Always Us (The Jade Series #8) (26 page)

“Well, I’m not doing that. This is all you.”

“May I have your attention, please?” My dad’s voice quiets the chattering in the room and it becomes silent. “Thank you all for coming. It’s been a very sad and difficult week for myself and my family and we appreciate you taking the time to be with us here tonight as we celebrate my father’s life and his many accomplishments.”

I almost roll my eyes. I actually felt myself starting to but forced myself to stop. My dad rambles on about how great my grandfather was and all the wonderful things he did. I tune it out. I can’t listen to the lies. Instead I peer out at the crowd of people gathered in front of me. I spot Grace and William in the back. Victoria isn’t with them. She’s standing next to a man I recognize from one of the financial news shows I watch. He works on Wall Street but that’s all I know about him. Victoria’s likely trying to assess his worth to decide if she should date him.

Kiefer and Kelly are standing next to Jade. Kiefer is rubbing his chin, then he rubs the rest of his face. Then he takes a swig of his alcohol. And another after that. He’s very fidgety tonight. Not the laid-back, relaxed Kiefer I’m used to.

I scan the rest of the room. I don’t know half of these people. Lilly isn’t around, which is good. She doesn’t need to hear my dad’s speech. It would just make her sadder.

“…and we can take comfort in knowing that he is now in a more peaceful place.” My dad finally stops talking.

I hear Katherine’s voice behind me. I didn’t even know she was there. “Before we continue, Garret would like to say a few words.”

I turn and see the smirk on her face and almost punch her. She knows I don’t want to say anything.
 

I glance at my dad, who has no expression at all, which is typical for him. Another Kensington rule. Don’t show emotion if it will reflect poorly on the family. Use it only as needed, when it works to your advantage.

“Garret, go ahead,” Katherine says.

Have I said how much I hate Katherine? After this little stunt, I might just have to release one of those videos.

I face the crowd of people. “Although I had hoped to say a few words about my grandfather tonight, the tragedy of his passing is still too fresh in my mind. Therefore I am unable to do so. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course, son.” My dad nods at me, then turns toward the guests. “Again, I would like to thank everyone for coming. Please continue as you were. We ask that you say your final goodbyes at eight tonight so that we may spend time together as a family.”

Katherine races off to talk to someone before I can yell at her. I wouldn’t anyway. I’m done fighting with her. She’ll be out of my life soon enough.

Everyone goes back to their conversations, the noise level in the room slowly rising.

My dad takes me aside. “Thank you, Garret. I’m sorry about Katherine. I didn’t know she was planning that.”

“It’s Katherine. It’s not that surprising.” I check that no one’s around us, then say, “I need to talk to you about something. It’s important. It can’t wait.”

I should’ve told him this last weekend when I was here, but with everything going on I wasn’t even thinking about it.

My dad lowers his voice. “What is this about?”

“Aston Hanniford.”

He smiles, but only to cover up the fact that we’re talking about something we shouldn’t be. “Smile, Garret.”

I smile, but I’m sure it looks fake.

“I already know about it,” he says. “We’ll discuss it later.”

He walks off and I go over to Jade, who’s talking with Kelly. Kiefer got whisked away by some older man I’ve never seen before. Kelly doesn’t know most of the people here so we stay there and keep her company.

A half hour later I hear some commotion in the foyer. Jade and Kelly are talking and don’t notice.

“I’ll be right back,” I say to Jade.

She nods.

I pass by the other guests, who have now migrated to the appetizer tables and the bar. As I approach the foyer I hear my dad say, “I most certainly did not invite you! You need to leave.”

I go around the corner and see my dad standing there with Roth. The foyer is empty except for the two of them.

“Garret.” Roth saw me. Shit. I was just getting ready to turn around.

“Garret, go upstairs,” my dad orders.

“Pearce, I came to express my condolences,” Roth says. “That would extend to your son as well.” He comes up to me. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your grandfather was an extraordinary man. He’ll be greatly missed.”

I glance at my dad. “As my father said, I need to go upstairs and check on Lilly. I was just heading up there now.”

“Very well, then.” Roth grins. “We’ll be seeing you soon, Garret.”

What the fuck does that mean?

My dad comes up behind Roth and grabs his arm. “In my office! Now!”

They go in my dad’s office and he slams the door.
 

I can’t believe my dad just talked to Roth that way. And grabbed his arm. Roth could have my dad killed for that. He could be dead tomorrow. Shit!

I turn around and see Jade coming toward me. She whispers in my ear, “I want to talk to Grace, so we’re going in one of the rooms down the hall so Victoria won’t bother us.”

“Yeah. Okay.” I’d go with her but I need to keep an eye on Roth and my dad.

When she’s gone, I approach the door to my dad’s office. I hear loud talking but I can’t make out the words.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around and see Kiefer standing there.
 

“Garret, I need to speak with you when we’re back in California. What’s your schedule?”

He reeks of hard liquor and I back away. “Are you drunk?”

“No. Of course not.” He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. He’s drunk, but also seems anxious and tense.

“What’s wrong with you?”

He looks side to side, checking to make sure we’re alone. “Just say you’ll meet with me when we get back. I’ll make a trip up to see you.”

“Um, yeah, okay.” I agree to it just to get him to go away. “You have my number. Just call me and let me know when you’re coming.”

“Good. Very good.” He puts his glasses on and walks away.

What the hell was
that
about? And why was he acting so strange?

“Garret.” Lilly runs down the stairs. “Can we watch a movie now?”

I glance at my dad’s office. “It’s not a good time right now. Maybe later.”

“Please.” She grabs my hand. “You promised.”

“I know, but I can’t right now. I’m busy.”

She lets go of my hand and her head drops down as she turns back toward the stairs. I see her shoulders creep up, then down, like she’s crying. Dammit. Why is everything happening at once? First my dad and Roth, then Kiefer, now Lilly.

“Lilly, wait.” I meet her halfway up the stairs.

“It’s okay. You’re busy.” She wipes her tears with her tiny hand and I feel like the worst brother in the world.

“I didn’t mean that. I’m not busy. Come on.” I walk her up the rest of the stairs and to her room. “I’ll start the movie but I can’t watch all of it right now. I have to go downstairs and talk to people, but when I’m done I’ll come back, okay?”

She nods.

“What movie should we watch?” I’m standing in front of her TV. Below it is a white basket filled with movies, all of which have pink boxes. Princess cartoons.

“You pick,” she says.

I grab one from the middle. It has a princess and a snowman on it. Good enough. I put it in the machine and turn the TV on.

“I got your spot ready.” Lilly has pillows lined up against the headboard, the same way I used to arrange them whenever I’d watch TV in her room. Her headboard is made of wood and has a design carved in it that digs into your back when you lean on it, so I always had to pile up pillows behind me.

“I can only watch for a few minutes.” I sit next to her as the movie starts.
 

She leans against my shoulder, holding her stuffed panda bear in her arms.

“Garret?”

“What?”

“Is Daddy going to die?”

“What? No. He’s not going to die.”

Actually, he
might
if Roth kills him, which could happen if I don’t get them away from each other, or at least get my dad to calm down.

“Grandma said everyone dies.” Lilly pets her panda bear as she says it.

“Usually just when they’re old. Dad’s not old.”

“Grandma’s old. Is she going to die?”

Seriously? She has to ask these questions
now
? I don’t have time to explain death to her. And I shouldn’t be doing it at all. Her parents need to do that, not me.

“Lilly, you need to talk to Dad about this. Let’s just watch the movie.”

“I can’t talk to Dad. I can only talk to you.” She looks up at me with her teary blue eyes. “Why do people have to die?”

Shit. I can’t explain this to her. I don’t even have the answers. What do I know about death?

I don’t have time for this. I need to get downstairs.

JADE

Grace and I are sitting in a room I’ve never been in before. The only things in the room are a grand piano and a long white sofa. Nobody in Garret’s family plays the piano so I don’t know why they have a room with a piano.
 

Grace and I came in here to talk. If we didn’t, Victoria would be watching us and wondering why I’m talking to Grace. We left William out there to keep an eye on her. Victoria seems to like William, as in more than just a brother-in-law way. All night I’ve noticed her hanging on him and talking really close. William’s wife didn’t come with him tonight and Victoria seems to want to take her place.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be asking this, but does Victoria have a thing for William?” I ask Grace.

“Yes,” she says, matter-of-factly. “She always has, but then again her eyes wander to a lot of men. She was never faithful to Royce. But as you know, he wasn’t faithful to her either. William, on the other hand, has no interest in other women. His heart belongs to Meredith. Always will.” She smiles and smooths her skirt. “Pearce did a lovely job tonight. Don’t you think?”

“You mean when he talked about his father?”

“Yes. I thought his words were very heartfelt. I know the two of them didn’t always get along, but it’s nice to hear Pearce speak of his father that way.”

If Grace knew the truth about Holton and what he did to Arlin, she would’ve hated Pearce’s speech. She wouldn’t have even shown up here tonight to hear it. But Garret said I can’t tell her the truth. He said it’s best if she doesn’t know, and he’s probably right.

I couldn’t stand listening to Pearce’s speech, hearing him go on and on about how Holton was a great man and did all these great things. Pearce was doing what he was expected to do, but it was hard to listen to. And then when Katherine tried to get Garret to speak, I almost went up and strangled her.

“Jade, honey, are you okay?” Grace rubs my arm.

“Yes. Sorry. I’m just tired from getting up so early.”

“So how is your friend, Harper, doing? Will you be seeing her while you’re in town?”

“Yeah. I’ll see her tomorrow. She’s going through a rough time. She just had shoulder surgery and she broke up with her boyfriend.”

“Sean. The chef.”

“That’s right. I forgot that you met him at the wedding.”

“It’s too bad they couldn’t have ended things sooner. Waiting makes it so much more difficult.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Jade, you know the rules. And Kiefer has known them for months. He just hasn’t taken action until now.”

“How do you know about Kiefer?”

“I’ve been around long enough to know what’s going on. And when I found out he was meeting with Roth last July, I assumed they changed the rules.”

We shouldn’t be talking about this. And yet I want to know more.

“Is there any way Harper can be with Sean?”

“Honey, you already know the answer to that.”

“Who will she end up with?”

“She’ll be given some choices.”

“They won’t just pick someone for her?”

“They used to, but it’s not that way anymore. At least not for everyone.”

I don’t know what that means. Why do some people get to choose and some don’t? Why wouldn’t the rules be the same for everyone? I know she can’t tell me so I don’t ask her about it.

“So they picked Arlin for you?”

“Actually, his
father
picked me and got the other members to agree to it. Back then, parents had more influence on the decision. I actually had several parents wanting to set me up with their sons.” She laughs. “I was a real catch back in the day. Not to be boastful, but I was a very pretty young woman. And I come from an excellent family.”

“Did Arlin like you right away?”

“He liked me before we were even set up together. Arlin wanted to date me for years and his father knew it. So he purposely told Arlin he was picking a different girl, just to see how much Arlin would fight for me. And he did. Arlin argued with his father until his father finally told him that he’d picked me. His father even planned our first date. He got us reservations at a very nice restaurant in Manhattan and theater tickets for a Broadway show. It was quite an evening.”

“And you liked Arlin?”

She smiles. “I always did. Even when he was younger, Arlin was a gentleman, much like Garret. That’s hard to find, Jade. You’re very lucky.” She checks her watch. “We should be getting back before Victoria starts asking William where I went. Oh, before I forget, the taxes on the land I gave you will be due shortly. I wasn’t sure if you received a notice in the mail so I wanted to mention it to you.”

“I’ll tell Garret. We’ll look into it and make sure they get paid. I can’t thank you enough for giving us that land. It’s the perfect spot for our house. It’s exactly what we wanted. But Garret and I still feel like we should pay you for it.”

“Jade, don’t be silly. You’re my granddaughter and the land was a gift.” She pats my leg. “Now let’s go before people start looking for us.”

“Too late,” a voice says from behind us.

The couch is facing the piano, and with our backs to the door, Grace and I didn’t see anyone come in. We both stand up and turn around to see someone standing in the doorway. Someone my age. With long brown hair. Who looks a lot like me.