Page 58

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

JADE

“So what do you think?” I spread my arms out, showing off the apartment. Sara and I just got here and the landlady stepped out in the hall to make a phone call.

“I love it.” Sara smiles really wide as her eyes dart around the room. “It’s so big. I’m not used to all this space.”

The apartment has two bedrooms so Sara and Caleb can each have their own room. The place looks kind of dated, but it’s clean and there aren’t any loose wires anywhere. I don’t see any mold, and the water coming out of the faucet is clear, not brown.

“It’s in a great neighborhood,” I say. “And it seems really quiet. Plus, when we drove in I saw some playground equipment next to the building.”

“This place is perfect. And like you said, it’s a great location. But do you really think I should get it? I still feel weird letting Garret’s friend pay for part of the rent.”

“Why? He wants to do it. Garret called him last night and told him and he said he’s happy he could help.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.” She squeals and hugs me. “I’m so excited about this!”

“Let’s go fill out the paperwork and find out when you can move in.”

After Sara fills out the forms, the landlady reviews them. Sara has a nearly empty bank account and her job pays next to nothing so I’m worried the lady won’t rent her the apartment. And from the look on her face, I can tell she’s about to turn Sara down. So before she can say anything, I introduce myself to the lady, making sure to say my last name and that I’m Pearce Kensington’s daughter-in-law. When I tell her I’m really good friends with Sara, she’s suddenly much more receptive to Sara living there.

I’ve never dropped the Kensington name before to get people to do stuff because it seems really lame to do that. But in this case I needed to or she wouldn’t have rented to Sara. Then I wrote a check for the first six month’s rent and the woman agreed to let Sara move in today. So I’ve now seen firsthand how money and a powerful last name can get things done.

I didn’t let Sara see the check I wrote. I told her it was a signed check from the foundation and I just filled in the amount. Then I told her Garret’s friend insisted on paying all the rent for the first six months and that she could help pay for the rent later on. She was thrilled about that, because even paying just half of the first month’s rent would’ve cleared out her bank account.

We get the keys to her apartment, then bring in all the stuff we packed in her trunk last night. She has to get back to work, so she’ll put everything away later.

“Jade, I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me,” she says as we’re driving to the coffee shop. “If it were just me, I wouldn’t care where I lived, but with Caleb, I. . .” Her voice trails off and a tear sneaks down her cheek.

“I know, Sara.” I smile at her. “But now you both have a safe and quiet place to live. And Caleb’s going to love it.”

She nods and wipes her cheek. “He will. Now he’ll be able to crawl on the floor. I didn’t let him do that at the other place and he’d get really mad at me. The boy just wants to crawl.” She laughs.

“I can help you move when you get off work. Garret has to study, so I don’t how much time he’ll have to help but—”

“Don’t worry about it. Alex gets back in town later today so he’s going to help me. You and Garret have done enough and you both need to study for finals.”

“What’s Alex think about you moving?”

“He’s so relieved. He hated my old place. He said it was too dangerous, but he didn’t have enough money to help me get a different place. And even if he did, I didn’t want him paying my rent. But he did offer to buy me a new bed as a Christmas present.”

“A bed, huh?” I tease. “Like maybe one you could both fit in?”

“No!” She jabs my arm. “He’s buying it because he thinks I need one.”

“You do. You need to replace that twin mattress.”

“We’re going shopping for a new one tonight. He’s getting me a queen mattress with a frame so it doesn’t have to sit on the floor.”

“That’s sweet of him.”

“I know. I really love—” She catches herself and her cheeks blush. “I have to go.”

We’re parked in front of the coffee shop now and she opens the car door to leave.

I grab her arm. “Wait. Did you just say you love Alex?”

“I have to go or I’ll be late.” She steps out of the car.

“Sara. Do you?”

She smiles really wide and nods, then shuts the door and hurries into the coffee shop.

I’m so happy for her. She found a guy she loves, and from the things she says about him, I think he loves her, too. And now she’ll be living in a better apartment and has plenty of diapers and baby clothes and other baby supplies.

I love Garret so much for finding a way to help out Sara like that. He was desperate to do something after he saw how she was living. I felt the same way, but I didn’t know how to get her to accept our help. But his made-up foundation was perfect. And I’ve been thinking that maybe we should make his fake foundation real, to help out people like Sara.

Garret gets home at four-thirty. Before I can tell him about Sara, he says, “The divorce is final. My dad’s finally rid of Katherine.”

“Are you serious? Did they sign the papers?”

“Yes. It’s official. He is no longer married to Katherine. But they’re not going to tell Lilly until after the holidays, so unfortunately Katherine will be living at the house through the end of the year.”

“That sucks.”

“I know, but it’s probably best for Lilly.” He pulls me down to sit on the couch with him. “I have some other news.” His face has that serious expression I don’t like.

I sigh. “What now? More bad news?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

I roll my eyes. “You need to explain what that means. And hurry up. You’re freaking me out here.”

“Kiefer called. He’s going to tell them he’s not accepting their membership offer. Actually, he’s probably already told them. He called me earlier today and was going to tell them right after he hung up with me.”

“You haven’t heard back from him?”

“No. I told him to stop calling me.”

“So what does this mean? Harper won’t have to marry that guy?”

“I don’t know. I mean, if Harper was part of the deal and now Kiefer broke the deal, then she should be safe. But…”

“But what? You think that guy will still try to take her? He can’t do that.”

“If they abide by the rules of the deal, then no. But I get the feeling this Andrew guy doesn’t like following rules.” Garret sees the worry on my face and brings me in for a hug. “For now, let’s just go with the idea that she’s safe.”

As much as I’d like to believe that, I won’t until I know for sure. But I feel some relief knowing Kiefer’s not going to be part of the organization.

I sit back. “If he’s not going to be a member, then I can still be friends with Harper.” I wait for Garret to respond. He doesn’t, so I say it again. “I can still be friends with her, right?”

“I don’t want to say you can until we know for sure. And we won’t know that until we know Andrew’s going to leave her alone. For now, you should just try to act normal around her so she doesn’t suspect something’s wrong.”

“How long do you think it’ll be until we know about Andrew?”

“I have no idea. But, Jade, we’re not going to spend time worrying about it. We have to focus on finals and then it’s Christmas, and we’re not letting this ruin the holidays.”

My shoulders slump. “But I’m really worried about Harper.”

“We can’t do anything about it, Jade.”

“I know, but—” I can’t finish because he starts tickling my sides, pushing me back on the couch. I squirm, trying to get away from him. “What are you doing?”

“Distracting you from thinking about Harper. I’m going to keep tickling you until you stop worrying.”

“Okay, stop!” I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

He stops, but keeps his hands close to the tickle zone. “Are you still worrying?”

“Nope.” I tense up, preparing for more tickling.

But instead he kisses me. “You’re lying, but I’ll let you rest a minute.” He sits back. “So how’d it go with Sara?”

“Great. That place was perfect for her.” I tell him about the apartment and about how excited she was and that Alex is getting her a bed.

“Oh—and get this! Sara loves Alex!” I say it in a higher-than-normal voice.

Garret laughs at me. “Are you taking credit for that?”

I laugh. “I should, shouldn’t I? I totally pushed her to go out with him. They’re really happy together. Just like us.” I kiss him. “Hey, I had another idea.”

“You want to turn my fake foundation into a real one?” He smiles.

I huff. “How did you know that?”

“I had the same idea.”

“Then let’s do it. Except I don’t know how to set up a foundation.”

“I’ll do it. Maybe I’ll set it up after the holidays.”

“Speaking of the holidays, you know what we should do?” I don’t wait for him to answer. “We should get Sara a Christmas tree. We’ll tell her it’s a present from us since she doesn’t know we gave her that other stuff.”

“Okay, but I can’t get it tonight. I really need to study. Maybe we could get it on Friday. Actually, I might be too tired to get out of bed on Friday. We’ll just order her one and have it delivered.”

“Sounds good.” I get up but he grabs my hand.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving you alone so you can study.”

“I need to spend time with my wife first.”

“What would you like to do?” I straddle his lap, smiling.

He grasps the back of my neck and brings me in for a kiss. His fingers tangle in my hair as his kiss goes deeper. I grind my hips into him and feel him against me and it gets me all hot inside. His other hand goes between us and he unbuttons my shirt. When he’s done, I take it off, then lift up on my knees, my breasts level with his face. I bury my hands in his soft hair as he leaves kisses along the outline of my bra, but he doesn’t take it off. Instead, he keeps gently kissing the outline of it, his hands grasping my waist, keeping me firmly in place. The tension inside me keeps building and I know that’s why he’s doing it. His teasing kills me. I love it, but it kills me.

Finally, he hoists me up in his arms and takes me to the bedroom, laying me down on the bed. I finish undressing, watching as he strips his clothes off. He lies over me, but I push on his chest, stopping him. “Let me be on top.”

“Are you sure?” He’s surprised because I usually don’t like being on top.

“Yeah.” I sit up and he pulls me over him as he lowers himself down on his back. I straddle him and guide him inside me. He grabs my hips pulling me into him as he pushes up. I close my eyes and focus on how he feels. I keep my hips moving as his hands roam over my backside, then up my front and along my breasts. I open my eyes and trace his gaze over my body. I don’t like being on top because one, I don’t know what I’m doing, and two, Garret always looks at my body like this and I get self-conscious.

“Okay, your turn,” I tell him, getting that self-conscious feeling.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He holds my hips in place. “I’m loving this way too much.” He flashes his sexy smile, then his eyes follow the path of his hand as it glides over my breast and down the side of my hip. “Damn, you’re hot. Every part of you is so fucking beautiful.”

I swear he knows exactly what to say. It’s like he senses the moment I feel self-conscious and says what I need to hear to make those feelings go away.

His words boost my confidence and I move a little faster, positioning myself to feel him deeper. I usually don’t get much pleasure out of this position because I’m too worried about him , but this time I focus on myself instead, grinding into him in a rhythm that makes the sensations inside me build and build and then finally release.

I stop and feel Garret’s hands gripping my hips, urging me to keep going, and I do until he releases as well. Then I lie over him, my head on his chest.

He kisses my forehead and strokes my hair. “We should do that more often.”

“Have sex? I think we do it enough already.”

“I mean, do it like that. With you on top. I love being able to look at you. All of you. And being able to touch you.”

“I’m not very good at it.”

“Jade, you always say that and it’s not true. You’re good at it. And I think you actually liked it that time.”

I lift my head up to look at him. “What do you mean? I liked it before.”

“No. Whenever we do it like that, you’re never satisfied. You worry too much about me.”

I sigh. “How do you know all this? Do you read my mind or something?”

He kisses me. “I know you better than anyone.”

“You don’t know if I’m satisfied or not. And for the record, I am.”

“ Now you are, but in the past when you’re the one on top, you haven’t been. I can tell.”

“You can?” I drop my head on his shoulder. “That’s so embarrassing.”

He laughs. “Why do you get so embarrassed around me? Especially now, after we’ve been together all this time?”

“I don’t know,” I mumble. “I just do.”

“Jade.” He waits for me to look at him. “I’m your husband. You never have to be embarrassed around me. You can say or do anything around me and I’ll still love you and think you’re sweet and adorable and beautiful and the perfect woman.”

“Thank you.” I smile. “But I’ll still get embarrassed.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep working on that.” He swats my butt. “Now get off me. I gotta study.”

“No cuddle time?” I’m just kidding, but I try to sound really sad.

He sees my sad face. “Okay. But not all night. I really need to study.”

“I was kidding.” I hit his arm. “I don’t want to cuddle. I need to get away from you so I can cool off. I’m dripping sweat after you made me do all your work.”

“You’re the one who wanted to be on top. Now get up.” He tickles my sides until I move off him.

As he’s getting dressed, I say, “Shouldn’t we take a shower? We’re both sweaty.”

He holds his shirt, not putting it on. “Jade. Stop tempting me with sex. I need to study.”

“Who said anything about sex?” I stand in front of him, letting my hands roam over his lower abs.

He sighs. “Let’s go.”

I laugh as he drags me to the shower.

And after that, I leave him alone so he can study. I study, too, because I have another final tomorrow.

* * *

Finals week turned out to be not so bad, at least not for me. I only had to take three finals. Garret had five and he tends to wait until the last minute to study so he hasn’t slept much all week.

We haven’t heard anything more from Kiefer, but Garret called his dad, and although Pearce couldn’t say much, he did confirm that Kiefer turned down the membership offer. So now Kiefer awaits his punishment.

As for Andrew, we still don’t know anything. I’ve been trying to do as Garret says and not think about it, but I still do. Harper’s my best friend. Of course I’m going to think about it. But I’m trying to keep my thoughts positive. If Kiefer isn’t a member, Harper should be free to be with whoever she wants. Maybe if I just keep thinking that, it’ll be true.

Now it’s Friday and finals are over. We slept in this morning, then spent the day packing because tomorrow we leave for Connecticut.

Garret and I are really tired, but I promised Sara we’d go out for dinner with her and Alex tonight. We keep saying we will and we never do, so I can’t cancel on her now that we finally made plans. Her Christmas tree was delivered this afternoon so she called me and thanked me like a million times. She was so excited. She and Alex are going to decorate it this weekend.

At six, we all meet at a restaurant that specializes in different types of burgers with crazy toppings. They also brew beer, so it’s a hangout for college students, but families with kids come here, too.

We’re sitting in a booth, with Caleb at the end of the table in a high chair, chewing on his toys. He’s funny. He chews on anything he can get his hands on.

“So when are you guys leaving for Christmas?” I ask Sara. She and Caleb are going with Alex to his parents’ house for the holiday.

“Next Thursday. I have to work in the morning, so we’ll leave in the afternoon. Alex’s mom wants us there for Christmas Eve. She makes a big brunch in the morning and then everyone hangs out there all day.”

“Holidays at my house are insane,” Alex says, smiling. “I don’t know if Sara told you, but my family is huge and they all come to my parents’ house for the holidays. The place will be packed. It’s the same way at Thanksgiving.”

“I can’t wait,” Sara says to me. “We had so much fun at Thanksgiving. Everyone in his family is awesome.”

Alex hugs her into his side and kisses her cheek. “You need to spend more time with them before you decide that.”

I haven’t seen these two together for months, and back then they weren’t dating. Now that they are, I can see how much they like each other. They’re across the table from us and Sara’s tucked under Alex’s arm. She’s so short and small that she makes Alex look like a big guy even though he’s not. He’s about 5’8 and on the thin side. Not skinny, but he’s not a muscular guy. He’s into art and movies and music, not working out. But he does like sports, which gives him something to talk about with Garret, who could literally talk about sports for hours. In fact, he’s done that with Sean. I don’t know how anyone can talk that long about sports. Harper loves sports and even she can’t talk about it for hours.

“Alex’s nieces are so cute,” Sara says.

“Cute?” Alex gives Sara a funny look. “On Thanksgiving, they took Caleb and we couldn’t find him. And then they put some girly headband on him and almost painted his nails.”

She laughs. “They were just playing.”

“You need to have him hang out with your nephews,” Garret says to Alex.

“They don’t want to be around a baby. They want to be outside playing ball. But my nieces go crazy whenever someone brings a baby over.”

“Can I get you something to drink?” The waitress stands next to Caleb at the end of the table. She’s a cute blonde, wearing black, very tight shorts and a white cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up and unbuttoned to the point that it shows a lot of cleavage. It’s a revealing uniform, which means she probably gets good tips from the college guys hoping to get a date with her.

Sara and I order soda and Alex orders a beer. Then Garret orders a soda and the waitress says, “You sure you don’t want a beer? They’re on special tonight.”

“No, thanks.” He looks at his menu.

“Have you ever tried one of our craft beers? If not, I can bring you some samples so you can see which one you like.”

“Thanks, but I’m not quite 21 yet.”

“Oh, sorry.” She points to my hand. “I saw her ring and thought you two were married.”

“We are married, but we’re only 20.”

She gives us that confused look people always give us whenever we tell them we’re married. But then Caleb distracts her by pulling on her shirt and smiling at her.

“Hi, sweetie.” She leans down and her cleavage is practically in his face. He stares at her boobs, which is kind of funny. She looks at me and says, “He’s so sweet. What’s his name?”

“Caleb. But he’s not mine. He’s hers.” I point to Sara.

“He’s really cute,” the waitress says to Sara.

“Thank you.”

The girl seems flustered as she straightens up and turns to Garret. “Did you decide what you want to drink?”

“I think I ordered a Coke.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Sorry. I’ll be right back.”

She leaves and Sara laughs. “I told you being a waitress isn’t easy. You have to be friendly, but you can’t make assumptions about people. It always gets you in trouble.”

“I forgot you guys are only 20,” Alex says. “You seem older. Maybe because you’re married.”

“Yeah, we’re old married people now,” I say, looping my arm with Garret’s. “It’s almost our six month anniversary. We’re not even newlyweds anymore.”

“Yes, we are.” Garret leans down and gives me a kiss.

Caleb squeals and we all look over at him. He’s pumping his arms up and down and staring at the floor, where his toy fell.

“I got it.” Alex gives it back to him, then tickles Caleb’s belly. “I saw you checking out that girl. I think she’s a little old for you.”

“He was totally checking her out,” I say, laughing.

“I know, right?” Sara laughs, too. “He couldn’t stop staring at her boobs. I thought he was going to reach out and grab one, like he does to me all the time. I would’ve been so embarrassed if he did that.”

“You might want to work on being a little more discreet next time,” Garret tells Caleb. “You can get away with staring like that when you’re nine months old, but later, if you look at a girl like that, she’ll slap you.”

We all laugh.

The waitress returns with the drinks and Caleb stares at her cleavage again as she leans over to set our drinks down. Sara and I start laughing. I don’t want the waitress to think we’re laughing at her so I try to stop, but Caleb won’t look away from her chest and it’s just too funny.

When she leaves, Sara says, “Maybe he thinks they’re balloons. Or some kind of toy.”

The guys laugh.

“I think guys a lot older than him also think they’re toys,” Alex says.

Sara rolls her eyes as her cheeks turn pink. “We need to change the subject. And if he does that again, you need to distract him.”

“It’s nature, Sara,” Garret says. “You can’t stop it.”

“Boys.” I roll my eyes and she laughs.

Sara and I ignore the guys and she tells me more about Alex’s family, while the guys talk about football. Of course. What else would they talk about?

Our food arrives and we continue our separate conversations. During dinner, I notice Alex bringing out a jar of baby food and some finger foods for Caleb to eat. He feeds Caleb in between eating his own meal. It’s like Caleb is his own kid. Sara glances over at them now and then, but otherwise just keeps talking.

It’s nice seeing Alex helping out with Caleb like that. It makes me think that maybe Alex might consider marrying Sara someday. I think she’d like that. I guess I don’t know. She’s never shared her opinion on marriage.

We order dessert, and as we’re waiting for it, I decide we need to do this double date thing again. We all get along really well.

“Dinner’s on me tonight,” Alex announces.

“You don’t have to do that,” Garret says.

“You guys really helped out Sara and Caleb and I want to show my appreciation. I tried to get her out of that apartment for months and she wouldn’t accept my help, but you finally convinced her to move, so I owe you.”

“Thanks,” I tell him. “That’s really nice of you.”

Caleb starts fussing and Sara nudges Alex. “Can you take him out of the high chair? He’s been in there too long.”

Alex lifts him up and hands him to Sara. The three of them already look like a family. Sara and Alex look like they go together and Caleb could easily pass for Alex’s kid.

Dessert arrives and halfway through eating it, I’m stuffed.

“I can’t finish that.” I push my brownie sundae away.

“Their desserts are huge,” Sara says. “We should’ve split one.” She holds Caleb up to Alex. “Could you take him? I need to wipe his sticky face.”

He takes Caleb, whose chubby cheeks are covered in chocolate ice cream. As Sara’s cleaning up Caleb’s face, a guy stops by our table.

“Sara,” he says, trying to get her attention.

She looks up at the guy. Her expression is a mix of shock and panic.

“Brandon. What are you doing here?”

He nods toward the bar. “I’m getting a beer with Kyle. I came down to see him for a couple days.”

“Okay. Well, have fun.” Her eyes shift down to the table.

She seems really uncomfortable. Maybe she used to date this guy. He’s not much taller than Alex, maybe 5’10, but he’s much wider, with a muscular, stocky build. He’s got short, medium-brown hair and dark brown eyes and stubble along his face. He’s wearing khaki shorts and a bright green polo shirt that looks too tight on his arms.

“So how’ve you been, Sara?” He directs his body toward her, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You should get back to the bar.” She tosses her scrunched-up napkin on the table. “We were just leaving.”

He peers down at Alex. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Sara glares at Brandon but he doesn’t notice. His eyes are still on Alex. She says really fast, “This is Alex and those are my friends, Jade and Garret.”

Brandon points to Caleb, who’s still on Alex’s lap. “Is that our kid?”

“Yes.” Sara takes Caleb and holds him against her chest.

Holy crap! That’s Caleb’s dad? Sara never told me his name. She hardly ever talks about him.

Before I even knew who this guy was, I could tell he was an ass, just by the way he came over here and acted like we should all stop what we’re doing and pay attention to him.

“Let me see him,” Brandon says.

Sara slowly turns Caleb around and sits him on her lap. “His name’s Caleb.”

“Who came up with that stupid name?”

I see both Garret and Alex tense up.

“Obviously, I named him since you weren’t around for his birth.” Sara sounds pissed. Good for her.

“You’re the one who wanted it. I gave you the money to take care of it.”

“You need to leave,” Alex says to him.

“Who are you ? The new boyfriend?”

“Brandon, just leave,” Sara says. “Go back to the bar.”

He leans down in front of Alex, placing his palms on the table. “Are you trying to play dad to my kid?”

Alex looks him in the eye. “You’re clearly not interested in the job.”

Sara holds Alex’s arm. “Alex, just ignore him. He’ll go away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Brandon says, a big smirk on his face.

Alex keeps quiet. I can almost see the wheels spinning in his head as he tries to figure out what to do. Sara doesn’t want him to get in a fight, but Alex wants to stand up for her. And I’m sure he’d love to beat up Brandon for leaving Sara alone with a baby and no money. The problem is, Alex isn’t a fighter.

“Just leave,” Alex says, staring at Brandon.

“Make me, tough guy.”

Even if Alex wanted to fight him, there’s no way he would win a fight with this guy. Brandon may not be much taller than Alex, but he’s way bigger.

“You gonna just sit there, or are you gonna do something?” Brandon says, trying to provoke him.

Alex doesn’t answer. He seems nervous, his eyes darting everywhere but at Brandon.

“Alex.” Garret waits for Alex to look at him. “You mind if I step in?”

“Go ahead.”

Great. Just what I need. My husband getting into a fight.

“Garret, don’t,” I say quietly to him.

He gets out of the booth and stands next to Brandon. He looks like a giant next to Brandon. Garret’s a lot taller and he’s been working out constantly to get his shoulder back in shape, so he’s really muscular. Way bigger than when I met him.

Garret holds his hand out. “Garret Kensington.”

Brandon looks confused. He wasn’t expecting the handshake, but he shakes Garret’s hand. “Brandon Lintz.”

“That’s lesson number one. When you’re introduced to someone, you look them in the eye, you shake their hand, you smile. Basic manners.”

“What the hell does—”

“Lesson number two.” Garret glances over at Sara. “Cover his ears.”

“What?” Sara’s confused.

“Cover Caleb’s ears.”

She does, and Garret continues talking to Brandon. “Lesson number two. You treat the mother of your child with respect. I don’t give a shit if you don’t like her, don’t want to date her, don’t want to marry her. The woman gave birth to your child. By herself. With no support. And you’re going to treat her with respect.”

“I didn’t even want the fucking kid. I told her to get rid of it.”

Garret checks to make sure Caleb’s ears are still covered. “You think she didn’t deserve a say in that?”

He waves his hand at Sara. “The bitch got her way. The kid’s right there.”

“Already forgot lesson number two, huh? You’re clearly too fucking dumb to comprehend any more of my lessons, so we’re done for today. Now do as Sara asked, and Alex asked, and get the fuck out of here.”

“I get it.” Brandon laughs. “You and Sara. Makes sense.” He looks at Alex. “I didn’t think she’d go out with that loser.”

“Alex is her boyfriend. Not me. And before you open your mouth again to show us how fucking stupid you are, turn around and walk your ass out the door.”

“I’m not leaving. I still got a full beer left at the bar.”

Garret sighs. “I’m not going to say it again.”

“I don’t give a fuck how many times you say it. I’m not leaving.”

Caleb starts crying.

“Get that thing to shut up,” Brandon says to Sara.

Garret gets in Brandon’s face. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but what the hell? I love beating up assholes like you.”

“Garret, no!” I scoot to the end of the booth. “You’ll get arrested again.”

Brandon steps back. “You got arrested for fighting?”

Garret slowly smiles. “Yeah. I did. Arrested and thrown in jail. For beating up an asshole just like you. The guy had no manners. Treated women like shit. I started punching him and I couldn’t stop. I have a bad temper and my rage just took over. I broke his nose, bruised every square inch of his body, and pounded his face in the wall so hard he went unconscious.”

Brandon looks scared. Like seriously scared. He takes another step back. “And you only got jail time? You should be locked in prison for something like that.”

Garret shrugs. “I’ve got friends in high places. And friends in places you’d never want to go, unless you had a death wish.”

Brandon’s staring at Garret, breathing fast. I think I even see his forehead sweating. That story about Garret beating up Blake really freaked Brandon out. Hearing Garret describe it, it did sound pretty bad and yet that’s exactly what happened. Damn, my husband’s a real badass. Not that I like him beating people up, but Blake deserved it.

“This is bullshit,” Brandon says, walking backward, away from Garret. “I’m outta here.”

Garret watches him. “Hey. Before you go, I need you to apologize to Sara.”

“For what?”

“Breaking up with her when she got pregnant. Leaving her with nothing. Not paying child support. I could go on all day.”

Brandon looks at Sara, then back at Garret. But he doesn’t apologize.

Garret crosses his arms over his chest, which makes his biceps appear even bigger. He keeps his eyes on Brandon, giving him a look of warning.

Brandon lets out an annoyed sigh and looks at Sara again. “I’m sorry, Sara.”

Sara’s too speechless to answer.

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” Garret nods toward the exit. “You can go now.”

Brandon turns and walks out the door.

A guy from the bar yells, “Brandon, where are you going?”

Garret checks who it is, then sits back down in the booth. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“What?” I ask him.

“Brandon’s friend is Kyle, the guy who keeps calling me, trying to get me to introduce him to my dad.”

“Brandon used to be on the football team with Kyle,” Sara says. “They’re good friends.”

“I knew I hated that guy.” Garret takes a drink of his water.

“Did you really get arrested for fighting?” Alex asks Garret.

“Yeah, but it was back in high school. I made it sound worse than it was.”

I’m glad Garret didn’t tell him the truth. I don’t want Sara or Alex thinking Garret’s violent.

The waitress stops by and drops off the check. “Did Brandon leave?”

“Yeah. Why?” Sara says, as she rubs Caleb’s back. He’s falling asleep now.

“I hate that guy. Last year he was always in here grabbing my ass and trying to get me to go out with him.” She shudders. “I was so happy when he left town. He didn’t move back here, did he?”

“No, he’s in San Francisco now.”

“They can have him.” She smiles. “You guys can pay whenever you want. No rush.”

Alex drops some cash on the check. “It’s all set.”

She picks up the money. “Thanks. Have a good night.”

“We should go,” Alex says to Sara.

“Yeah, I need to get Caleb to bed.” She reaches under the table for her purse.

We all get out of the booth and Garret goes up to Alex. “Hey. Are we good? I didn’t mean to step in like that but—”

“No, I’m glad you did. If you want to come over and watch a game when you guys get back from your trip, just let me know.”

“You guys are watching a game?” Sara asks. “Why can’t us girls come over?”

Alex kisses her cheek. “You can. I just didn’t think you’d want to watch the game.”

“Jade and I could still come over. You want to, Jade?”

“Sure. We’ll talk when I get back and figure it out.”

“Have a good trip.” Sara gives me a hug. “See you guys later.”

On the drive home, I say to Garret, “I can’t believe Caleb’s dad showed up tonight.”

“ I can’t believe Sara dated that guy.”

“She doesn’t have good self-esteem so she puts up with stuff she shouldn’t.”

He holds my hand. “If we have a daughter someday, we’re gonna make damn sure she feels good about herself so she doesn’t put up with guys like that.”

“With you as her dad, every guy she dates is going to seem like a loser. She’ll never be able to go out with anyone.”

“Good. Just the way I want it.”

He’s not joking. If we have a daughter, no guy will ever be good enough for her.