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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

GARRET

I go in the bedroom and shut the door. I need just a few minutes to myself. I need to get my mind focused on tomorrow and this weekend. I want this Thanksgiving to be a good one for Jade, so I need to put on a smile, act happy, and pretend nothing’s wrong. I did that for most of my teen years so this should be easy. Of course, back then I had alcohol to help me out. And I didn’t have this huge secret to hide.

But so far, I’m doing pretty well. I’ve managed to act halfway normal since my grandfather’s visit a few days ago. I’ve shoved that whole conversation in the back of my mind and when it makes its way to the front again, I tell myself it never happened, then shove any memory of it back in its place. If I don’t, Jade will know something’s wrong. She picks up on stuff, even the tiniest things, so I need to be aware of my tone, my expressions—anything that might give me away.

I hate hiding this from Jade but my dad practically ordered me not to tell her, and he’s probably right. She doesn’t need to know, at least not yet, and maybe not ever. How exactly would I tell her something like that anyway? My grandfather plans to kill you, Jade. Yeah, I can’t even think those words, let alone say them.

My dad said he’d deal with my grandfather and I believe him. I just need to give him time to do that. I’m worried he’ll sacrifice himself somehow to get my grandfather to back down. Like agree to do whatever his father tells him to do in exchange for him leaving Jade and me alone. My grandfather could make my dad run for public office, something he would hate doing. He has no interest in being a politician and never has. But my grandfather always wanted his son to be in politics because of the power and prestige that comes with those positions. So when my dad didn’t go down that route, my grandfather wanted me to, which is why he was thrilled when I was chosen to be president, then furious when I destroyed my image, thus ending my future political career. So maybe my grandfather will force my dad to run for office, like maybe run for governor, or for Congress. The organization would make sure he’d win.

I don’t want to see my dad’s life ruined like that, but my grandfather has us backed into a corner. He’s made this ultimatum. Divorce Jade or he’ll kill her.

I haven’t slept much since he gave me that ultimatum. A couple hours a night, max. The rest of the time I’m wide awake, watching Jade sleep, worrying about her safety, and trying to come up with ways to get out of this. Trying to figure out how to make my grandfather accept Jade, even though I know he never will. I even considered working for the company. Maybe if I agreed to take over Kensington Chemical someday, my grandfather would leave Jade alone. If he did, I would do it. I would dread going to work every day, but I’d do it if it meant he’d leave her alone.

Problem is, he won’t agree it. He hates Jade and he hates that I’m with her, and he’s determined to break us apart. Which means I have to rely on my dad. He’s the only one who can fix this. I just hope that he can.

“Hey.” Jade comes into the bedroom. I’m unpacking the suitcase and hanging clothes in the closet. She comes over and gives me a hug. “You want to take a nap? You look tired.”

“I’m okay. We should go hang out with Frank and Ryan.”

“Ryan went to pick up Chloe. They’re getting stuff for tomorrow. And Frank is resting in his room. Do you think Frank’s okay? It worries me that he’s so tired.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. He said he didn’t sleep well last night.”

“But why isn’t he sleeping well? That could mean something, Garret.”

“Don’t read so much into it.” I kiss her forehead. “He just didn’t sleep well. That’s all.”

I don’t know what Jade will do if Frank ever gets really sick. Last year when he was in intensive care, Jade was a mess. She couldn’t handle seeing him like that. I tried to be there for her, supporting her, helping her get through it, and I think she was glad I was there. It was hard to tell back then. She hid so much of herself that I was always left guessing what she needed from me. She’s better now, but I still have to guess sometimes.

“Come on.” She leads me to the bed. “Just take a short nap. I know you haven’t been sleeping much the past few nights.”

Shit. How did she know that?

“I’ll take a nap, but only if you sleep next to me.”

She smiles. “I will.”

We lie on our sides, her back against my chest, and I hold her there, not wanting to ever let go. As hard as I try to shove that conversation with my grandfather out of my head, I keep hearing his words and rage erupts inside me, making my muscles tense up, my jaw clench.

“That’s a little too tight, Garret,” Jade says. “What is with you and these super tight hugs? You keep doing it. You’ve been doing it since Monday.”

I relax my arms. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t know my own strength.” I use my cocky tone to steer her off course from any suspicions she has that something’s wrong.

“You are really strong.” She turns her head back and kisses me, then rubs her neck. “My neck still hurts.”

“You want me to massage it again?” I laugh as I say it. “If I do, you better keep quiet this time or Frank will think we’re doing something in here.”

She laughs. “I promise I’ll be quiet this time.”

“Don’t do it on my account. Feel free to practice your porn lines again. I don’t mind. You’re the one who gets all embarrassed.”

She reaches back and swats at my leg. “Which is why I’ll be quiet.”

She leans forward a little and I massage her neck.

“Garret?”

“Yes, Jade.”

“I’m so happy being here. Having a real Thanksgiving with you and Frank and Ryan. And it’s so great seeing them living in a house that’s new and doesn’t have a leaky roof and peeling paint. All of it just makes me happy.”

I lean over her shoulder and kiss her cheek. “Good. I love seeing you happy.”

And that’s why I can’t tell her what’s going on. All her happiness would disappear if she knew the truth. Jade hasn’t had much happiness in her life and now that she finally does, I’m not going to take it away from her.

“Did you mean it when you said we would have lots of guest rooms in our house?” she asks.

“Of course I did. We’ll need lots of rooms for when people come visit us.”

She flips to face me, her face beaming. “That’s what I want. I want both our families to come to our house for the holidays and summer barbecues and birthdays.”

It’s sweet how Jade gets so excited about family. This family thing is all new to her and she loves having them around.

I kiss her. “We’ll make sure there’s plenty of room for everyone. Maybe we’ll build a guest house. We have all that land. Might as well use it.”

“That’s a great idea! Let’s do that. Then people can have more privacy if they want it. They can stay with us or in the guest house.”

“And that’ll keep the main house from getting too big. If we get too many rooms we’ll end up with a house the size of my dad’s and we don’t want that.”

“We won’t have that many rooms. Your dad’s house is huge.”

“I don’t know, Jade. Like Ryan said, with the guest rooms and the rooms for our six kids, it’s gonna add up to a lot of rooms.”

She rolls her eyes. “I was joking about the six kids. I had to get Ryan to shut up.”

“That’s a relief. I mean, if you want six, that’s fine, but it seems like kind of a lot. And you’d have to be pregnant for almost six years of your life.”

“Not if I had two sets of triplets.” She laughs. “Can you imagine us trying to take care of triplets?”

Jade has been bringing up the kid topic a lot more now. She doesn’t say she wants kids, but she’ll at least talk about it or joke about it like she did just now. I think she’s been talking about it with Jennifer, her counselor. Jade usually doesn’t tell me what she talks about at her counseling sessions, but I can guess by the topics she brings up at dinner or when we’re just sitting and talking. And this kid topic has come up several times the past few weeks.

“Garret? Are you awake?”

I realize I haven’t responded to the triplets comment. “Yes. The triplet thing threw me. I was trying to figure out how that might work. I think we could handle it, but I don’t think it’s something we should try for. One at a time seems like a better option.”

Now that she’s more comfortable with the kid topic, I sometimes just pretend we’re planning to have kids and see how she reacts.

“I don’t think we have any control over it, Garret. We may try for one but end up with three.”

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see what we get.”

“Yeah.” She looks directly at me and smiles. Like really smiles.

Wait. Did she just agree to have kids? What was the ‘yeah’ referring to? That we’ll wait and see if we have kids? Or that we’ll wait and see if we have one or triplets? And what’s with the huge smile?

“Jade, did you just—”

She interrupts my words with a kiss. “Just give me a little more time, okay? And then we’ll talk.” She smiles again. “But yeah, I want that.”

Holy shit, is she serious? I think she just told me she wants to have kids. But she said she needs more time. More time for what? To be 100% sure? From the look on her face, I think she’s already there. Damn. I did not expect that. At all. It’s not like she’s telling me she wants them right away. Neither one of us wants that. But to have her admit to wanting them at all is a huge deal.

Ever since we got married, I’ve been telling myself I might just have to accept the fact that kids aren’t in our future. Before today, Jade didn’t really act like she wanted them. She’d joke about having them, but she was never serious. But just now, she was serious. She even seemed a little excited about the possibility. Maybe it’s because she’s around family and it makes her think of us having our own family someday. Who knows? But whatever the reason, it made my heart jump a little. Who knew a simple ‘yeah’ could have so much meaning?

“I love you.” They’re the only words I can come up with after hearing her say that. I’m too shocked to come up with anything else. I hope this isn’t just temporary and that this really is what she wants. Because it’s definitely what I want. I love Jade so damn much and I want to have kids with her. One. Two. Six. Triplets. Doesn’t fucking matter to me. I’ll take whatever she’ll give me.

“I love you, too.” She flips around and pulls my arm down around her middle. “You need to sleep. Let’s just take a short nap.”

A few minutes later, she’s asleep. But am I? Hell, no. My body is freaking exhausted but my mind is wide awake, even more so now that Jade’s agreed to have kids. Well, almost agreed. We’ve got this whole future ahead of us. We’re making plans. A new house. Kids. Holidays with the family. And instead of being happy about it, like I should be, I’m scared shitless that it’s nothing more than a dream. A dream that will never come true because of my psychotic, controlling grandfather. I don’t know why he won’t just leave me alone. I don’t know why he’s doing this. What the fuck happened in his life to make him this way?

A half hour later Jade’s still asleep and I’m still lying here, wide awake. My phone vibrates on the nightstand. I carefully take my arm off Jade and reach over to get it. There’s a text from my dad asking if we made it to Iowa. I text him back that we did. Then I slowly move off the bed.

“Garret?” Jade turns over and notices I’m gone.

I lean down and kiss her. “I’m just using the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Her eyes are closed and she curls herself into a ball and goes back to sleep. I stand there a moment and look at her. She’s smiling as she sleeps. She’s so freaking happy right now that she’s smiling in her goddamn sleep. All I ever wanted was to make Jade happy, and now she is, but it’s all going to come crashing down if I don’t fix this shit with my grandfather. Or if my dad doesn’t fix it.

That’s why I got up. I need to call my dad. I need to know if he has a plan. I go in the bathroom, shut the door, and call him.

“Dad, what’s going on?” I ask when he picks up. “Did you decide what to do?”

“Garret, I told you I’d take care of it. I don’t want you involved in this.”

“I already am involved. So just tell me.”

“This is between my father and me. I told you that yesterday. I also told you to stay out it. And I mean it. Do you understand?” He’s got that threatening tone he always used when I disobeyed him in high school. I can’t stand that tone. I always feel like a kid when he uses it.

“No. I don’t understand. This isn’t just about you. This has to do with—”

“I am NOT going to say it again!” His threatening tone is replaced by something darker, more ominous. It doesn’t even sound like him. “Stay the fuck out of it.” He pauses, but I hear him breathing. “Now I’m asking you again. Do you understand?”

My heart’s pounding in my chest. I notice my hand’s shaking a little. What the hell? My hand never shakes.

“Garret. Answer me.” He lowers his voice, but it’s still fucking scary. “Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“When this is over, we’ll talk. Until then, don’t call me.”

“When is it going to be over?”

“I will see him tomorrow. We’ll be having a conversation.”

“You think this is going to be settled in one day?”

“It will be the start of what could be a very long battle if he doesn’t cooperate.”

“Why can’t we talk?”

“Rule number one, Garret. You’ve already broken it several times during this conversation, which is the reason we can’t talk. I can’t answer your questions, and all you have are questions. You haven’t said one thing to me on this phone call that doesn’t relate to your grandfather.”

“Because this is all I can fucking think about!” I said it too loud. Shit. I hope Jade didn’t wake up.

“Have a nice Thanksgiving, Garret. Tell Jade to as well.”

And then he hangs up. Just ends the call. No goodbye. Nothing. I call him right back. I know he said not to, but he pissed me off by hanging up like that. His phone goes straight to voicemail. Great. Now my own father won’t talk to me. I slip my phone in my pocket and go back to the bedroom and lie next to Jade.

“Who were you talking to?” she whispers. Her eyes are closed so I thought she was asleep.

“My dad. I just wanted to wish him a happy Thanksgiving.”

“Why? Aren’t you calling him tomorrow?”

“No. We’ll be busy with everyone here, and my dad’s having my grandparents over for dinner so it was just better if we talked today.”

“Don’t you want to talk to Lilly tomorrow?”

“No. Katherine will just be a bitch about it, so I’d rather avoid all that and call Lilly some other time. I didn’t talk to her last Thanksgiving and she was fine. It’s not a big holiday for her. She doesn’t like turkey.”

“Really?” Jade leans back into my chest. “Who doesn’t like turkey?”

“She’s never liked it. But she eats the other stuff. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes. All that stuff.”

Jade turns to face me. The smile she fell asleep with is still there. She gives me a kiss. “Did you get some sleep?”

“Yeah,” I lie.

“You still look tired.” She puts her hand on my forehead, then down the side of my face. “You’re not getting sick, are you?”

I take her hand off my face and kiss her palm. “I’m not sick. I feel fine.”

“Good.” She hugs me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I hug her back, probably too tight again but I can’t help it. I know my grandfather said she was safe until the end of the year, but I still feel like I can’t let her out of my sight. I just want to keep her in my arms like this until I know she’s safe.

“I think I heard Ryan come home,” Jade says. “We should go help with dinner.”

We both get up and Jade goes in the bathroom. While she’s in there, I check my phone to see if my dad called back. He didn’t. But I notice a call coming in. It’s Sean.

“Hey, Sean. Are you at your parents’ house?”

“Yeah. Got here this morning. My sisters are here, too. They’re in the kitchen with my mom, making pies.”

“You still going tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there Friday morning.”

Sean’s going to LA for Harper’s shoulder surgery. Even though she broke up with him, he still loves her and wants to be there for her. The surgery is on Friday and he’s taking the red eye tomorrow night to get there. The guy has no money since his job is shit and he maxed out his credit card buying Harper’s engagement ring, so I don’t know how he’s paying for a hotel. I tried to give him money but he wouldn’t take it.

“Where you are staying?” I ask him.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Sean, you better not be planning on sleeping on some fucking park bench or in your rental car.”

“Rental car? I can’t afford that. I’m taking the bus.”

I sigh. “Did you get a hotel or not?”

“I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

“Dammit, Sean. I’m giving you my credit card number and you’re going to stay at a hotel.” I get my wallet out and take out my card and start reading off the numbers.

“Garret, stop. I don’t want it. I know some people out there. I’ll see if I can stay with them.”

“I swear, you’re as annoying as Jade was last year.”

“Did you just call me annoying?” Jade’s laughing behind me.

I turn around. “I was telling Sean how annoying you were when you wouldn’t let me give you money. Now he’s acting the same way. What’s the deal with you people not taking money?”

Jade takes the phone from me. “Sean, are you okay?” She puts the phone on speaker so I can hear.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Sean. How are you really ?”

“Yeah, it sucks, but there’s nothing I can do. She won’t even talk to me. She won’t take my calls.”

I give Jade a look, reminding her not to interfere. She can’t fix this thing with Sean and Harper. Kiefer will soon officially join the organization, and when he does, Harper and her sisters will only be allowed to date men who are members. Jade is desperate to do something, but I made her promise me she wouldn’t. We are not getting involved in anything even remotely related to the organization.

“I’m sorry, Sean.” Jade nods at me, telling me she’ll stay out it. “But you’re still going to the surgery?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Okay, well, have a nice Thanksgiving.”

“You, too. Garret, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“I didn’t mean to race you off the phone,” Jade says.

“It’s fine. He’s at his parents’ house. He couldn’t talk long.”

“He shouldn’t be going to Harper’s surgery on Friday. It’s just going to cause problems.”

“I know, but he really wants to be there.”

There’s a knock on the door and I hear Frank’s voice. “Jade? Garret? We’re having dinner in a few minutes.”

Jade opens the door. “We’re coming. We fell asleep and didn’t realize it was so late. Garret, are you ready?”

“Yeah.” I follow her out to the hallway, taking a deep breath to get control of myself again. That call with my dad put me on edge and I need to relax.

It’s time to put on a show. Smile and act happy. Pretend everything’s good.