Page 57

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

The next two days go by and as Garret said, I don’t hear from him. On Friday morning, I pack up for California. Frank and Ryan take me out for breakfast and then we head to the airport. Ryan parks at the drop-off area and gets out to give me a hug.

“I’ll definitely make it out there to see you this summer,” he says. “I just don’t know when yet. This car will never make it. I’ll have to fly, which means I need to get some extra shifts at work to pay for it. But I’ll be there.”

“You better be,” I say, hugging him tight. I smile knowing that as soon as Ryan finds out about the money he’ll be able to quit his job and not worry so much.

Frank gives me a hug next. “Have a good trip, honey.”

I whisper near his ear. “I’ll get you the money as soon as possible. I don’t know how all that works, but I’ll figure it out. Get Ryan a car before anything else. And then get yourself something.”

He pulls away, smiling. “You have fun this summer. Be sure to call us.”

“I will. See you later.”

The plane ride to California is a few hours so I use the time to sleep. Since getting the news about Garret I’ve been too excited to sleep, but I sleep really well on planes for some reason. When we land, the guy next to me has to wake me up.

Harper is picking me up at the airport so I get my suitcase, then wait for her outside the terminal.

This is my first time in California. Harper told me the weather here is almost always perfect. Today it’s sunny and dry and feels like it’s about 75 degrees. Perfect, just like she said.

I hear my phone ringing while I’m waiting and I have to dig through my carry-on bag to get it out.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Garret?” I instantly smile just hearing his voice again.

He laughs. “Yeah. It’s Garret. Why were you asking like you weren’t sure? I thought we were on the ‘it’s me’ level.”

I start laughing. “We are. We totally are. I just wasn’t expecting it to be you. I’ve been dying to talk to you. I can’t believe you made me wait—”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the airport. Harper’s picking me up. She should be here any minute.”

“Yeah. About that. Harper called and said she isn’t coming.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I told her not to.”

“Why would you—” I stop when I notice a white BMW convertible parked two cars down from where I’m standing.

“So you want a ride or what?” I turn around and Garret is right there in front of me, looking all California-like in his white polo shirt, navy shorts, sunglasses, and a golden-brown tan.

My heart explodes with happiness. If I were a cartoon, little pink and red hearts would be floating around my head right now. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to see someone. In fact I know I haven’t.

I go to hug him but he hugs me first, lifting me off the ground.

“Garret, how did you do this?”

“I’ll tell you later.” He sets me down and gives me a long, not-so-innocent kiss that is probably causing the people around us to stare. Who cares? They have no idea what we’ve been through.

“You need to move your car, sir.”

We stop kissing and notice a police officer pointing back at the car.

“Yeah, we were just leaving,” Garret says.

The guy shakes his head, annoyed. Garret just laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the car. He opens the door for me, then goes back for my luggage and puts it in the truck. When he gets in he asks, “Do you want to drive? It’s your car.”

“You go ahead. I have all summer to drive it.”

He takes off away from the airport.

“I can’t believe you’re really here! That you’re actually sitting here next to me.” I move my hand up and down Garret’s arm to make sure he’s real and this isn’t a dream.

“So it was a good surprise?” He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it.

“Are you kidding? It was the best surprise ever. You’ll never top that one.”

His cocky smile appears. “Oh, I think I can.”

I have no idea what that means, but I don’t bother asking.

“Is this really over? Their plan for you?”

“It’s over. And they already picked someone else.”

“Do you know who? I mean, not that you’d know the guy but—”

“I know him. And so do you.” He glances at me like I should know who he’s talking about, but I give him a blank stare. “Evan Cauldwell.”

“Evan.” I repeat it as I try to think of how I know that name. “Evan as in Sadie’s boyfriend? That guy from Yale?”

“Yeah, the one who was so rude to us that night of the fundraiser. I got a bad feeling from that guy as soon as we met him. I don’t know why they didn’t pick him originally. He’s a way better choice than me. I’m sure he’ll do whatever they ask without even thinking about it.”

“Is Sadie still dating him?”

“Yeah, and get this. Apparently she aspires to be first lady someday. One of the members told my dad that she actually volunteered to marry whichever guy they picked. I guess before he died, Royce told Sadie how the system works and she was all set to make herself part of it.”

“Is that why she wanted to get back together with you? Did she know about their plans for you before you even knew?”

“I can’t say for sure, but that’s what I’m guessing. After I talked to her that day you were in the car with me, she broke it off with Evan. And she just got back together with him after she found out he was taking my place.”

“Huh. My half sister’s going to be first lady someday.”

“That’s what it sounds like.” He opens a compartment in the dash of the car and pulls out some sunglasses. “Here. I got these for you.”

“Thanks!” I try them on and check out how they look in the visor mirror. “So why were you acting so weird on the phone the other night? Was someone listening in?”

“Probably not, but I didn’t want to take any chances. My dad always says to never trust the home phone. That’s why we hardly ever use it. But I didn’t have my cell phone and I had to talk to you.”

“Well, now that we can talk, tell me what happened at the meeting.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. We’re here in California. It’s a beautiful day. Let’s just enjoy it.”

“Okay.” I’m a little worried he doesn’t want to talk about it. Is he not telling me something? Is this group making him do something else now? He seems really happy so I decide to let it go. “Have you been to our place yet?”

“Yeah. I got here yesterday and scoped out the area. It’s a great condo. You’re going to love it.”

“You got here yesterday? Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because that would’ve ruined the surprise.” He reaches across the seat for my hand. “You still don’t understand the concept behind surprises, do you?”

I roll my eyes at him, smiling. “So the car was already here?”

“It got here Wednesday. I unloaded all your stuff but didn’t put it away. I figured you’d want to decide where to put everything.”

“Are we going there now?”

“I thought we’d stop at the beach first. You’re in California. You have to check out the beach.”

He turns onto a small road lined with strip malls that turns into a smaller road that eventually comes to a dead end. There’s a metal railing and just past it is a beach and beyond that, the ocean. I can see it from the car.

Garret parks next to the metal railing and comes around to let me out.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to park here,” I tell him.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re good.” He clicks the car remote, locking the doors.

“I have to go see it.” I run off toward the beach. Garret runs after me and scoops me up into his arms.

“Not yet,” he says and plants a kiss on my lips.

I love being in his arms again. And hearing his voice again. And feeling his lips again. I love everything about him.

“I can’t go to the beach?”

“I’m taking you to the beach. But I’m taking you to a different part of the beach. Over there.” He points to a giant black rock formation jutting out from the sand that has stairs so you can climb to the top. It’s so big it’s like a small hill.

“Why there?”

“It’s a lookout point. It has a great view of the ocean.” He sets me down. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

We run along the sand and climb to the top of the rock. There’s nobody up there, but near the edge of it there’s a blanket with a picnic basket on top.

“That looks just like the blanket we used in the woods.”

“Because it is.” He grabs my hand and leads me to it.

“But how did you. . . When did you . . .”

“What do you think of the view?” He puts his arm around my waist as we face the ocean.

“It’s incredible.” I scan the beach, which is a never-ending stretch of sand with small houses on one side and the roaring ocean on the other. “Is this a private beach?”

“Yeah. It’s just for the people who live here.”

“Then we should get out of here. We’ll get in trouble.”

“We won’t get in trouble. We live here, Jade.” He points behind me to some two-story condos. “We live in that white one and Sean and Harper are in the blue one next to it.”

I turn to get a better look. “Seriously? This is our beach? We’re really going to live here?”

“Yes. This is where we live now.” He turns me back toward him and takes my sunglasses off and sets them on the blanket. I notice his are off, too. “But before I take you to our place, I have to do something.”

“Okay, what?” I kiss him quick, but I want to kiss him a lot more so I hope he hurries up with all this talking.

“I’m kind of old-fashioned. You know that, right?”

“Old fashioned how? What do you mean?”

“Like I’m into traditions and stuff like that.”

“Yeah, I guess you are.”

“So I was thinking that if I’m going to live with a girl, she should be more than just a girlfriend. Living together is kind of a big step.”

“What are you getting at here?”

He smiles at my impatience, but now I feel bad for rushing him. I can tell by his tone that whatever he’s trying to say is important. I’m just really anxious to get to the kissing part.

“I’m sorry. Go ahead.” I give him my full attention, gazing at his gorgeous blue eyes.

He takes my hand. “When I made that list for you last Christmas with all the things I love about you, I was serious when I said I could fill a whole stack of notebooks.” He pauses, but his eyes remain on mine. “And I find it amazing that even now, you continue to add to that list. I keep finding more things to love about you. I don’t even know how that’s possible but it’s true.”

I glance down at the blanket. I never know what to say when he says these nice things to me.

Garret nudges my chin up and our eyes meet. “I love you more than anything in this world, Jade. And when I promised you forever, I meant it.”

He lets go of my hand and reaches into his pocket and takes out a small blue box. As in Tiffany blue.

My heart starts beating really fast, but then I relax, thinking it’s probably a pair of earrings like last time. Or a necklace. Or maybe a bracelet.

Then again, it could be something else.

Garret gets down on one knee and my heart beats even faster. It’s definitely not earrings.

He holds the box out in front of me and slowly opens it. “Jade, will you marry me?”