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CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

GARRET

I don’t usually get into other people’s business, but I feel I have to intervene when it comes to Sara’s living conditions. It’s not safe for her and Caleb to live this way. I know she likes to be independent and able to support herself, and I respect that, but there’s a point where you have to admit you need help. You can’t let your pride get in the way of your safety.

I hear someone trying to open the door so I go over and say, “Who is it?” because there isn’t even a peephole to check.

“It’s Sara. I’m having trouble with my key.”

I open the door, still holding Caleb. I finally calmed him down. The poor kid was scared to death when the neighbors got home and went fucking nuts. I don’t even want to know what was going on over there. They’ve quieted down now.

“How’d it go?” Sara sets her purse down on the kitchen counter. “I see Caleb woke up. Sorry about that. I was hoping he’d stay asleep. He wasn’t too much trouble, was he?”

I wish she wouldn’t say stuff like that. A baby isn’t trouble. Yeah, the crying sucked, but shit, if I were him, I’d cry to. He’s trying to sleep and all hell break’s loose next door. And then he wakes up and finds two strangers here instead of his mom. Plus, he’s freezing because he doesn’t have warm clothes that fit. Of course he’s going to cry.

“He wasn’t any trouble.” I hand him to Sara. “He’s a great kid.”

“How was the job interview?” Jade asks.

“It went really well. I think he’s going to offer me the job. Like I said, it’s just two days a week but it pays way more than I get now.” Sara bounces Caleb on her hip. “The guy said he’ll call me tomorrow and let me know if I got it. If so, I can start next week. And I can still work at the coffee shop. I’ll just have to change my schedule. Anyway, thanks again for watching Caleb. You guys can go. I’m sure you have to study.”

Jade looks at me. I guess she wants me to be the one to talk to Sara about this. How do I say it without hurting her feelings?

“Sara, we were thinking you should stay at our place tonight.”

She looks at Jade, then back at me. She knows what we think of her place and I can tell she’s embarrassed and ashamed. She doesn’t say anything but her eyes are watery like she’s about to cry. Shit. So much for not hurting her feelings.

I try to explain. “It’s just that we saw a cockroach and where there’s one there’s hundreds and Jade said you hate bugs.”

A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? And in this case, I’d say it’s justified.

“Yeah, I hate bugs,” Sara says. “Where did you see it?”

“Right over there.” I point to the corner by Caleb’s crib. “Your landlord will have to get an exterminator. But for now, you shouldn’t stay here.”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to inconvenience you guys. I’ll just stay awake all night and keep them away from Caleb.”

“You need your sleep,” I tell her. “You’ve gotta work tomorrow. You’re staying with us.”

She hesitates, so I say, “Pack up what you need. I’ll hold Caleb.” I use the take-charge tone I use with Jade and it works on Sara, too. She hands Caleb to me and goes to a box in the corner where she keeps her clothes.

Sara and Jade are both so stubborn about taking help from people that you can’t give them a choice. You just have to tell them you’re helping them, not ask if they want it.

“This is just for one night,” Sara says, holding her box of stuff as we go down the stairs. “I’ll meet you guys at your place.”

“We need to stop at the store first and get some stuff,” Jade says to Sara as we walk to Sara’s car. “We need to get a portable crib for Caleb to sleep in. Are you okay sleeping on the couch? If not, we could get a blow-up mattress, although our couch is probably more comfortable.”

“The couch is fine. And Caleb can just sleep with me.”

“He’s a big boy,” I say, handing him to her. “He can’t sleep with his mom. He needs room to stretch out. We’re getting him a crib.”

“Really, you don’t have to do that.” Sara puts Caleb in the car seat.

“Too late. We’re doing it. Just follow us.” I head to my car, which surprisingly hasn’t been vandalized or stolen by the guys who were checking it out when we pulled in.

“Do you think she’s mad at us?” Jade asks as we get in the car.

“She didn’t seem mad. She seemed relieved.”

“Yeah, she did.” Jade reaches over and holds my hand as I drive off. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I glance over and see her smiling at me.

“I think I’m going to have to add another kid to the one I already promised you.”

“Oh, yeah?” I give her hand a squeeze. “You sure you don’t want to think about that some more? You just doubled the number of kids we’re having.”

“I know, but one just doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Well, if we’re having two, we might as well have three. It’s just one more.”

She laughs. “Don’t push it.”

I don’t think Jade’s serious about having two kids. She’s just saying that because she saw me with Caleb. By tomorrow she’ll be back to wanting just one kid, which is fine. Like I said, one is better than none.

We stop at the store and I grab a cart and start tossing stuff in. Baby wipes, baby powder, baby shampoo.

“Garret, what are you doing?” Sara’s freaking out, as I knew she would. “I can’t afford all that.”

“You’re not paying for it. So load up.”

She grabs my arm. “No. I don’t want you guys buying me stuff. I have a job. I just don’t make enough to afford all this.” She picks up the baby shampoo. “And I never buy name brand. It costs way more than generic.”

I feel like I’m reliving scenes from when I met Jade last year. Jade’s standing there, not saying anything, but she’s smiling at me because this money argument is so familiar. It reminds me of the first day I spent with her. She got mad at me for buying her groceries and she insisted on only buying generic brands, just like Sara’s doing.

I take the baby shampoo from her and toss it back in the cart. “We’re getting this one. What else do you want? Some shampoo for yourself?” I grab a bottle. “This is what Jade uses. Do you want this one or a different one?”

Jade takes it from me and opens the cap, holding it up to Sara. “Smell it. It’s flowery but not too strong. And it makes your hair really soft.”

She smells it. “Yeah, it smells nice, but I don’t need it.”

She’s lying. I went in her bathroom and she had no shampoo. Just a bar of white soap that she must use on her hair.

“We’ll get it anyway.” I grab it and toss it in the cart. “If you don’t like it, Jade will use it.” I push the cart over to the diaper aisle and say to Sara, “I don’t know what size he is, so go ahead and pick some out.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Okay, you guys. Stop it. This is enough. You’re not buying me any more stuff. I mean it.”

I look at Jade. “Should we tell her?”

Jade doesn’t know what I’m going to say, but she goes along with it. “Yeah, go ahead.”

I turn toward Sara, crossing my arms over my chest. “So a few weeks ago a friend of mine started a foundation to help people out with expenses. Just until they can get a good job, go to school, whatever.”

Sara keeps her eyes on me. “Is this a friend from high school?”

“No. He’s like five years older than me. He’s a swimmer, so I’d see him at the pool and that’s how we got to be friends. Anyway, he’s like a computer genius and he’s made all these software programs and sold them for millions of dollars. That’s why he started the foundation. He’s not a materialistic guy. He doesn’t want all that money. He just likes developing software, and doing so makes him a lot of money.”

“And he just likes to give it away?”

“Pretty much. But he likes to give money to people who deserve it. People who are working hard but just need a little help making ends meet. The other day he called and asked if I knew anyone who could be one of the first people to benefit from his foundation. So what do you think? Are you willing to take his money? Because he would really appreciate it.”

Sara laughs. “You’re kidding, right? Some rich guy wants to give me money?”

Jade leans in closer to her and says, “I know this guy and I’m telling you, he’s got more money than he’ll ever spend. And he makes more every day. He doesn’t know what to do with it all.”

She smiles. “Um, okay. So what do I do?”

I point to the cart. “Fill this thing up. Get whatever you want.”

“But he doesn’t even know me.”

“I hope you’re not mad, but I kind of already told him about you. And he was really impressed that you work full-time and take care of Caleb all by yourself.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was very impressed. And then he asked if you needed help with housing and I told him I’d have to ask you first. But I think you should take him up on the offer. You could get a new apartment. You don’t want to live at your current place now that you know about the cockroaches.”

“He’d really do that for me? Help me with rent? Because if I got a better place, I could pay some of the rent. I just can’t afford all of it.”

“Then you’re the perfect candidate. So should I tell him yes? You’ll help him get rid of some of his money?”

She nods, tears running down her face. “Yes. Tell him thank you.”

Jade hugs her. “Don’t cry, Sara. This is a good thing.”

“I can’t believe a stranger would help me like this.”

“He’s not a total stranger.” Jade smiles at me. “He’s Garret’s friend.”

Sara looks at me, sniffling, her eyes all red. “I have to meet him or call him, so I can tell him thank you.”

“He wants to remain anonymous. He’s a computer nerd. You know how those guys are. He’s quiet, likes to be left alone.”

“Maybe I could write him a thank you letter?”

“Sure. You could do that. Just give it to me and I’ll make sure he gets it.” I motion to the shelves. “Now would you pick out some diapers? I’m getting hungry. We need to eat dinner, then get this guy to bed.” I point to Caleb, who’s sitting in the cart, yawning.

“Okay.” She picks up a box of generic diapers.

“Name brand, Sara,” I tell her. “We’ll never spend the guy’s money buying the generic.”

She smiles and puts the box back. “Those generic ones always leak. I’ll try these.” She puts a box in the cart.

“Seriously?” I shake my head at her. “One box?”

“Sorry.” She giggles and adds another box.

I sigh and grab three more boxes and throw them in the cart. Jade’s laughing.

We make our way through the store, filling the cart with baby clothes, baby food, a few toys, the portable crib, and some food and clothes for Sara. I fill the trunk of her car with as much as I can fit in there and put the rest of the stuff in my car. Then we get a pizza and go back to our place.

I really needed to study for finals tonight, but this was more important. We had to get Sara and Caleb out of that place. And as for that fake foundation I told Sara about? I’ve decided to make it real. I’m going to give money anonymously to people like Sara, who work hard but still need a little help to pay their bills. It felt good to do that for her and Caleb, and I know there are a lot more people out there who are just like her.

The next morning, Sara leaves early for work and takes Caleb to day care. Jade left, too, because she has a final this morning at eight.

Jade’s picking Sara up during Sara’s lunch break and they’re going to see if they can find an apartment. They went online last night and found one that looks decent and is in a better part of town and doesn’t cost too much. It’s the middle of the month so I’m not sure if they’ll let her move in right away, but there’s no way she’s staying at her current apartment over Christmas. I’m sure Alex would let her stay with him or she can stay here. She’d have the place to herself while Jade and I are gone.

My next final isn’t for an hour so I call my dad to see if he’s around.

“Yes, Garret.” He sounds rushed.

“Can you talk? It’s important.”

“Just a minute.” I hear him telling someone to leave and the door closing. “Okay, go ahead.”

“Kiefer showed up on campus yesterday. I tried to get him to leave but he wouldn’t. He followed me all the way to the parking lot.”

“Garret, if someone was following him and saw him talking to you—”

“There was nobody around. I checked.”

“They don’t stand out in plain sight. You wouldn’t know if they were there.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do? Kiefer wouldn’t leave me alone. And then he told me this stuff about Harper and—”

“Garret, I know Harper is your friend but you can’t let your feelings get in the way of your safety.”

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll stay out of it.”

“So what was the purpose of Kiefer’s visit?”

“He told me he doesn’t want to join. He wanted me to ask you for help. He thinks you can get him out of this.”

“I can’t. It’s too late now.”

“I thought the initiation isn’t until January.”

“Yes, but this process started months ago and Kiefer’s been given information only members are allowed to have. He doesn’t know everything, but he knows more than he should as an outsider.”

“If he doesn’t agree to be a member, what do you think they’ll do to him?”

“I don’t know. This is all new territory for us, accepting outsiders like this. He’ll face punishment of some kind. But that’s not your concern, so I don’t want you asking about it and I don’t want you talking to Kiefer. If he shows up there again, just walk away.” He pauses and I hear him typing on his computer. “Oh, I wanted to tell you that I just signed the paperwork for the divorce.”

“Really? I thought you two would spend months fighting over everything.”

“We’d already discussed the terms, so there was nothing left to fight over.”

“What about Lilly?”

“I’m getting full custody.”

“Did Katherine sign the papers?”

“Yes, so we’re officially divorced.”

“Shit, that’s awesome. I never thought this would happen.”

“Don’t mention it to Lilly. We aren’t going to tell her until after the holidays. Katherine will be staying at the house until the end of the year. Garret, I have people waiting outside my door for a meeting so I need to hang up. Good luck with your finals.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

I slide my phone in my pocket and grab my backpack and keys. I need to go to the library and study. I have two more finals today, and with everything going on I feel like I haven’t studied enough. I’m doing well in my classes, so it’s not like I have to get all A’s on my finals but a mix of A’s and B’s would be good.

When I get to campus, my phone rings as I’m walking to the library. I stop when I see it’s Kiefer calling. What the hell? I told him to leave me alone. I consider not answering, but I do because I don’t want him to keep calling.

“You can’t call me,” I say when I answer. “If they found out—”

“I’m telling them no,” he says, his voice frantic. “I can’t do it. I can’t be part of this. And there’s no way that man’s getting my daughter.”

I move off to the side, away from the people that were around me. “Did you tell them yet?”

“No. I’m going to as soon as we hang up. Did you talk to your father?”

“Yeah, but he can’t help you.”

“Did he say what the punishment would be?”

“He doesn’t know. It’s not up to him.”

“Oh, God, they’re going to kill me.”

I don’t deny it, because truthfully, they might actually kill them. I thought they might keep him around for his movie-making skills, but like my dad said, Kiefer knows more than he should. He’s been given information he can’t have as an outsider.

“I have to go,” I tell him. “I need to study for my final.”

“Of course. I’m sorry I bothered you.” He pauses. “I just wanted you to know, because I know how much you and Jade love Harper.” His voice cracks. “She’ll be safe if I do this, right?”

Shit. Why is he asking me this? How the hell would I know the answer to that? The organization does what they want. They make up their own rules.

“I really need to go,” I say.

“Tell me she’ll be safe!” He yells it. “Please. Just tell me she’ll be safe.” His voice cracks again. I think he might be crying.

“I can’t,” I say quietly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. You need to fix this, Kiefer, and leave me out of it. And you need to stop calling me. I can’t help you. I’m sorry.”

I hang up and he doesn’t call back. I wasn’t trying to be mean to the guy, but he can’t keep calling me or showing up here. He’s putting me in danger and it pisses me off. What if they’re tracking his calls? I don’t want them knowing I’ve been talking to him.

I go to the library and open my laptop and the Internet pops up with an ad for Kiefer’s next movie. Like I need yet another reminder about Kiefer. I’m trying to get him out of my head so I can study. But now, all I can think about is how they’re going to punish him. If he agrees to never tell their secrets, maybe they’ll leave him alone. Yeah, that won’t happen. They love to punish people to show how powerful they are. I just hope they only punish Kiefer and not the rest of his family.