles. “And where would I move to?”

“Here. This house. You should live here instead of Florida. The weather is warm. You like it here. And I’m just two hours away.”

“Yes, but I always spend the winters in Florida. That’s the way it’s always been.”

“So do something different. Just because you did that in the past doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it.” I turn so I’m facing her. “Grace. I want you to move here. I’m serious. I want to see you more. I don’t like having you so far away. And I don’t think you like being down there all alone.”

She doesn’t respond, which tells me it’s true. She doesn’t like living there by herself.

“Would you consider it? For me? I promise I’ll come visit you all the time. Every weekend if you want.”

“Jade, no. You need to be at home, studying and spending time with Garret.”

“Then every other weekend. Whatever. I just want you to live here. You do like it here, right?”

“I love it here. I always have. I’ve just never actually lived here for more than a few weeks. This was a vacation home. Arlin and I would stay here for a week and then leave. We’d come here three or four times a year.”

“Could you see yourself living here for more than a few weeks?”

“I suppose I could. But I’d have to find a new bridge club.”

“I’m sure they have them here. So what do you say? Will you do it?”

She pats my hand. “I’ll consider it.”

“What are my chances here? Like 50 percent? Eighty percent? I need to know how much harder I need to work to convince you.”

“Well, given that you’re part of the equation, I’d say there’s a 90 percent chance I would agree to moving here. I’d love to be closer to you, Jade.”

“Okay, I can work with 90 percent. That’s easy.”

She laughs and moves on to talking about something else.

I have to get Grace to do this. She’s not happy in Florida. I’m sure she has a beautiful house there, but it’s just a house and not a home when she’s stuck there all alone.

Grace and I need to spend more time together. And unlike the rest of her family, I’m not just saying that. I actually will spend time with her. Not because I feel I have to, but because I want to. So before I leave tomorrow, I’m going to convince her to move to California.