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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“Won’t that be fun, Lilly? You’ll get two parties.” I try to express my enthusiasm, hoping it will rub off on her.

She keeps her eyes on Garret, looking at him like he just told her the saddest thing in the world. “You won’t be home for my birthday?”

“No, but we’ll celebrate here instead.”

“You’re always at my birthday. We have breakfast, then we watch cartoons, then we have lunch and swim in the pool, and then grandma and grandpa come over for dinner and we have my party.”

Hearing her describe it, it sounds like Garret had some kind of birthday tradition going with her, which makes sense because he loves making traditions. But it makes this even harder because now she expects something she can’t have. She’s probably been looking forward to this for months.

“You can still do all those things,” he tells her. “Just do them with Dad.”

“It’s not the same.” Tears run down her face but they’re silent tears and she’s trying really hard to stop them, biting her lip and taking some shaky breaths. Garret says Katherine doesn’t allow crying, so Lilly’s learned not to.

“It’s okay, Lilly.” Garret looks directly at her, his hand smoothing her long blond hair. “If you’re sad, you can cry.”

She shakes her head, then rests it on his shoulder and latches onto him like she did earlier.

“Why won’t you come to my birthday?” she asks quietly. “Don’t you like me anymore?”

“Of course I like you.” Garret rubs her back. “You’re my little sister. I love you. You know that.”

“Then why won’t you be there?” I watch the tears slowly stream down her face onto Garret’s shirt. “Did I do something to make you mad at me?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I just can’t make it this year.”

“It won’t be the same,” she says softly, sniffling a little. “I need you there.”

This is way too sad. I didn’t think she’d be this upset. I thought the party we were having for her would make her feel better. I look at Garret and he mouths the words “get my dad.” I go outside and find Pearce by the back door, talking on the phone.

He sees me and ends the call. “How’d it go?”

“Not good. She’s really upset. Garret wants you to go in there.”

Pearce goes inside. A few minutes later Garret comes out.

I’m sitting on the steps. “What happened?”

“He’s talking to her.” Garret sits next to me. “It shouldn’t be this way. I should be able to go to my sister’s birthday party.”

“I’m sorry, Garret.” I slip my hand in his.

“It’s not your fault. It’s my grandfather’s and Katherine’s. It’s like my dad said, the two of them act like spoiled kids. If they don’t get their way, they throw a fit so everyone does what they say just to avoid all the drama they cause.”

“There wouldn’t be all this drama if it weren’t for me.”

“That’s not it, Jade. My grandfather is mad about more than me marrying you. And Katherine hated me long before you came along.”

The door behind us pops open and Lilly comes out with Pearce right behind her.

“Guess what?” She’s smiling, so that’s a good sign.

“What?” Garret asks.

“Daddy’s taking me to Disneyland!”

“That’s great, Lilly.”

She runs off to tell Harper.

“That’s one way to make a kid happy,” Garret says.

“It’s only temporary,” Pearce says. “When we get home, I’m sure she’ll be upset again. But she has to understand that you have your own life now and can’t be at every birthday party or every holiday. She just needs time to accept that.”

We walk over and join everyone around the bonfire. We stay there until the fire burns out just before midnight. Then we say our goodbyes because everyone’s heading home in the morning, except Frank and Ryan, who aren’t leaving until tomorrow night.

Once everyone’s gone, Garret and I go inside and up to our room. I’m so tired I change into a t-shirt to sleep in, then collapse into bed.

Garret’s already there. He pulls me against him and kisses me. “It’s our first night at home as a married couple.”

“I know, and I’d love to have sex with you but I’m too tired right now. Today was a really long day.”

“I’m tired, too. Let’s just go to sleep.”

We lie there a couple minutes and then I bolt up, throwing the covers back. “Garret!”

“What?” He sounds groggy, like he might have been sleeping. “What’s wrong?”

“Did you hear us just now? We just said we’re too tired to have sex. That’s something old married couples say. We’ve only been married for one day! This can’t happen to us yet!”

He laughs as he rubs his eyes. “What are you saying? You want to have sex?”

“We don’t have a choice. We have to!” I rip my t-shirt off. “We can’t be that couple who says they’re too tired to have sex. Not now! Not for a really long time. Maybe never!” I push on him. “Get naked. We’ll make it a quickie and then we’ll go to sleep.”

“You’re crazy, you know that?” He’s still laughing as he shoves the covers all the way back. “And you’re kind of a bossy wife.”

“Whatever. Just hurry up and get naked.”

He takes his pajama pants off, which is all he’s wearing. Then he lies on his side and hauls me into him, his hand gripping my hip as his lips brush against mine. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. My wife deserves more than a quickie.”

I smile. “Works for me.”

Once we start, we get so into it we forget about being tired. But when we’re done I’m even more tired than before, but it’s a good tired.

“You ready to sleep now?” Garret asks. “Or were you hoping to do this again?”

I flip on my side, my back to him. “I’m going to sleep.”

“You know Harper’s going to ask you about tonight, too. You can’t tell her we only did it once.”

“I’m not telling her anything. Just like I didn’t tell her about the night before.”

“She’ll still ask.” The bed moves as he repositions his pillow. “I’ll just tell her six times.”

“Do not tell her that.”

“I have to. We can’t go from eight times down to one. She’ll think something’s wrong.”

“Fine. But then we’re doing it again when we wake up so at least the real number isn’t so far away from your made-up number.”

“Then let’s do it two more times so we’re at least halfway to six.”

“Okay, but in the morning, not now.” I turn my head back and kiss him. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The next day we sleep in, not getting up until we reach our goal of three times. We skip breakfast because it’s already 11 and we’re having lunch with Frank and Ryan at noon.

We go out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and sit outside because as usual, the weather is perfect.

“So I’m putting the house up for sale,” Frank announces during lunch.

I set down the salsa-drenched chip I was about to eat. “You are? When did you decide this?”

“A couple weeks ago. It’ll be another month or so before I actually get it on the market. I need to fix a few things and clean up the place before we start showing it.”

“Where are you moving to? Did you get a house already?”

“No, I’m going to custom build. I’ve hired a contractor and we’ve looked through some plans.”

“Where are you building it?”

“I found a couple acres out in Waukee.”

“It’s a good piece of land,” Ryan says. “It’s got trees all around it, a pond in the back, and it’s close to the interstate.”

Garret leans toward me and asks, “Where’s Waukee?”

“It’s a suburb of Des Moines,” I tell him.

“It’s on the west side,” Frank adds. “The doctor I’m seeing has his office in a clinic next to one of the new hospitals they built out there so it’ll be more convenient to get to my appointments living on that side of town.”

Frank has a new doctor now. He can’t see Dr. Cunningham anymore. Cunningham works with members of the organization and we can’t have any connection to that group. He probably never should’ve been working with Frank in the first place.

Cunningham recommended a new doctor for Frank and so far, everything’s been good. Frank continues to follow whatever treatment plan Cunningham gave him and the new doctor just checks to make sure Frank is still doing well.

“What’s the new house going to look like?” I ask, just as our food arrives.

“I’m still in the planning stages, but it’ll be all one level, three bedrooms, three bathrooms. Nothing too big but compared to the current house it’ll seem huge.”

Ryan reaches over for the hot sauce. “The builder specializes in handicap-accessible housing so that’s why Dad picked him.”

“Do you need that?” I ask Frank. “You’re not using the wheelchair anymore. You haven’t in months.”

“Yes, but the reality is that I’ll eventually need the wheelchair again as I age and the disease progresses.”

I guess I’ve been in denial. Seeing Frank in better health, I’d convinced myself he’d somehow been cured of his MS, even though I know that’s not how it works. At some point, his health will get bad again and he won’t be able to walk or take care of himself anymore. I don’t know when that day will come, but it’s out there and I can’t do anything to stop it.

Garret notices my shift in mood and reaches under the table, resting his hand on my leg. It’s amazing how just that simple gesture makes me feel better. Like he’s here for me and always will be. We’re a team now and whatever happens to Frank in the years ahead, I won’t have to face it alone. Garret will be there with me, just like I’ll be with him to help with whatever challenges he’ll be forced to face.

“When do you think you’ll start building?” Garret asks.

“We’re hoping sometime in August,” Frank says. “The builder said the house could be done around the middle of November. I’m hoping we can get moved in before Thanksgiving. If so, we’d love to have you two spend the holiday with us.”

“We could do that,” Garret says without even giving it a thought. He looks over at me to agree. We haven’t talked about Thanksgiving or where we’ll spend any of the holidays, but I’m thrilled he wants to go to Frank’s house for Thanksgiving.

Frank seems surprised. “So should I plan on it?”

“Yes, we’ll be there,” I say. The waitress stops by our table and as Frank asks for more salsa, I lean into Garret and whisper, “Thank you.” His hand is still on my leg and he gently squeezes it as he takes a bite of his taco.

“Chloe’s coming for Thanksgiving, too,” Ryan says when the waitress leaves. “She wants to have dinner at home instead of going out like Dad and I usually do. She’s offered to make the whole meal.”

“Is she a good cook?” I take some chips from the basket and drop them on my plate.

“Very good,” Frank answers. “She’s made dinner for us several times. She enjoys cooking so she really wanted to do this. She’s already planning the menu.”

“She’ll be happy to hear that you two are coming,” Ryan says. “She’ll be able to make more food.”

The waitress brings us another bowl of salsa and I spoon some over my chips. “So are you going to her parents’ house for part of the day?”

“No. Her sister moved to Florida back in May so her parents are going down there for Thanksgiving.”

“When are you ever going to marry this girl?” I shove a chip in my mouth, keeping my eye on him to see his reaction.

He coughs on his food, then takes a drink. “That came out of the blue.”

I laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t think that would freak you out so much. You got some commitment issues, Ryan?”

“No.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin. “We just don’t feel we need to rush into it. I mean, it’s fine for you guys but Chloe and I just want to wait.”

“Chloe doesn’t want to wait,” Frank mumbles, taking another napkin from the stack the waitress left us.

Ryan looks at Frank, annoyed. “There’s no rush. I don’t need to marry her right away.” He nudges his dad and laughs a little. “Besides you’re not ready to get rid of me yet, are you?”

“Someday you’ll have to move out. You can’t babysit me forever.”

Ryan shifts in his seat. “I’m not babysitting you. I just don’t like the idea of you living alone. You can’t—”

Frank clears his throat, stopping Ryan mid-sentence. “The weather here has sure been nice. Iowa’s been so hot and humid. It feels good to be in some drier air.”

Obviously Frank and Ryan are having disagreements about their living arrangement. I’m guessing Frank’s building this handicap-accessible house so he can live alone. He wants Ryan to have a normal life, not one in which he has to live with and take care of his father.

But Ryan doesn’t see it like that. He never has. He’s never seen Frank as a burden. Ryan just accepts that it’s his job to take care of his dad. He tried hiring outside help and it didn’t work out, so now he feels he’s Frank’s only option.

Now I get why Frank made that comment. And I think he’s right. I think the real reason Ryan’s putting off marrying Chloe is because marrying her would mean he’d be moving out and leaving his dad all alone and he’s clearly not ready to do that yet.

“What do you think, Jade?” Garret’s been talking this whole time but I have no idea what he said.

“About what?”

“About these guys flying out to see us in October for your birthday.”

“Um, yeah. Sure. That’d be great.”

“Good, then we’ll plan on it,” Frank says.

The bill arrives and Frank gets his wallet out and pays. I almost stop him but then remember that he has money now.

In the afternoon, we hang out on the deck and play cards. We’re having such a good time I don’t want them to leave. But October isn’t that far away, so I’ll see them again soon.

After we take them to the airport, Garret and I go home and I collapse on the couch.

“That’s it. The wedding’s officially over. Everyone went home.”

“Are you sad?” Garret lies over me, supporting himself on his arms.

“No. We got to spend a few days with everyone, which was plenty. And now that they’re gone, we’re finally alone.”

“So the extended honeymoon has begun?”

“It has.” I pull his face down for a kiss. “And you know what people do on their honeymoon?”

“Go surfing?”

“Garret!” I push on him but he doesn’t move.

“I’m kidding.” He kisses the side of my neck. “Where do you want to do it? Right here?”

“Here’s good. We can go upstairs later. Maybe the shower next, and then the bed.”

He lifts his head. “How many times we gonna do this today?”

“It’s already after 6 so I don’t know. We’ll see how things go.”

He smiles. “I already like this honeymoon thing. Maybe we should make it two weeks instead of one.”

“Just kiss me, okay? I’ve been dying to be with you ever since you put your hand on my leg at the restaurant.”

“Really? That wasn’t meant to be sexual, but if that got you going, then what happens if I put my hand here?” He shifts onto his side and slips his hand down my shorts.

I don’t answer. He knows what that does to me.