Loving You (The Jade Series #3) Read online

  Lilly hops down off her chair and the two of them leave. Garret and I stay behind to finish breakfast.

  “Hasn’t Lilly ever gone sledding?”

  He thinks for a moment. “I guess she hasn’t. We didn’t own a sled before you came along.”

  “Thank God I did. I need to loosen you people up. You need some fun around here.” I reach for the juice carafe but Garret gets to it first and pours me some.

  “So when do you think you want to go to Des Moines? I should probably get the plane ticket today.”

  “Ticket? Just singular? You aren’t coming with me?”

  He shrugs. “I didn’t think I should. I mean, I totally will if you want me to, but I thought you might want some time alone with Frank and Ryan, without me hanging around.”

  “Yeah, okay. I guess that would be good. Maybe I’ll go next Saturday after we get back from New York.”

  “How long do you want to stay? For the rest of break?”

  “That’s two weeks. That’s kind of a long time.”

  “I thought that’s what you wanted. You said you had all these plans to do stuff with Ryan.”

  “Yeah. You’re right. Two weeks is good. It just sucks that I won’t see you for that long.” I stare down at my plate, moving my eggs around with my fork.

  Garret takes the fork from me and sets it on the table. “Are you saying you’ll miss me? Because if so, I need to mentally record this moment. It may never happen again.”

  I smile as I roll my eyes. “Yes. I guess that’s what I’m saying. You put some kind of spell on me and now I miss you when you’re not around.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he says.

  I punch his arm. “Yeah you did, and it pisses me off.”

  He kisses my cheek. “Well, you’ve done the same thing to me. I’m gonna really miss you, but I know you want to go home.”

  “Why don’t you come to Des Moines for a week? That way I’ll have a week alone with Frank and Ryan and a week with you. I don’t need to spend every minute with the two of them. And besides, Frank has to stay home and rest. He’ll probably sleep most of the time. And Ryan will be at work or out with Chloe.”

  Garret pushes his chair back and gets up. “Finally. I was waiting for you to invite me. It took you long enough.”

  “You’re the one who told me to go by myself!”

  “I was being polite, Jade. And then you were supposed to be polite back and invite me to go with you.” He stands behind me and drops a kiss on the top of my head. “I’ll go book the flights.”

  “Not first class. It’s too expensive,” I say as he walks out. I’m sure he won’t listen.

  After lunch we take Lilly outside behind the house. The Kensington property includes several acres of land, mostly woods. We walk through the trees until we find a clearing at the top of a small hill. It’s not nearly as big as the hill at Bryant Park but it’s good enough for Lilly. The hill at the park would’ve been too scary for her since she’s never been sledding.

  Lilly’s bundled up head to toe in pink snow pants, a pink jacket, and a pink hat. I can’t stand the color pink, but it’s cute on her with her rosy cheeks and blond hair.

  I get on the sled with her and we slide slowly down the tiny hill.

  “Can we do it again?” Lilly’s jumping up and down like this is the greatest thing she’s ever done.

  I spend the next half hour going down the hill with her. Garret can’t sled because his chest is still healing from the bullet wound caused by the incident in the study that we’re pretending never happened.

  “Can I go by myself now?” she asks Garret.

  “You’re not afraid?”

  She shakes her head no, then positions herself on the sled. He gives her a push down the hill. It takes her forever to pull the sled back up to the top, but when she finally reaches it, she’s ready to go again.

  “I think she likes the sledding,” I say to Garret.

  “Yeah, it’s good for her to get out and do stuff. She spends way too much time in her room.” He leans down and kisses me.

  I pull back. “Garret. Lilly could be watching.”

  “She’s at the bottom of the hill. It’ll take her 10 minutes to get back up here.” He kisses me again, slower this time. The cold air circles around us, making me shiver. I reach up and grab his jacket, pulling him closer.

  We kiss for several minutes, then Garret breaks from the kiss and looks around. “I thought she’d be back by now.”

  We both look down the hill. There’s no sign of Lilly, but the sled is sitting there.

  “Lilly?” Garret sounds panicked.

  “She probably went in the woods. Maybe she saw a squirrel or something.”

  I’m trying to reassure him but Garret’s not listening. He starts running down the hill.

  “Lilly! Answer me! Where are you?” His voice is frantic now.

  I don’t know why he’s so worried. We’re on the Kensington property. There’s a tall fence around the entire perimeter. She couldn’t get out. But I guess it’s possible someone could get in, especially back here where they don’t have security guards.

  “Lilly!” I yell her name as I follow Garret into the woods. “Any sign of her?”

  “No. And why the fuck isn’t she answering me?” He takes off again farther into the woods. “Lilly! This isn’t funny! Where are you?”

  I run the other direction, calling her name, but there’s no response. It’s like she just disappeared. I was trying to stay calm, but now I’m panicking like Garret. What if someone got past the fence? What if they took her?

  I run to the right and spot a flash of pink out the side of my eye. I stop and turn to see Lilly sitting down next to a tree.

  “Lilly!” I run over to her, kneeling beside her. “What are you doing?”

  “Look. She’s hurt.” She points to a bird on the ground that has a broken wing.

  “Why didn’t you answer me? Or your brother? Didn’t you hear us?” Between the running and the panicking, I’m now completely out of breath.

  She looks down at the bird again and reaches her hand out to pet it.

  I grab her arm. “Don’t touch it. Just leave it alone.”

  I stand up and call for Garret. He’s there moments later.

  He picks Lilly off the ground and stands her up in front of him. “Why didn’t you answer me?”

  Garret’s voice is loud and stern and he towers over her. I can tell he’s scaring her, even though I know that’s not his intention.

  “I did, but nobody came,” she says.

  Lilly’s voice is so faint that she probably did answer and we didn’t hear her.

  “You know the rules, Lilly. No running off. Ever.”

  “But I saw this bird and she couldn’t fly and then—”

  “I don’t care about the bird! You know—”

  I grab Garret’s arm, giving him a look to calm down.

  Lilly looks like she’s about to cry. “I was just trying to help.”

  “So is this the bird?” I ask, hoping to refocus her attention.

  She nods. “She can’t fly anymore.”

  Lilly kneels down on the ground again. The bird was twitching a little before, but now it’s motionless and I’m pretty sure it’s dead. I glance over at Garret. I have zero experience with kids and have no idea how to handle this situation.

  Garret kneels down next to her, his voice softer now. “You need to let the bird rest. She’ll be okay.”

  “How do you know?”

  “When you’re hurt you have to rest to get better. Just like with me. I have to rest to get better, right?”

  “Can we take her inside? She can rest in my room.”

  “This is her home. She lives in the woods. She doesn’t want to go inside.”

  “But nobody will take care of her.”

  “She has a mom, just like you. Her mom will take of her.”

  “But what if her mom can’t find her?”

  “She’ll fi
nd her. But she shouldn’t have left home like that. Just like you shouldn’t have run off, Lilly. You can’t do that ever again, okay?”

  She nods.

  Garret takes Lilly’s tiny, mitten-covered hand and stands up, pulling her up with him. “Let’s go inside. I’m hungry from all that sledding.” His tone has lightened, making Lilly smile.

  “You didn’t even go sledding, Garret.”

  He smiles back. “I know. But watching you and Jade go sledding made me hungry.”

  He picks up my hand with his free hand and we all walk back to the house.

  When we get inside, Lilly takes off her coat, hat, and snow pants and hangs them neatly on the hooks by the door. Next, she takes off her boots and sets them on a rubber mat. It’s funny to watch her. I was never that orderly as a kid. I just tossed all my stuff on the floor. I still do, at least in my dorm room. Here, I follow Lilly’s lead and put everything in its place.

  Once her snow gear is put away, Lilly runs into the kitchen. I start to follow her but Garret holds me back.

  “What happened out there has to stay between you and me,” he says. “Don’t tell my dad and definitely don’t tell Katherine.”

  “I won’t say anything. But won’t Lilly say something?”

  “No. She knows she’d be punished for running off like that. She won’t say anything.”

  “Sorry, I should’ve kept an eye on her.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your job to keep an eye on her. It’s my job. And I fucked up. If Katherine found out, she’d never leave me alone with Lilly again. She’s finally starting to trust me and then this happens.”

  “What do you mean? Why didn’t she trust you with Lilly?”

  “Because before I met you I was drunk all the time. And not very responsible. But still, I would never let anything happen to Lilly.”

  “You know, you were really good with her out there. You knew just what to say.”

  He shrugs. “I tried. She seemed to believe it. And thanks for calming me down.”

  “I know what it’s like to be small and have someone big yelling at you. It’s scary, even if the person doesn’t mean to be scary.” I stand up on my toes to kiss him. “And you’re so big you can be kind of scary to us small people.”

  Lilly comes running out of the kitchen. “Charles made hot cocoa!” She tugs on both of us. “Come on.”

  Katherine appears just as we’re about to follow Lilly to the kitchen. “Did you have fun sledding, Lilly?”

  I’m positive Lilly is going to tell her what happened. Why wouldn’t she? Kids her age can’t keep secrets.

  “I went down the hill with Jade and then I went all by myself,” Lilly says. “I wasn’t even afraid. And now we’re having hot cocoa.” She runs back to the kitchen.

  Katherine turns to Garret. “Did you have any problems with her?”

  “No problems,” Garret answers. “Everything was fine.”

  I hear someone in the foyer and turn to see Mr. Kensington coming toward us in the hallway. He’s back from work with his coat still on. He walks up to Katherine. “Hello, sweetheart.” Her body stiffens as he kisses her cheek. She gives him a tight-lipped smile and says nothing.

  “Hi, Dad. Jade and I are going out tonight, so we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Garret grabs my hand and starts walking toward the stairs.

  “How was the sledding?” his dad calls after us.

  “It was good. Lilly liked it,” Garret yells back as he hurries me up the stairs.

  We go in his room and he shuts the door. “Let’s get out of here. You need to change or anything?”

  “I need to shower. I’m all sweaty from running up that hill a hundred times.”

  “You can use mine if you want. I’ll get you a towel.” Garret disappears in the bathroom, then comes out again. “It’s all set. Go ahead.”

  “What’s wrong with you? What’s the big rush?”

  “Those two were acting really strange and after the thing with Lilly, I just need to get out of here.” He lies down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m seriously not going to survive living here until school starts again.”

  “You only have to spend a week here. The rest of the time you’ll be with me in New York and then Iowa. And the week you’re here, your family will be in the Bahamas.”

  He sighs. “They’re not going.”

  “Why not?” I sit down next to him on the bed.

  “It’s not safe to leave right now.”

  “Not safe? What do you mean?”

  He sits up and puts his arm around my shoulder. “Do you want to have an early dinner? Or go to a movie?”

  “Garret, stop it. Don’t hide stuff from me. You know I hate it when you do that. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He keeps quiet.

  “Come on. Just tell me.”

  He gets up and goes to his closet and takes out a long sleeve, button-up shirt. “There’s some fallout from what happened last week.”

  “Fallout? You mean people wanting revenge or something?”

  “Not so much revenge as punishment, although I’m sure there are people who want revenge.” He takes his t-shirt off and puts on the other shirt, buttoning it up. “That’s why I about had a heart attack when Lilly ran off.”

  “What do you mean by punishment?”

  “My dad broke the rules when he did what he did.” Garret still hasn’t talked about his dad shooting Sinclair. It’s like he’s wiped it from his memory. Either that or he doesn’t want to admit that his dad killed someone.

  “What rules?”

  “Just forget it.” He goes to his desk and starts swiping through his phone.

  I walk over and stand in front of him. “What’s the deal with your dad? Is he involved in something illegal?”

  Garret keeps his eyes on his phone. “I really don’t know what he’s involved in.”

  “He’s your dad. How could you not know?”

  “I’ve seen things, but I don’t know what they mean. And in the past when I’ve asked him he wouldn’t tell me, so I stopped asking.”

  “Have you seen him cover up stuff before?”

  Garret looks up from his phone. “Why are you so interested in this? It doesn’t matter what he does. I’m nothing like him and I’ll never do whatever it is that he does. So you don’t need to worry about it.”

  “If he’s committing crimes, then I don’t want to be around him. I don’t want to be staying at his house.”

  “I never said he was doing anything illegal, Jade.”

  “He shot someone and didn’t tell the police. That seems illegal to me.”

  “The guy was going to kill us!” Garret raises his voice, then lowers it again. “What did you expect my dad to do?”

  “Yeah, he did what he had to do, but then he covered it up. How did he do that?”

  “He has friends, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.” He looks down at his phone again and swipes the screen. “There’s a movie starting in a hour. You want to go?”

  “What did you mean when you said your dad will be punished?”

  “I don’t know the whole story. I just overheard my dad talking in his office and it sounded like he’s in some serious shit. And then I heard him telling Katherine it was too dangerous to travel. I don’t know if that’s why she’s mad at him or what.”

  “Are you and I in danger?”

  “I don’t think so. If we were, he would tell us.” He shoves the phone in his pocket. “Let’s go. You’ve got 10 minutes to get ready.”

  He knows 10 minutes isn’t long enough, but he also knows I pride myself on getting ready fast and there’s no way in hell I won’t meet that deadline. He looks down at his watch, taunting me. I sprint down the hall to my room.

  We have dinner at an Italian restaurant in town, then see a movie. Garret seems distant the whole time. I think he’s still upset about what happened with Lilly. Not upset with her or me, but with himself for not watching her close enough.

&n
bsp; There’s definitely more going on with Garret’s family that he either doesn’t know or isn’t telling me. And I’m not surprised his dad’s in trouble. You can’t just kill a possible presidential candidate and get away with it. Can you?

  CHAPTER THREE

  3

  The next morning I call Ryan to tell him I’m coming home.

  “Ryan, guess what?” I skip the hello when I hear him answer. He knows who it is.

  “Is this a trick question or something? If so, I don’t know the answer.”

  “I’m coming home next Saturday. For two whole weeks.”

  “That’s great. How’d you manage that?”

  “Garret got me a plane ticket.”

  “That was nice of him, but I should really pay him back. He already paid to fly you out here once. I’ve been working overtime and have some money saved. Ask him how much I owe him and I’ll write him a check.”

  “No, you need that money for school and Frank’s medical bills. I’ve already told Garret I’ll pay him back someday, so don’t worry about it. How’s Frank doing?”

  “Better. Did I tell you about the new doctor who started working at the hospital last week?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “He’s from New York. He’s supposed to be really good and he knows a lot about MS. I have no idea why he decided to take a job in Des Moines, although I think he’s splitting his time between New York and here. Anyway, he’s been working with Dad. It sounds like he’s going to get him on some different medications.”

  “Is Frank getting out of the hospital soon?”

  “Probably on Saturday. I wish I’d known you were coming home. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get time off from work while you’re here.”

  “That’s fine. Garret’s flying out a week later, so I can do stuff with him when you’re at work and Frank’s sleeping.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Ryan still doesn’t fully approve of my relationship with Garret. He doesn’t like the fact that I hang out with Garret more than I hang out with Harper or other girls. “Is he staying at a hotel again?”

  “I guess he will. There’s not really room at the house.”