Page 58

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

The box holds a very large and very sparkly diamond ring.

I look at Garret, studying his face to make sure he’s not joking. Say something, Jade! I’m yelling at myself in my head because no words are coming out and Garret is starting to look concerned.

“Yes! I’ll marry you!” I hug him and he bursts up and hugs me even tighter back.

“What the hell took you so long? I didn’t think you were ever going to answer.”

“Sorry. I just had to make sure you weren’t kidding.”

He laughs. “The ring didn’t make that clear?”

“I guess not. Can I see it?”

“You can do more than see it. You can wear it.” He takes it out of the box and slips it on my finger. It fits perfectly. And it’s so beautiful.

“Is this the ring I saw in New York?”

“It is. Do you still like it?’

“I love it.” As I see it on my finger, I’m flooded with emotions. All good ones. Happiness. Love. Excitement.

“Jade, you’re crying.” Garret sweeps his thumb along my cheek.

“No, I’m not.” I feel my face and he’s right. I am crying. “What the hell? I make fun of people who cry when they’re happy.”

He leans over to whisper. “I won’t tell anyone.”

I wipe away the rest of the tears and kiss him. “I love you, Garret. I love you so much.” I must be smiling a lot because my cheeks are starting to ache. I gaze down at the ring again, watching as it sparkles in the sun. “I can’t believe you proposed! I did not expect this. At all.”

“I told you I could top my surprise appearance at the airport.”

“When did you get the ring?”

“Right after you picked it out.”

“I didn’t pick it out. I just said I liked it.”

“You really liked it. I could tell.”

I hold it up again. “Okay, I admit it. I really liked it. And now that I see it again, I love it. It’s perfect. I can’t believe my perfect ring just happened to be sitting in the window of the jewelry store that night.”

“Yeah. Crazy, huh?” He’s trying not to laugh.

“What is it, Garret? What are you not telling me?”

“I have a confession to make. I picked those three rings out beforehand and had the sales lady place them in the window. Then I had our driver drop us off in front of the store so I could quiz you on which one you liked.” He points to my ring. “That was my favorite one, too.”

“How did you get the jewelry store to do that for you?”

He smiles. “Let’s just say I know the right people.”

I smile back, then glance at the ring again. “So you bought this ring months ago even though I kept telling you I didn’t want to get married?”

“That didn’t mean I couldn’t propose. And I needed the ring in case you said yes.”

“You really wanted to marry me, didn’t you?”

“Jade, I told you that like a million times.”

“I didn’t believe you.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because guys just say that to girls all the time.”

“Maybe they do. How would I know?”

“Believe me. They don’t.”

“So what’s in the basket?” I ask him.

He opens it and takes out two bottles. “Real champagne and fake champagne. I wasn’t sure what you’d want.”

“This is definitely worthy of real champagne.”

I reach in the basket and take out the glasses as he opens the champagne.

After he pours it, he takes his glass and holds it up. “To forever.”

Forever. I smile even more as we clink our glasses because the thought of having Garret by my side forever fills my heart with a happiness I can’t even put into words.

“I have one more thing to tell you.” He takes my glass and his and sets them aside. “Let’s sit down.”

We both take a seat on the blanket, facing each other.

“This sounds bad. Can it wait until later? Because I’m really happy right now.”

“It’s not bad.” He reaches over and holds my hand, which now has a sparkly diamond ring on it. “Well, I guess some people might think it’s bad, but it doesn’t have to be.”

“You’re making me nervous. Just say it.”

“Before I do, tell me again that you’ll marry me.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

“You’re being really strange, but yes, I’ll marry you.”

“And not like in 50 years, right? Like sooner than that?”

“When do you want to do this?”

“I don’t know. Next year. Two years. Three years. Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’d marry you this summer if you wanted me to.”

“Are you serious? Because I would totally do that.”

“Then let’s not wait. We can get married on the beach. I don’t need a fancy wedding. I just want this. Us.”

“I do, too, but we’re only 19.”

“We both turn 20 in a few months. And I don’t care about our age. I love you and that’s not going to change, so why wait?”

“I agree. But you know that some people aren’t going to be happy about this. Like Frank. He may be okay with us getting engaged, but he’ll want us to wait until we’re older to get married.”

“He’ll have to get over it. I’m done letting other people make decisions for us. They’ve been trying to do it since we met, but they’re not going to do it anymore. We’re together now and I’m not letting anyone come between us.”

Garret’s smiling at me. “You did it again, Jade.”

“Did what?”

“You added to my list again. You gave me another reason why I love you. I’m going to have to stock up on notebooks.”

“I don’t get it. What’s the reason?”

“You’ll find out when I give you the updated list.”

“When’s that going to be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe our 10-year anniversary.”

“I have to wait that long to find out?”

“Yeah. Why? You aren’t planning to stick around for that long?”

I lean over and kiss him. “I’m not going anywhere. I told you. You’re stuck with me.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Once again, he pretends this is a bad thing. “So how long am I stuck with you for?”

I kiddingly shove his shoulder, laughing. “I thought you wanted me to stick around.”

He kisses me, then stays close to my lips and says, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Forever. You’re stuck with me forever.” I smile as I say it.

“Good answer. Just had to make sure we’re in agreement on that.” He kisses me again, then slowly pulls away, smiling. “So back to this wedding of ours. You really want to get married on the beach?”

“It’s exactly what I want.” I peer out at the ocean. “Look at this. It’s beautiful. It’s the perfect place to get married. Plus it’s a lot cheaper than a traditional wedding. And yes, I know you’d pay for a big, fancy wedding but that’s just not me.”

“Jade, I should probably tell you my news now.”

“Yeah. Go ahead.

“Well, since this plan for me isn’t happening now, the organization had to find a different way to punish my dad for what he did to Royce.”

“Yeah.” I feel my heart racing and not in a good way. “So what is it?”

He hesitates, then says, “The punishment is that he has to disown me from the family.”

“What does that mean? You can’t see them anymore?”

“I can still see them. It’s more of a financial disownment. I can’t have access to their money.” He gets a really serious look on his face. “I’m broke, Jade. My trust fund was taken away. My credit cards. Bank accounts. All of it.”

I try really hard to be serious like he is right now, but I can’t. I just start laughing and I can’t stop. I can’t even sit up anymore. I have to lie down on the blanket.

“What the hell, Jade? This isn’t funny. Did you hear me? I’m broke. Well, they let me keep my college money, but it can only be used for tuition. Nothing else. And I can keep the car. So at least we’ll have two cars. And the condo is already paid for through the end of August, so it could be worse.”

I’m still laughing. Garret lies next to me. “Are you drunk? From half a glass of champagne?”

“No. It’s just funny.”

“Your fiancé being broke is funny?”

“Hey, I like that. My fiancé. That’s a strange word, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Garret tilts his head. “You sure you’re not drunk?”

I turn on my side so we’re face to face. “Garret, I don’t care if you’re broke. I never cared that you had money. You know that.”

“But we’re getting married now and my money was supposed to be your money and now it’s gone. I didn’t want you to ever have to worry about money again. And I’m going to do all I can to make sure you don’t. I’ll get a job, or two jobs, or three. Whatever it takes.”

“And what kind of job are you planning to get?” I ask, scooting closer to him. “You’ve never even had a job, have you?”

“I’ve had internships, but they didn’t pay. I don’t know what I’ll do. I guess I could work construction or something.”

“Somehow I can’t see you working construction. Have you ever built anything?”

“No, but I can learn.” He considers it, then says, “Fine, then I’ll go be a waiter somewhere. It doesn’t matter. I’ll find something that’ll pay the bills.”

He’s so determined and it’s so damn sweet that it makes me want to hug him and kiss him and never stop, but first I need to tell him my news. “Garret, you don’t need to worry about money.”

“Why not?” He looks so confused.

I smile at him. “Because I have 50 million dollars. Well, 45 million. I gave five to Frank.”

Now Garret’s laughing. “Yeah, I wish.”

“I’m not joking. I have 45 million dollars. Arlin set up a trust fund for me before he died.”

“Wait. Are you serious?”

“Totally serious. Grace and I had lunch last Friday and she told me about it. I told her it was too much, but then she went on about how many millions it takes to make a billion. Basically she insisted it wasn’t too much and told me it’s mine to use however I want. Oh, and she’s making me keep that credit card she gave me and told me I’m supposed to use it until I get out of college. I tried to give it back but I guess all the grandkids get one and she wants it to be fair.”

Garret is listening to my every word but his expression hasn’t changed so I don’t know what he’s thinking. I think he’s speechless. It seems to be a common reaction to the mention of 50 million dollars.

“So anyway, I guess I’m the rich one now.” I kiss him to wake him from his daze. “If you want anything, just let me know and I’ll buy it for you. And don’t complain about me buying you stuff or I’ll make you strip for me.” I nudge him. “Garret? Are you alive over there?”

A smile slowly forms across his face as he pulls me on top of him. “I think I’ll be stripping a lot. It’s payback time. You know I’ll be giving you a hard time. You buy me a pack a gum I’ll be saying, ‘Jade, no, it’s too much.’”

“Hey, I never said that for a pack of gum.”

“I’m pretty sure you did.”

“Whatever. Go ahead and say it. I’m still buying you stuff.”

“So I’m broke and you’re rich. I get why you were laughing now.”

My smile fades as I remember why he’s broke. “Garret, how do you feel about being disowned by your family? I wasn’t laughing about that , by the way. It’s not funny.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s really more about making sure I don’t have access to my dad’s money, which includes cutting me out of the inheritance. Being part of that organization has rewards. Financial rewards. And with my bad behavior, I was kicked out and banned from ever being a member. Therefore I can’t benefit from the financial rewards my father and grandfather have received. The members consider this a punishment for my dad because they assume my dad wants to be able to share his money with me and all the benefits that come with having that kind of money. But secretly, he’d rather have me free from the organization. And I would, too. I’d take my freedom over the money any day.”

“So you never have to be part of that group? You’re out for good?”

“I’m out for good. In fact I think they were kind of glad to get rid of me.”

I hug him. “Garret, you should’ve started with that.”

“Instead of the proposal?”

“Yes. Well, no. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re finally free from them! We need to celebrate. You want some more champagne?” I sit up and reach for our glasses.

“Actually we have dinner waiting. We should probably get down there.”

“Down where?”

“To our place. Sean made us dinner. By the way, I told him what was going on last semester and how I wasn’t really acting that way. I gave him the same story we gave Harper and Frank. So Sean’s no longer mad at me. Anyway, Harper’s setting everything up on the deck so we can eat outside. She says it’s our engagement dinner.”

“What if I’d said no?”

“When you were checking out your ring, I texted her with your answer so she’d know whether to do this or not. But I had a feeling you might say yes.” Cue the cocky smile. “Let’s go eat.”

We walk down the beach to a two-story condo with windows all along the back. Harper is on the deck, barefoot and wearing a short white sundress, her bright blond hair held back with a glittery silver headband. She runs down on the beach and hugs me, kicking up sand everywhere.

“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you guys!”

She hugs Garret, too. “Sean has everything ready. He’s just keeping it warm in the oven.”

Sean comes out from the other condo wearing a light blue, button-up shirt and white shorts, already tan from being here a few days. “Congratulations, Jade.” He gives me a hug, then goes up to Garret and shakes his hand. “Bet you feel better now that she said yes.”

“Sean,” Harper scolds.

“What? Like she didn’t know he was nervous as hell? Every guy is.”

“You were nervous?” I ask Garret, laughing a little. “You, Mr. Cocky Smile? Mr. I-Knew-You’d-Say-Yes?”

He shrugs. “Maybe a little. But not as much as Sean’s making it sound like.” He pretends to be annoyed with Sean, but he’s not. I can tell they’re back to being friends.

“Ready to eat?” Sean asks.

Harper moves closer to me so the guys won’t hear. “Garret invited Sean and me to eat with you two, but if you want to have a romantic dinner without us, we totally understand.”

“Don’t be crazy. You guys are having dinner with us. This is our first night here together and we have a lot to celebrate.”

She hugs me quick. “Okay, then I’ll pour the drinks. Go inside and check out your place.”

I grab Garret’s hand and pull him toward the door. “Come on. Give me a tour.”

He picks me up and carries me through the door.

“You’re not supposed to do that until we’re married.”

“I’m practicing.” He carries me past the living room and goes straight up the stairs.

“I missed the whole downstairs. Where are you taking me?”

“To our bedroom.” He goes down a short hallway into the bedroom and sets me down on a king-size bed that’s covered in white cotton linens. The room has warm wood floors and light-colored furniture. There’s a tall dresser along one wall and a nightstand on each side of the bed. Windows line the back wall. The windows are open and the cool ocean breeze is blowing in. You can hear the waves crashing on the shore.

“What do you think?” he asks.

I stretch out on the bed. “I think this can’t possibly be real. It’s too great.”

“It’s real.” Garret lies beside me and kisses me and I know that if we don’t stop we’ll never make it to dinner.

“Garret, we should go outside. Harper and Sean are waiting.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says, continuing to kiss me, “but let’s make this a short dinner.”

“We’re not racing through dinner.” I push him back a little and smile. “But after that, I’m all yours. In fact I don’t think we’ll be leaving this room tomorrow. Maybe not the next day either.”

“And there’s my little nympho girlfriend,” he says, tickling my side.

“Hey.” I push him back again. “It’s fiancé . Get it right.”

He laughs. “Sorry. You’re right. My nympho fiancé .”

We go back downstairs. The living room has a big, U-shaped couch that faces the windows looking out to the ocean. A flat-screen TV sits on a stand in the corner. The room is open to the kitchen which has a long center island with barstools and a small table off to the side. I notice a vase of red roses on the table.

“You got me roses?”

Garret comes up behind me. “I wanted to fill the whole place with them but I’m a little short on cash.”

I turn to face him. “A dozen is plenty. Thank you.” I loop my arms around his neck and kiss him. “I love you, Garret Kensington.”

“I love you, Jade Taylor. Soon to be Jade Kensington. Unless you’re keeping your name.”

“Jade Kensington,” I say, hearing how that sounds. “Wow. I’m going to be a Kensington. And a wife. And someday a mo—” I stop, not sure how that thought even got in my head. A mom? Me? Must be the champagne talking.

Garret ignores my slip up, but now he’s smiling even more. “So I guess you’re going with the name change. That’s good. Makes it easier on the mailman. Multiple names at one address could be confusing.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Let’s go eat.” I grab his hand and drag him to the deck where Harper and Sean are waiting.

“We wondered if you two were ever coming out of there.” Harper laughs and picks up her glass. “Let’s toast.” The rest of us lift our glasses. “To my best friend and the guy who was lucky enough to get her.”

“I second that,” Garret says and we all clink glasses.

Then the four of us sit at our ocean-view table, eating the delicious dinner Sean prepared. We reminisce about the past year, reliving all the memories that led us to be together at this table on this beautiful night, on this picture-perfect spot of the California coast.

We remain there talking and laughing and watching the sun set. Sean and Harper move their chairs to face the orange and pink sky. Garret and I do the same. He puts his arm around me and I lean in and whisper, “We’re going to have a really great summer.”

He tips my chin up and gives me a soft, sweet kiss. “Not just the summer, Jade. We’re going to have a really great life.”

* * *