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CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

GARRET

Wednesday morning, Jade and I drive to LA and check into the hotel we got downtown. I wore a baseball cap and sunglasses and so far nobody’s recognized me. I don’t think anyone will, but Jade’s all worried about it.

We meet up with Sean and Harper at Sean’s apartment. It’s a small one bedroom, not much different than the one he had in Connecticut. As soon as we get there, Harper takes Jade out to the patio and tells Sean and me to stay away so they can have girl talk. Whenever she says that, it always makes me wonder what this ‘girl talk’ is exactly. I’m guessing they’re talking about Sean and me.

“So how’s it going?” I ask Sean, taking a seat on his couch.

“Couldn’t be any better.” He’s got this huge grin on his face, showing off his dimples. “I got my girl back. And now she’s living with me.”

“What’s going on with her and her parents?”

“She’s talking to her mom and her sisters, but not her dad. She’s waiting for him to call, but so far, she hasn’t heard anything. Her mom and sisters moved back to the house and Kiefer moved out. I think Kelly’s going to divorce him.”

“Have you seen her family since you guys got back together?”

“Yeah, we went to her house last night and picked up some of her stuff. Kelly was really nice to me. She apologized for how she acted before, so I guess it’s just Harper’s dad who hates me.”

Sean never did tell me that he was threatened and attacked in the park that day. But he must assume Kiefer was behind it, which is the only explanation that would make sense, since Sean doesn’t know about the organization.

“So are you and Harper back to the place you were before you broke up?”

His grin gets even wider. “Better than that. I finally feel like we’re in the same place. Like we want the same thing.”

“That’s great.”

“Hey, for New Year’s Eve, do you care if we go to my restaurant for dinner? I know we didn’t talk about it, but I really want to take you guys there.”

“Sure, that’s fine. Whatever you want.”

“Good, because I already reserved one of their best tables. It’s a really upscale place. It’s hard to get reservations.”

“Then I’m surprised your boss let you have the table. He must really like you.”

“Yeah. Something like that.” He’s still got that huge freaking grin on his face.

I’m happy for him. He’s back to his old self and back with the girl he loves.

We turn the TV on and watch sports news until Harper and Jade finally come inside. Whenever they get together it’s like they were never apart. The miles between them the past few months didn’t change their friendship at all.

The next day we go to the Santa Monica Pier, walk around Griffith Park, and check out some other tourist spots. Nobody’s recognized me, so maybe my fame is over. Or it could be the baseball cap, which Jade keeps insisting I wear.

On Friday, New Year’s Eve, Jade and I spend the morning on our own, then meet up with Sean and Harper in the afternoon and hang out at their apartment until dinner.

Sean’s been acting strange since we got here. Usually, he and I just sit and talk or watch TV while Jade and Harper do their thing, but today he can’t sit still. He keeps getting up, walking around, going to the kitchen and back. It’s like he’s had too much caffeine.

During dinner, he’s still acting that way. We’re at the restaurant he works at, seated at a table that’s set off on its own with lighted greenery all around it. It’s a fancy place and I’m sure it’s really expensive. I don’t know how expensive because they don’t list the prices on the menu. That doesn’t bother me, but it drives Jade crazy. She can’t understand why even rich people wouldn’t want to know what they’re paying for their meal. But the food was excellent so it’s worth whatever it costs.

When the waiter gives us the dessert menus, Sean says, “Forget the menus. I made a special dessert for everyone. I need to go in the kitchen and finish it.”

Harper looks at him funny. “When did you make dessert? We’ve been together all day.”

“I made it yesterday when I came into work for a few hours.” He gets up from the table.

“What kind of dessert is it?” Harper asks.

He kisses her. “You’ll see. I’ll be right back.”

Jade sets her dessert menu down. “You’d think the chef who’s working tonight could just finish the dessert for Sean.”

Harper shrugs. “Sean’s all about presentation. He probably wants to make sure it looks right on the plate.”

A few minutes later, the waiter brings out our dessert. It’s a dark chocolate, triple-layer cake with strawberry filling and a dark chocolate frosting.

“This looks really good,” Jade says as the waiter sets a piece of cake in front of her. The plate has swirls of chocolate syrup on it that go all around the cake.

“Where’s Sean?” Harper asks the waiter.

“He’ll be here shortly. Enjoy.”

The waiter leaves and Harper scans the dining room, looking for Sean.

Jade’s checking out Harper’s plate. “Why do you have all those strawberries with yours?”

“Sean probably put them there because he knows I love strawberries with anything chocolate.” Harper picks her fork up, still searching for Sean. “We should wait for him. I don’t know what’s taking him so long.”

I’m sitting next to Harper and something on her plate catches my eye. “Harper, you might want to take a look at those strawberries.”

“Why?” She looks down at her plate and sees it. She drops her fork. “Oh my God!”

“What?” Jade drops her fork, too. “What’s wrong?”

“Harper.” Sean appears at our table wearing a tuxedo. He looks really nervous. His body’s stiff and he’s breathing fast.

Harper turns to him, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes already wet and ready to spill tears.

“Harper.” Sean takes her hand and gets down on one knee. “I know I’m not the richest guy, or the most sophisticated guy, but I’m a guy who loves you more than anything. I love your beautiful smile and your beautiful eyes and your beautiful spirit. Everything about you is beautiful to me. From the first day we met, I knew I’d never be able to get you out of my head. And I was right. Since the first moment I saw you, I’ve never stopped thinking about you. Even when you’re not around, you’re always with me, in my mind, and in my heart. I love you, and I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. Harper, will you marry me?”

Harper now has tears streaming down her face. “Yes.” She nods. “Yes! I’ll marry you!”

He kisses her, then takes the ring from the strawberries and places it on her finger and they kiss again.

My arm’s around Jade and I look over and see that she’s crying, too.

“Happy tears?” I whisper in her ear.

She nods, sniffling. “Yes.”

Sean goes around to the tray stand and comes back with a dozen long-stem red roses and hands them to Harper.

Jade and I stand up, startling Harper. I think she forgot we were here.

We exchange hugs and congratulations, and when everyone calms down, we finally eat our dessert.

“Did you practice that proposal?” Jade asks Sean.

“Only about a million times.”

“You did?” Harper kisses him. “That’s so sweet.” The two of them are sitting so close she’s practically on his lap.

“That was an amazing proposal,” Jade says.

“Hey.” I look at her. “You didn’t say mine was amazing.”

“Yours was more than amazing.” She kisses me. Her lips taste like chocolate and it reminds me of all the times chocolate has led to us having sex. My gaze wanders down to her cleavage and the tight red dress she’s wearing, then back up to her beautiful jade green eyes, and it makes me wonder how I got a woman this gorgeous and this incredible to say yes to my proposal.

“I love you.” She whispers it in my ear, then smiles and goes back to eating her cake.

“This ring is so beautiful.” Harper holds her hand out to look at it. “When did you get it?”

Sean smiles at me from across the table. “Right after Christmas.”

I smile back. I’ll keep his secret. Harper doesn’t need to know he bought it months ago. It might freak her out. Back then, she wasn’t ready for a proposal. Someday he can tell her the truth.

“It’s perfect.” She admires her ring again, then hugs him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” They kiss again.

I notice the people at the table across from us pouring champagne. I check my watch. “Only a minute until midnight. Is anyone going to make a toast?”

“I will.” Sean ordered us some non-alcoholic champagne. We each stand and hold up our glasses. “To Moorhurst College, for bringing Garret and me the two greatest women in the world.”

We laugh as we clink glasses, but it’s true. Jade and Harper both showed up at that tiny college in Connecticut, far away from their hometowns. And then I met Jade, and Jade met Harper, and Harper met Sean, and somehow we all ended up together. Jade married me, and now Harper’s marrying Sean, and the four of us are best friends.

When I think about that, it amazes me how everything worked out like this. I can’t explain it. That’s what I like best about the story of Jade and me. It can’t be explained. It doesn’t make sense. Two people from vastly different backgrounds coming together and becoming best friends and falling in love despite everyone around us trying to keep us apart.

So tonight, on this New Year’s Eve, I’d like to toast to those things in life we can’t explain, but that end up making our lives fuller and richer and better than we ever imagined.

Life doesn’t need to be explained. It just needs to be lived. And appreciated. And spent with those you love.

I turn to Jade, holding up my glass. “To the unexplainable.”

“What?” She has no idea what I mean.

“Just go with it.” I smile and clink her glass. “Happy New Year, Jade.”