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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Back in Des Moines, I wait until Sunday night to tell Frank about the money. Ryan is out with Chloe, which is good because I didn’t want him around when I talked to Frank. Ryan can’t know the money came from me. For one, he knows nothing about my relation to the Sinclairs and two, he’d feel weird taking money from his little sister.

“Frank, I need to tell you something.” I’m kind of nervous to tell him this. I’m worried he’ll get mad at me for accepting the money or take offense that I’m offering him some of it.

“What is it, Jade?” He turns the TV down.

We’re sitting in the living room, him in his recliner and me on the couch.

“Well, as you know, I spent a lot of time with Grace and Arlin the past few months and I really got to know them.”

“Yes, and I’m glad you did that. It was good for you. I’m just so sorry about Arlin.”

“He treated me like a granddaughter since the day we met. And Grace did, too. Well, she still does. She has a house in California so she’s coming out to see me this summer.”

“That’s good, honey.” Frank takes a drink of water from the glass by his chair.

“So anyway, they wanted to help me pay for college. I guess I already told you that. But what you don’t know is that they set up a trust fund for me.”

Frank’s eyebrows raise. “To cover your college expenses?”

“Yes, but the money can be used for other things, too. And I, uh . . . I wanted to give some of it to you.”

“No. Absolutely not. You need that money for school, and if you go to medical school, well, that’s very expensive. I still don’t know how I’m going to pay for Ryan’s tuition.”

“That’s why I’m giving this to you. You can pay off Ryan’s loans. And he won’t even need loans for med school. You can just pay for it. You’ll have plenty of money. And you can get him a car that works. One that has air conditioning and doesn’t break down every week. And you can pay off your medical bills.”

“No, that’s too much money. Ryan and I will figure something out. We always do.”

“Just let me do this for you. Please. I never would’ve gone to college if you hadn’t taken me in after my mom died. I would’ve ended up in state custody. Stuck in foster homes. I might not have even graduated from high school.”

“That’s not true, Jade. You’re a very determined, very bright young woman. You would’ve graduated no matter what.”

“Whatever. The point is that you kept me on the right path. And you’ve always taken care of me and treated me like a daughter. Please, Frank. I want to do this for you.”

He sighs. “How much money are you talking about here, because I’m not taking—”

“I have 50 million dollars,” I blurt out. “So you can have as much as you need.”

His jaw drops and he’s speechless, just like I was when I found out.

“I know. It’s a lot of money.”

He clears his throat. “Yes. I thought you were going to say they gave you a million. But 50 million. Wow. You’re set for life, Jade.”

“And I want you and Ryan to be, too.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept it. It would be wrong to take your money.”

“It’s not wrong. And don’t think of it as my money. Think of it as the money Royce owed us for what he did to my mom and me. And to you, since you had to support me after my mom died. You bought me clothes and food and let me stay here. I at least owe you money for that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jade. You don’t owe me anything. You were a child. I was taking care of you just like I took care of Ryan. The money never even crossed my mind.”

“Will you please just take some of this? If you don’t, I’ll mail you a check and if you don’t cash it I’ll keep mailing them until you do.”

He thinks for a moment. “Okay. I’ll use some to pay for Ryan’s tuition.”

I scoot to the end of the couch closer to Frank’s chair. “And get Ryan a car that works. A car he really wants. Not a cheap car or a used car.”

He smiles and pats my hand. “Fine. I’ll get him a car.”

“You can’t tell him this money is from me. Make something up. Say a long lost uncle died and left you five million dollars.”

“Jade, I am not taking five million dollars from you.”

“Yes, you are. That’s nothing. I’ll still have 45 million left.”

“You know I’ll never spend that much money.”

“Then when you die, which I’m not letting you do until you’re at least 110, you can leave whatever’s left to Ryan. Or give him part of it now. It’s yours. Divide it however you want.” I cross my arms across my chest and glare at him. “You’re taking that money, Frank. I won’t take no for an answer.”

He shakes his head. “You’re very stubborn. You always have been.”

I keep glaring at him.

“How about one million? That’s more than enough.”

“Nope. You’re getting five.”

We argue about it some more, but he finally takes it.

Now that I’ve settled that issue, on to the next; the meeting to decide Garret’s fate. I already know what the outcome will be and now I just want it over with so I can attempt to move on.

Monday comes and goes and I don’t hear a word about what happened. I didn’t expect that I would. The meeting was at night and Garret’s dad said that afterward, a vote would be taken and the outcome would be discussed by a smaller group of higher level members. That wouldn’t happen until Tuesday. After that, Garret and his dad would be called in for a private meeting in which they would be told the final decision before it was announced to the entire organization.

If they decide to go ahead with their plan, Garret will have to spend the rest of the week learning what will happen next. They’ll start training him on the basics of being a politician, like what he can and can’t say in public, how he should dress, who he’ll be dating. He won’t be allowed to call anyone. Even if he could, the members think Garret broke up with me months ago, so he couldn’t call me anyway, which is why we said our goodbyes in the woods.

All day Tuesday I wait to hear the decision. The plan was for Pearce to call and tell me but he never said when he’d call. And he said if he was unable to call, he’d send me an email or a text. But I haven’t received anything.

Even though I’m completely on edge I try to act normal in front of Frank and Ryan, who know nothing about what’s going on. While I’m a nervous wreck, Frank is more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. He’s always had to worry about money and now he doesn’t have to.

I love that I’m able to do this for him. He can rest and take care of his health and not worry about finding freelance work. And Ryan can quit his job and focus on school. Frank isn’t going to tell Ryan about the money until he has it in his own account, which he will once I figure out how to access the money in my trust fund.

Around 11 I go to bed realizing that I’m not going to hear from Garret’s dad today. There must be some delay. Either that or his dad doesn’t want to have to tell me the bad news. But I wish he’d just call and get it over with.

I can’t sleep. I toss and turn, then check the clock and repeat the process every couple minutes.

Then at 12:14, my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number but I answer it anyway.

“Hello?”

“Jade, it’s me.”

My heart stops when I hear his voice. Why is he calling me? His dad was supposed to call me, not him. What does this mean? He doesn’t sound happy or excited. He doesn’t really sound like anything other than tired.

“Garret?” I shove the covers off me and stand up. “Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“So they’re allowing you to call me? Why? Did they give you one last phone call to say goodbye?”

He’s quiet and I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I sink back down on the bed. I’m not prepared for this goodbye. I can’t do this again. I thought our goodbye in the woods was the last one, and now he’s calling me to say one last final goodbye? Why is he doing this to me? I don’t even know what to say to him. I finally hear his voice again.

“I’m not saying goodbye. And this isn’t our last phone call.”

“What are you talking about? What does that mean?”

“They let me go.”

“Don’t joke about this, Garret. I swear I’ll—I don’t know what I’ll do to you, but something really bad for playing this sick joke on me.”

“I’m serious. The plan wasn’t approved. They didn’t have enough votes for it to pass.” Now he sounds happy. Why the hell didn’t he sound that way when I answered the phone? I was having a freaking panic attack here!

“Wait. So it’s over?”

“It’s over.”

“But how? What did—”

“How was the flight to Des Moines?”

His sudden topic change is a sign that he can’t talk about what happened over the phone. Someone might be listening. I don’t know who or why, but in Garret’s crazy world there’s always a possibility someone’s listening.

But I’m having a really hard time acting calm and normal when I just want to jump up and down and tell him how happy I am. How relieved I am. How I want to see him again as soon as possible. I take a moment to calm down and try to contain my excitement.

“The flight was okay.”

“Good.” He gets quiet.

This is very odd. I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say. And I don’t understand this. If someone from the organization is listening to the call, then why is Garret calling me at all? Are they allowing us to date now? That doesn’t make sense. Even if he’s not their presidential pick, he’s still a member of the organization. He was born into it. He has no choice. Or did his dad manage to get him out of it?

I need Garret to give me a clue, anything that will at least hint about what’s going on.

“So are you going to California?” I ask.

“In a week or so. I have to take care of some things first.”

From his tone I get the feeling I’m not supposed to ask what those things are, so I don’t. But the fact that he’s going to California seems like a good sign.

“And, um, you’ll be staying there a while? In California?”

“Yeah.” His tone lightens and he sounds even happier. “I’ll be there all summer.”

Another good sign.

“And then you’re going back to Moorhurst?”

“No. I’ve decided to go to a different college next year. I don’t know where yet. But my options are open. I can choose wherever I want to go.”

He puts a slight emphasis on the words ‘options’ and ‘choose’ which I’m taking to mean that he’s somehow not part of that group anymore. Or if he is, they eased up on the rules and are letting him make his own choices, something his dad was never allowed to do.

“Okay, well, when you figure out your plans, just let me know.”

“I will. Hey, I can’t really talk now and things will be a little crazy the next couple days, so I probably won’t call you until Friday.”

“All right.” I go along with it, but find it strange that he can’t talk to me for the next two days. “Did you get a new phone? I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I’m calling from the home phone. I kind of trashed my cell.” He pauses. “I had to say goodbye to someone I didn’t want to say goodbye to and I um, got really pissed and threw my phone in a creek in the woods.”

I almost laugh. It’s not really funny, but the image of him throwing it in there is a little funny.

“Tell Frank and Ryan I said hi. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

He hangs up without an I love you or I miss you or anything like that. He obviously wanted to make it sound like we’re just friends and not dating. So what does that mean? I’m so confused.

Maybe I’m getting all worked up about nothing. Maybe Garret was just being extra cautious, just in case someone was listening in.

I’m not going to worry about it. Besides, Garret sounded happy. And he wouldn’t sound that way unless he knew he could be with me. Unless he knew we could have a future together. It takes a moment for that to sink in. Garret thinks we can be together? So this whole thing is over? We can be together without people trying to break us apart?

Then what I am doing in bed? I get up and jump around like a lunatic. I know I’m acting crazy but I’m too excited to go to sleep.

Who would’ve ever thought that Jade Taylor would be jumping around her room in the middle of the night because of a guy? Anyone who knew the old Jade would never believe it. But in the past year, I’ve learned that love can make you do crazy, silly, stupid, ridiculous things. And the fact that one person can make you feel this way and do those things is amazing to me. Now I just need to get that one person back and never let him go.