Page 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

At 1, Pearce arrives along with Lilly and Grace. I greet them at the door, giving them each a quick hug as they come inside.

I pick Lilly up. “Did you have fun at the wedding yesterday?”

“Yes! Can we do it again?”

“No. You only get married one time.” As I say it I realize her dad, who is standing right next to me, has been married three times. “I mean—”

Pearce interrupts. “Lilly just wants to be a flower girl again, don’t you honey?”

She nods. “Did I do a good job?” she asks me.

“You did a great job. You were the best flower girl I’ve ever seen.”

“And I’ve never even done it before,” she says, her face all excited.

“But you practiced a lot so you got really good. If you practice, you can get good at stuff.”

“I’m practicing swimming so I can be good like my brother.”

“You are?” Garret appears behind me. He was upstairs when I answered the door.

“Garret!” She reaches out to him and he takes her from me. “I missed you.”

“You just saw me last night.”

“I always miss you.” She says it softly and rests her head on his shoulder.

It makes me sad seeing how much she misses him. I knew they were close, but I didn’t realize how close until we moved away.

There’s silence as we all notice Lilly’s sadness. Then Pearce says, “Should we sit down?”

“Yes. Go ahead.” I motion them to the couch and chairs.

“I’m going to put you down, okay?” Garret says to Lilly.

“No.” She clings to him.

Garret looks at his dad as he sits down on the couch with Lilly still attached to him.

“So I hear Sean is making us lunch,” Grace says. “That young man is very talented. The food last night was delicious. He should have his own restaurant.”

“Yes, he’s an excellent chef,” Pearce agrees. “But I’m sure he’s tired after cooking for us the past few days. I would’ve been happy to hire a caterer for lunch so he didn’t have to prepare anything today.”

“He likes cooking,” I say. “He finds it relaxing, which I don’t understand at all.”

“I don’t either,” Pearce says. “I’m a horrible cook. When Garret was five and his mother was out of town, I tried to make dinner and almost burned the house down.”

“You did?” Garret asks. “I don’t remember that. I remember when I was eight and you almost burned the house down. The fire trucks came and everything.”

“They were there for the other fire as well, but I took you over to the neighbor’s house before they got there. I didn’t want you around all the smoke.”

“What caused the second fire?” I ask him.

“I was trying to install a light fixture in the dining room. I don’t know why I didn’t just hire someone. I knew nothing about electrical wiring. Anyway, there was a spark and then a small fire started.”

“He’s not very handy around the house,” Garret says.

“Meaning I didn’t teach my son how to be handy,” Pearce says to me. “So if you want a light fixture installed, call an electrician. Don’t let Garret even try.”

We all laugh.

“I would have to agree with that,” Garret says. I look over and see Lilly now sound asleep on his shoulder.

“Should he take her upstairs?” I ask Pearce, pointing at Lilly. “She could sleep on our bed.”

“No, she doesn’t need a nap. She falls asleep on him like that all the time.”

She does? Why haven’t I ever noticed this?

“I have a very comfortable shoulder,” Garret says.

But I think it’s more than that. I think Lilly feels content and relaxed when she’s with her brother. Garret practically raised her. He made her feel loved and cared for. Katherine isn’t loving at all. I’ve never even seen her hug Lilly. And Garret said Katherine never plays with Lilly or reads her stories. And Pearce is always at work so he doesn’t do that stuff either, or at least he didn’t used to. When Garret lived at home, he was the one who took care of Lilly. That’s why Lilly misses him so much.

“So what was Lilly saying about swimming?” Garret asks his dad.

“She’s taking lessons now. She started last week. The instructor comes over to the house.”

“I already taught her how to swim.”

“Yes, but—” Pearce checks to make sure Lilly’s still asleep. “You’re not there now and she wants to get better at it and I can’t teach her anything about swimming. She keeps saying she wants to be on a swim team someday, just like you. She looks up to you, Garret. She wants you to be proud of her.”

“Yeah, I know.” He glances down at her.

The front door swings open and Harper walks in. “Hi! I didn’t know you guys were here yet. My parents are over at my place if you want to come over. The food’s almost ready. We’ll eat as soon as Frank and Ryan get here.”

“Okay,” I say. “We’ll be right over.”

Harper spots Lilly sleeping on Garret’s shoulder. She goes over to her. “Aww, she’s tired from last night, huh?”

Garret moves and Lilly wakes up a little. She rubs her eyes and notices Harper standing there.

Lilly smiles. “Harper, look!” She holds her tiny hands up, showing off her nail polish. “They’re still pink!”

Harper smiles back at her. “I know. It stays on a really long time. You want to come with me and get some pink lemonade?”

The mention of something pink gets Lilly all excited. “Okay.”

Garret sets her down and she walks over to her dad. “Can I go with Harper?”

“Yes, honey, go ahead,” he says.

“Lemonade sounds good.” Grace gets up. “I think I’ll have some, too, if that’s okay.”

“Sure. Follow us.” Harper stops and waits for Grace and the three of them go outside.

“Dad, you’ve gotta do something about Lilly,” Garret says.

“I know. I’ve talked to someone about it. A child psychologist. And as I suspected, she said that Lilly needs to get out more and be around other children. She’s too isolated. The psychologist wanted to meet with Lilly for a couple sessions but Katherine wouldn’t allow it. But she’s at least agreed to let Lilly have some supervised play dates. And just last week we enrolled her in a private school for the fall.”

“Did you tell her yet?” Garret asks.

“No, but we will soon. She knows about the play dates. I can tell she’s nervous about it. She’s used to being around adults so it will take some adjustment being around other children. This will be a big change for her. Combine that with the changes between her mother and me and you can see why she’s struggling right now. That’s probably why she’s so attached to you, Garret.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen her act like that before.”

“It was hard on her when you moved. It still is. She talks about you constantly, to the point that Katherine now scolds Lilly whenever she mentions you.”

“What the hell?” Garret almost yells it. “She can’t do that.”

“You know Katherine. She does what she wants. But it’s only making things worse. Lilly needs to talk about this in order to move on. I discussed it with the psychologist and she thinks Lilly saw your move to California as a loss, almost like a death, and that she’s now going through the stages of grief. I’ve watched her go through them. First she was in denial that you were gone, then she was angry about it, then she tried bargaining with me to get you back, and now she’s—”

“Depressed,” I say, because I know those stages all too well. I went through each one of them after my mom died and I didn’t even realize it until one of my classes in high school taught us about the stages of grief.

“What can we do about it?” Garret asks.

“Well, hopefully making some friends her own age will help. And I’ve been cutting back on my hours at work to spend more time with her. Your grandfather has agreed to temporarily come out of retirement to help run the business until things get better at home.”

“Dad, you should’ve said something. I could’ve helped with—”

“No.” Pearce shakes his head. “I don’t want you involved in it. If you showed even the slightest interest in the company your grandfather would take that as a sign that you want to take it over someday and I don’t want him even thinking that. He’s already furious that you’re—it doesn’t matter.”

Furious that he’s what? Not taking over the company? Or furious that Garret married me? Or is it more than that?

“What about Lilly’s birthday?” Garret asks. “Did you talk to Katherine about it?”

“Yes, and she still doesn’t want you to attend the party.”

“I don’t care. Jade and I are going. I’ve never missed Lilly’s birthday.”

Pearce sighs. “I know Lilly will be disappointed but I don’t think you should come, Garret.”

“Why not? I thought you wanted us there.”

“After the incident with your grandfather on the Fourth of July, I don’t think it’s a good idea. He’ll be at Lilly’s party and I don’t want her to be around any more conflict right now. It’s too stressful for her.”

“I won’t fight with him. I promise. I only got mad at him on the Fourth of July because of the way he treated Jade. But I’ll stay away from him this time. I won’t even talk to him.”

I can feel the pain in Garret’s voice as he says it and I can see it in his face.

“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” Pearce says. “My father is the one who’s acting like a child. He’ll make a scene just like he did before the fireworks show.” He hesitates, then says, “And Katherine’s parents will be there as well.”

“Great.” Garret looks at me. “Then I guess we won’t be going.”

“Why? Are her parents just like her?”

“Worse.” Pearce and Garret say it at the same time.

“Multiply Katherine by about a million and that’s her parents,” Garret explains.

“You understand why I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be there,” Pearce says to him.

“So who’s going to tell Lilly?”

“I can tell her.”

“Just let me do it. I’ll tell her tonight since you guys are leaving tomorrow.”

“All right.” Pearce stands up just as Harper walks in.

“Frank and Ryan just got here,” she says. “So we were going to start lunch if you guys want to come out.”

We follow her outside. Frank and Ryan are talking to Harper’s dad. I wave at Ryan but he doesn’t notice. He’s too engrossed in whatever Kiefer is saying. Ryan’s totally star-struck by Kiefer, who’s directed some of Ryan’s favorite movies.

Garret, Pearce, and I walk over to the table which is set up with platters of grilled burgers and hot dogs along with side salads and chips. It’s nothing fancy but it’s perfect for lunch on the beach.

Harper’s mom is helping Lilly fill her plate. She stops when she sees Pearce approaching. “I’m sorry, Pearce. I should’ve asked you before helping her. If I remember correctly, Katherine is very strict about Lilly’s diet.”

“It’s fine.” He looks at the hotdog and potato chips on Lilly’s plate. “She can eat anything.”

I smile because I love the new Pearce. And I love that he’s not letting Katherine have all the control anymore, especially when it comes to Lilly.

“Did you hear your dad just now?” I say quietly to Garret.

He doesn’t answer. He seems lost in thought.

“Garret? What’s wrong?”

“What?” His focus returns to me. “Nothing. Let’s eat.”

After lunch Garret and Sean set up a volleyball net in the sand and the guys play volleyball, except for Frank and Pearce. They sit on the deck and talk. It’s the first time the two of them have had a chance to talk for longer than a few minutes on the phone, so I leave them alone and hang out with Harper and Grace. Kelly and Lilly are running back and forth on the beach. Kelly bought Lilly a bright yellow kite and is showing her how it works because Lilly’s never had one.

“She’s so cute,” Harper says, as we watch Lilly try to run with the kite. “And so sweet. I just love her.”

The volleyball lands next to Harper’s chair and Sean races to get it, stopping to give Harper a kiss on the cheek.

“I want one of those,” Harper says, her eyes gazing out at the beach.

“One of what?” Sean laughs. “A volleyball? We’re kind of using it right now but you’re welcome to join the game.”

“No, one of those.” She points to Lilly.

All the color drains from Sean’s face. “Um, yeah, I’m not ready for one of those. Ask me again in a few years.”

She smiles and kisses him. “Okay. At least you didn’t say no.”

Sean takes off, tossing the volleyball to Ryan as he runs back to his place in the sand.

Grace takes a sip of her iced tea. “Lilly said she’ll be seven in a few weeks.”

Harper turns to me. “Why didn’t you tell me her birthday was coming up? I would’ve got her something.”

“You just met her. You don’t have to get her anything.”

“But I want to. I love buying little girl stuff.”

Grace pats Harper’s arm. “Then you’ll probably have little boys someday. That’s how it seems to work.”

She scrunches her face up. “Really? Because I don’t think I could handle boys.”

“You just have to send them outside to run around, burn off all that energy. Boys have a lot of energy.”

“Did you have boys?”

“Yes, two of them. No girls. But I have lots of granddaughters.”

For a moment I panic, thinking Grace is going to tell Harper that I’m her granddaughter. But instead she turns the topic back to Lilly.

“So, Jade, will you and Garret be going back to Connecticut for Lilly’s party?”

“No. Katherine doesn’t want us there.” I don’t need to explain. Both Grace and Harper know that Katherine’s a bitch.

“That’s too bad,” Grace says. “I’m sure Lilly would like you to be there.”

“Garret’s never missed her birthday so Lilly’s not going to be happy when she finds out.”

Harper jumps to the edge of her seat, her face lit up. “Let’s have a party here! We’ll give her an early birthday party.”

“We can’t. She leaves tomorrow for Anaheim, remember? Pearce is taking her to Disneyland.”

“When do they head back to Connecticut?”

“I’m not sure. They took the private jet so I guess they can leave whenever they want.”

“Then let’s have the party after they go to Disney. It’ll give us time to plan stuff.”

“You could have it at my house,” Grace says. “That way Pearce and Lilly could stay there instead of a hotel. We could have the party in the back by the flower gardens.”

“Yes! That’s a great idea!” Harper’s so excited you’d think the party was for her.

“We’d have to okay it with Pearce.” I look back and see him still talking to Frank. They’re both laughing so they must be getting along. “I’ll have Garret ask him.”

Later that afternoon, I tell Garret about the party. He talks to his dad and Pearce actually agrees to it. So I guess we’re having a party for Lilly. Maybe when she finds out she won’t be so sad about us not being there for her actual birthday.

Garret and I decide to tell her the news after dinner. We take her inside while everyone else hangs out around the bonfire we made out on the beach.

Lilly sits on Garret’s lap. “Let’s go outside. I want to roast marshmallows again.”

“We will, but Jade and I want to tell you something first.” He looks at me, then back at Lilly. “We’re having a birthday party for you out here in California. We’re having it next Friday at Grace’s house. What do you think?”

“Why would we have a party? My birthday’s not next week.”

“Yes, but Jade and I can’t make it to your party back at home so we’re having one here instead.”

Lilly doesn’t seem happy about it. In fact, she seems really sad and hurt. I can already tell, this isn’t going to go well.