Page 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

It’s now our last week here and today is Garret’s birthday. I woke him up with an invitation for sex, but before I woke him up I put on sexy lingerie and fixed my hair. He thought that was his gift so I just let him think that. He told me not to get him anything because he says he doesn’t need anything. And he doesn’t, but I still got him a gift.

I take him to his favorite restaurant for lunch, then we go home and I have him wait in the driveway. His new surfboard was delivered yesterday and I’m hiding it in the garage.

“What are you up to, Jade?” he asks, suspiciously.

“Just wait here.” I go inside and out to the garage. I take the surfboard and lean it against the wall right next to the garage door, then I open the door.

Garret’s still standing in the driveway, waiting. He looks at me, confused. “I don’t get it. You want to do it in the garage?”

“No! Your gift is in here. See?” I point to the surfboard.

His face lights up. “You got me a surfboard?”

“It’s the one you wanted, right?”

He picks it up, inspecting it. “It’s exactly what I wanted.”

I stand next to him. “Good. Because I had to special order it and they won’t take it back.”

He sets the surfboard back against the wall, then gives me a kiss. “You’re officially the best wife ever.”

“Go test it out. I have some things to do and I need to get rid of you for a few hours.”

He laughs. “Get rid of me?”

“Yeah, your last gift of the day is that I’m making you dinner.”

“Really?” He looks surprised and a little concerned, as he should be because I’m a horrible cook. But I’m still going to try.

“Yeah, so take your surfboard and have fun. It’ll take me all afternoon to make dinner and I need privacy.”

“You don’t have to make me dinner, Jade. We’ll just go out.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you saying you don’t want my dinner?”

“I do, but I don’t want you to have to spend all day in the kitchen.”

“I don’t mind. See you later.” I give him a kiss before heading inside.

While he’s out surfing, I attempt to make homemade lasagna and a cake. It’s ambitious for someone who can’t cook or bake to try to do both in one afternoon, but I’m doing it anyway.

The lasagna takes forever to make. Sean showed me how to make it but that was weeks ago and it was easier to make when he was standing next to me.

The cake smells good as it bakes but it comes out looking kind of lopsided. Then I frosted it before it had completely cooled so the cake crumbs stuck to the frosting. I hope it tastes better than it looks.

At 5, Garret comes back from surfing, a big smile on his face.

“How was the surfboard?” I ask him.

“Freaking awesome.” He comes over and puts his sun-warmed lips on mine. “Dinner smells good.” He notices my lopsided, crumb-covered dessert. “And you made me a cake?”

I laugh at his expression. “I forgot to let it cool before I frosted it.”

“I’m sure it’ll taste delicious.” He kisses me again. “I have to shower. When’s dinner?”

“In like 10 minutes. I just need to let the lasagna sit before I cut it.”

“Okay, I’ll be right down.”

The lasagna looks better than the cake. I just took it out of the oven and it’s bubbling with gooey cheese and the homemade sauce I made from Sean’s recipe.

I plate the lasagna and take out the salad I made and set everything up on the table. I have breadsticks, too, which I warmed in the oven.

Garret comes downstairs wearing shorts and a black polo shirt and the cologne I love on him.

I take him over to the table. “Happy Birthday!”

“Thanks, this looks great.”

We sit down and I wait, anxiously and nervously, for him to try it. He takes a bite of the lasagna, then reaches for his water and takes a big gulp.

“What’s wrong? Is it bad?”

“It’s uh, salty.” He takes another drink of water.

“Salty?” I take a bite. All I taste is salt and garlic. “Garret, it’s disgusting!”

“It’s not disgusting.” He picks at it with his fork. “It’s just. . . salty.”

I sigh, sinking back in my chair. “I don’t know what I did wrong. I followed Sean’s recipe exactly how he wrote it.”

“This was Sean’s recipe?”

“Yes, but when I made it with him it tasted really good.”

“You made lasagna with Sean?”

“He gave me some cooking lessons.”

Garret smiles. “And you kept this a secret?”

“It was supposed to be part of your birthday surprise. I know you do the cooking, but I thought I should still learn how. I was going to surprise you tonight with my great cooking skills, but I obviously need more lessons.”

“Jade, it’s fine. I’ll just eat it.”

“No, don’t. It’s not edible.” I take his plate and mine and set them in the sink. I check the recipe again. “I did everything like it said.”

Garret meets me by the sink, reading over the recipe. “Where are the spices you used?”

I get them out of the cupboard. He checks the recipe again and says, “You used garlic salt instead of garlic powder. I’ve done that before. They’re easy to mix up.”

“And the recipe already had salt in it. I guess that explains it.”

“What did you use to measure the spices?”

I take the measuring spoon out of the drawer.

“That’s a tablespoon. You only needed a teaspoon. So you put in a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon garlic salt?”

“Yes.” I sigh again. “Crap. I really screwed this up. I’m sorry, Garret. I ruined your birthday dinner.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll just order a pizza. We already have salad and breadsticks. We’ll have those as an appetizer.”

“I probably screwed those up, too.”

“Nothing’s screwed up.” He pulls me into his side and kisses the top of my head. “We’ll get the pizza and everything will be fine. You want me to order it?”

“I’ll do it.” I turn him toward the table. “Go have a breadstick. All I had to do was heat them, so if I managed to screw that up, I really suck at cooking.”

I order a large pepperoni from Garret’s favorite pizza place. It arrives a half hour later and dinner is salvaged.

For dessert, I finish decorating my cake by topping it with 20 candles. It’s a two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Garret watches as I carry it to the table. He leans over to kiss me. “Thank you for making all this.”

“You’re welcome.” I get the matches and quickly light the candles. “Okay, make a wish.”

“You’re not going to sing again?” He’s laughing.

“Yeah, you’re hilarious. Make a wish.”

He closes his eyes, then opens them and blows out all 20 candles.

I cut the cake, giving him an extra large piece. As I’m cutting my own piece, he takes a bite of the cake.

He coughs a little. “Was this a mix?”

“No, why?”

He drinks his water, not saying anything as he holds his fork above the cake.

“Now what? Did I screw up the cake, too?”

“Just taste it.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” I put a bite of cake in my mouth and instead of a yummy chocolate flavor, all I get is a strong bitter taste. I run to the sink and spit it out. “That’s even worse than the lasagna!” I drink some water to get rid of the bitterness that’s still in my mouth.

Garret appears behind me. “Did you use baking soda instead of baking powder?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I reach in the cupboard and pull out a small orange box. “I used this.”

“That’s baking soda. And did you use that same spoon to measure it?”

I nod. “So I guess we’re not having cake.” I slump my shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Garret. I really wanted to make a special birthday dinner for you and instead, it’s a total disaster.”

He brings me in for a hug. “It’s not a disaster. It’s not a big deal. We’ll just go out for dessert. We’ll order the biggest sundae we can find and we’ll get two spoons.”

“Like the Boxcar Bonzana?”

“It won’t be exactly like it, but I’m sure they have something similar somewhere around here.”

“Let me just clear the table quick and we can go.” I start to pull away but he keeps me in his arms.

“Leave it. We’ll get it later.” He looks at me, a big grin on his face. “I love you.”

“I don’t know why.” I gaze down at the floor. “I ruined your birthday.”

“Hey.” He tips my chin up and our eyes meet. “It was a great birthday. The best one ever.”

“Yeah, right. Maybe the funniest one ever.”

“Jade, things aren’t always going to be perfect. And I don’t expect them to be. Some of our greatest memories will be times when things don’t go as planned. I’d probably forget about a perfect dinner. But salty lasagna and bitter cake? That’s something I’ll always remember.”

“I was kind of hoping you’d forget about that.”

“We can’t forget about it. It’s part of our story.”

“We have a story?”

“That’s what life is, Jade. It’s just a bunch of memories that come together to form a story.”

“Did you just come up with that?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That was deep.” I pretend to be serious. “Very insightful.”

“It was, wasn’t it? I could put that on a greeting card. Or coffee mugs. Magnets. Damn, I could start a whole business. My rambling thoughts could end up making me millions.”

I laugh. “You work on that later. For now, let’s go find you a sundae.”

“And then what?” He smiles. “Got anything else planned for my birthday?”

I smile back. “It ends the way it started. Except this time I’ll wear a skirt.”

He puts his arm around me and leads me to the door. “Yeah, this is definitely my best birthday ever.”

And it’s only the first of many we’ll have together. We have lots more birthdays to celebrate. Lots more not-so-perfect dinners. Lots more giant sundaes to share. Lots more movie nights. Lots more kisses. Lots more of everything.

In the past year, Garret and I have made lots of memories together, but there are so many more to make. Our life together is just beginning and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.