Page 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“Guess we should get some sleep,” Garret says, as I lie in his arms, a thin blanket covering us.

“Did I wear you out?” I tease.

He sits up on his forearm. “Are you challenging me? Because you know I could do this all night, especially after drinking that disgusting green juice.”

“You said you liked it.”

“I didn’t like it. I just didn’t want to hurt Harper’s feelings. But Sean’s right. That shit works. I’m ready to go again, but I thought you might want some sleep first.”

“I could use a little nap. And then we’ll do this again.”

“Sounds good.” He smiles.

I close my eyes and adjust my pillow. I feel Garret beside me, still propped up on his arm. I open my eyes again and see him watching me.

“What? Did you change your mind about the sex?”

“No. I just wanted to tell you that I love you.”

I gaze up at him. “I love you, too.” He’s still looking at me. “Is there something else?”

“I want to be a good husband to you, Jade. Better than good. So if I’m ever not, go ahead and kick my ass. Well, tell me what I did wrong first, and then kick my ass.”

“I won’t need to. You’re going to be a great husband. I can already tell. I’ve only been married to you a few hours and you’re already the best husband ever.”

He glances around. “Yeah, well, I don’t think I’ll be able to do this for you every night. I wish I could but—”

“I don’t expect you to. As long as you’re always here beside me, I’ll be happy.”

His hand skims over my cheek and rests on the side of my face. “I love that about you. The way you don’t need much to be happy. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. I still remember the look on your face when I put up those blue lights in your dorm room. I couldn’t believe how happy you were about that.”

“I didn’t have anything growing up so it doesn’t take much to make me happy. And now that I have you, I really don’t need anything else.” I hesitate because this probably isn’t the right time to talk about this but I say it anyway. “Garret, we need to talk about the money I have in the trust fund.”

“Um, okay.” He looks confused. “Like right now?”

“I just need to say something and then we can talk more about it later.”

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t think I want to keep all of it. I mean, I’ll keep some of it but I don’t want all of it. I don’t need it. I don’t need a mansion or a private plane or designer clothes or whatever else people with millions of dollars buy.”

“So what are you thinking of doing with it?”

“I want to help people who need it. Maybe give some to charity or start my own charity. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. It’s our money now, not just mine, and I didn’t know if you’d be okay with giving some of it away. If you’re not then—”

He kisses me before I can finish. A sweet, gentle kiss. And then he props himself up on his forearm again. “I know I just said it but I’m saying it again. I love you. So damn much.”

“I don’t understand. Are you okay with this?”

“I’m more than okay with it. I was thinking the same thing. I just didn’t say anything because it’s your money. I know you say it’s ours but Grace and Arlin gave you that money, not me. And they wanted you to use it however you want. I didn’t want to influence you in any way. You’ve never had money before, so I wanted you to be free to decide how it’s spent.”

“I’m not sure how I want to spend it. Obviously college and I’d like to get a house someday and have enough money in the bank that I don’t have to worry all the time. But I can have all that for a lot less than $45 million. Even half that amount is still a lot of money.”

“I agree.”

“But I thought you’d want us to keep it all. You grew up with money and you’re used to having expensive clothes and cars and trips.”

“We can still have nice cars and go on trips but like you said, we don’t need $45 million to do that. I don’t need a $50,000 watch or $5000 suits. I don’t want to live in a mansion like my dad does. I want a nice house but I don’t want it to be so big that I can’t even find you in it.”

I laugh. “Yeah, that would be bad. So have you ever thought about what kind of house you want?”

“I’ve thought about it a little.” The way he says it implies he’s actually thought about it a lot.

“Yeah? So?”

“You have to tell me first. What’s your dream house look like, Jade?”

I close my eyes and picture it. I’ve had this same picture in my head since I was little, even though I always thought I’d end up living alone in an apartment.

“It’s a one-level house that has an open floor plan with lots of windows. There’s a big kitchen, which I know sounds stupid because I don’t really cook, but people like to hang out in the kitchen so in my dream house I had a big kitchen with lots of places for people to sit. And the house is on a large piece of land. It’s not in a neighborhood. It’s out on like four or five acres. And as a kid I always wanted a couple dogs. Yellow labs.” I open my eyes. “Okay, your turn.”

He’s giving me this strange look. “Did I already tell you this?”

“Tell you what?”

“What type of house I wanted?”

“No. But let me guess.” I close my eyes again, imagining it. “A two story colonial, white with black shutters, in a neighborhood somewhere in Connecticut.”

“Where’d you get that idea?”

“You said you liked that neighborhood you grew up in so I thought that’s what you wanted. A house just like the ones on that street.”

“No, that’s not at all what I want. What I want is what you just described. Are you sure I didn’t tell you that before?”

“No, you never said what type of house you wanted.”

“So we both wanted the same type of house, but for some reason we never knew this about each other?”

“Wait. Describe your dream house to me.”

“It’s just like you said. One level. Open floor plan. Big kitchen. Big master bedroom and bath. And on some land, maybe five acres.” He smiles. “I didn’t plan on having dogs but if you want dogs, I’ll get you some dogs.”

I hit his shoulder. “You’re making this up. You just said that because I said it.”

“I’m a hundred percent serious, Jade. That’s exactly what I want.”

“Meaning we might actually live in a place like that someday?”

“It sounds like that’s exactly the type of house we’ll be living in. It’s what we both want.”

“Where do you think we should get this house? Where should we live after we graduate? Have you thought about that?”

“If you go to med school we’ll go to wherever that is.”

“Yeah, I know, but I mean after all that is done. When we’re finally ready to buy this house, where do you want to live?”

“You tell me first.”

“No, you have to go first this time.”

“Hmm. Okay, but if I tell you, that does not in any way mean that we actually have to live in that location. It’s just an idea.”

“Yeah. Got it.”

“I’d like to live out here in California. I don’t know what town or city but somewhere along the coast.”

I feel my lips turn up before I can even speak.

Garret must know what that means because he says, “Let me guess. You want to live in California, too?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know that’s what you wanted. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Because we’re 19. Either one of us could change our mind by the time we’re ready to get a house.”

“I don’t think I’ll change my mind. I love living out here. I love the weather and the ocean. It’s perfect.”

“Then I guess that’s decided. That was easy.”

I laugh. “It was. We can go to bed now.” I yawn and scoot back into his chest.

He fastens his arm around me. “Jade.”

“What?”

“I love that you want to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Give away part of the money. Do something good with it. Most people would just want to spend it on themselves, especially when they’ve never had money before.”

“Like I said earlier, I don’t need a lot of stuff to be happy. Just you. And maybe some donuts. And pancakes. And potato chips.”

I hear him laughing. “Yeah. I know, Jade. And I’ll make sure you always have those things.”

“Oh, and Christmas lights. That’s it. I swear.”

“Got it.” He kisses the back of my head. “Goodnight, Mrs. Kensington.”

I smile again at my new name, then fall right to sleep.

When I wake up, the sun is shining, casting a soft glow inside the tent. I reach over to hug Garret, but he’s not there. I sit up and see that he’s not even in the tent. I pull the blanket around my naked body and crawl over to the opening of the tent, unzipping it.

“Garret? Are you out here?”

I don’t see him on the beach either. Where did he go? I crawl back inside and over to the bag of clothes Harper left for me.

“What are you doing?”

I turn around to see Garret standing there, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, holding two cups and a paper sack.

“I was getting dressed so I could go look for you. Where did you go?”

“I was getting breakfast.” He sets the sack down and hands me one of the cups of coffee.

“You went into town and left me alone in here? Naked?”

“No. I was only a few feet away, just around the alcove. Harper met me back there. She delivered our breakfast.”

“That was nice of her. Did you guys have that planned?” I sip my coffee.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure what time she should come over. I woke up at 9 and you were still sleeping so I went ahead and had her pick this up.”

“What’s in the sack?”

He hands it to me.

I open it up and see a pile of sprinkled donuts, my favorite. “Donuts! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. You want some fruit? I have some in the cooler.”

I stare at him, my mouth full of donut.

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, tomorrow you’re going back to eating real food for breakfast.”

“This is real food,” I say, holding up the donut. “It’s a carbohydrate.”

“Real food is not bright pink.”

“Okay, so the sprinkles aren’t real food but—”

“You’re not going to convince me, Jade.” He grabs a bottle of water and a banana from the cooler. “Just enjoy your donuts.”

“Is it warm out?”

“Yeah, it feels great. You want to sit outside? I set up some beach chairs out there.”

“You really thought of everything, didn’t you?” I set my donut down and go back over to the clothes I took out but never put on.

“How do you feel?” He comes up behind me, brushing my hair to the side and kissing my shoulder. “Are you tired? We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

I pull my shorts on, then turn around to see him smiling.

“I feel good. Wide awake. So if you want, maybe we could meet up here after breakfast?” I slip my t-shirt on, then grab my donuts and coffee.

“Like you even have to ask.” He follows me out to the beach.

“Is there a bathroom around here?”

“There’s one on the beach. It’s not far from here. You want to go?”

“Yeah.” I set my coffee and donuts down just inside the tent. “You can wait here if you want.”

“You’re not going alone.” He takes my hand. “Come on.”

It’s about a 5-minute walk to the public restroom. There’s nobody out on the beach. The only people I see are a few surfers way off in the distance.

The short walk to the restroom and back feels good. There’s a light breeze blowing and the hot sun warms my skin.

We get back to our beach chairs and I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air as I sit down. “This has been the best honeymoon ever. Better than going on a trip or to some fancy hotel.”

“Aren’t you glad we didn’t just stay at home last night?” Garret hands me my donuts and coffee.

“Yes. I just didn’t know what to do that was close by. But this was amazing. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

We sit quietly and watch the waves roll in as we have our breakfast.

After a while, Garret says, “People won’t start coming over until this afternoon so do you want to stay here a little longer? Or would you rather go home?”

“Let’s stay here. I don’t want our honeymoon to end yet.”

“It doesn’t have to end. We’ll keep it going.”

“How?” I take a few mints from the tin that Harper left us. She insisted we have them since we can’t brush our teeth.

“A honeymoon doesn’t have to be two days or two weeks.” He holds his hand out and I give him some mints. “It can last as long as you want.”

“I think a week is good.”

“Then we’ll make it a week. What do you want to do?”

“Have you all to myself.”

“Meaning no surfing?”

“Just for a week. Would you do it?”

He gazes out the ocean. “I don’t know. I don’t think I can go that long without surfing.”

“Oh. Okay.” I focus on the sand, drawing a heart shape in it with my toes, which are painted in a pale pink color that I picked out from Harper’s nail polish collection.

“Jade.” I feel Garret’s hand on my arm as I continue to outline the heart in the sand. “I was kidding. Of course I’ll spend the week with you.”

I look at him. “What about surfing? You love to surf.”

“I love you more. Way more.” He takes my hand. “Sorry, Jade. I shouldn’t joke about stuff like that. I don’t want you to ever feel that you’re not the most important thing in my life. Because you are. You’ll always be my number one priority. And if I ever forget that, then like I told you last night, just kick my ass.”

I laugh. “Sounds like you’re prepared for a lot of ass-kicking in the future.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. I’m just giving you the option.”

He leans over and gives me a kiss. And then another. And his series of short, sweet kisses soon develop into slower, deeper kisses. We both stand up, not breaking the kiss, then walk back into the tent. Within seconds we’re naked on the floor of the tent, going at it like we can’t get enough of each other. We end up in a sweaty heap, out of breath and tangled up in the blankets that line the tent.

As we lie there, I notice the ocean breeze blowing the flaps of the tent open. We were too focused on each other to remember to zip it up.

“Garret, do you think anyone saw us? We left the tent open.”

“Nobody saw us. Hardly anyone comes down this far, especially on a Sunday morning.”

I toss the blankets off me. “I’m really hot. I think the sun’s heating up the tent.”

“I don’t think it was the sun, Jade.” He sits up, smiling at me. “Let’s go cool off in the water.”

“You want to go in the ocean? But the water’s freezing cold.”

“I’m out there all the time. You get used to it. And the sun will warm you up.” He goes over and puts on his swim trunks, then grabs my white bikini and tosses it to me.

“Okay, but I’m only sticking my feet in,” I say as I put the bikini on. “I’m not going all the way in.”

“Uh-huh.” He has this mischievous grin on his face as he heads outside the tent.

I step onto the beach and he grabs my hand, pulling me toward the water, practically running.

“What are you doing?” I ask this just as he scoops me up in his arms.

“I’m cooling you off. You’re all sweaty.” He walks right into the ocean as a big wave slams into the shore, the water rising up to his waist, soaking us both.

The water is cold and shocks my warm skin. “Garret, it’s freezing!”

He laughs and walks farther into the ocean. “You’ll get used to it.”

It’s so cold I don’t see how I’d ever get used to it. Since living here, I haven’t even gone swimming in the ocean. I’ve only gotten my legs wet. I haven’t actually gone all the way in. I always get cold and turn around. Plus, I’m kind of afraid of the ocean. The first time I attempted to swim in it, I was only knee deep in the water when a wave surprised me from behind and pushed me down, then pulled at my legs as it went back out. The force of it freaked me out and ever since then, I’ve stayed on the beach, usually only getting my feet wet.

“Garret, I don’t like this.” I hang on to him for dear life as he stands chest deep in the water. “I’m scared.”

He kisses my cheek. “Don’t be scared. I’m right here. And if we’re going to live in California, you have to get used to swimming in the ocean.”

“Why? It’s not like we’ll be living on the ocean.”

“Our house is going to be on the ocean, Jade.”

“It is?” I smile because my dream home just got even better. “But I thought you wanted a pool?”

“We can have a pool and live on the ocean. They’re not mutually exclusive. We can get—”

“Shit!” I interrupt him as I notice a huge wave forming behind him. I hold on to him even tighter, preparing for us to drown, which I’m sure is what will happen when that waves slams into us.