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

I open the door, wiping the towel over my face. “Yeah, I’m done.”

She comes up to me like she’s going to kiss me but instead starts sniffing my face. “I love the smell of shaving cream. I have to sniff you before the smell is gone.”

“You’re funny.” I kiss her, mid-sniff, then walk past her into the bedroom. “Did you pack everything?”

“Almost. I just need to grab my makeup bag.” She comes out of the bathroom with it and tucks it in the suitcase. “Ryan has breakfast ready so we should get out there.”
 

As I walk to the door, she stops me, her arms around my waist. “It’s Sunday and I can’t go to Garret’s Pancake House.”

I brush the wispy strands of hair off her face and kiss her. “You can go next Sunday.”

“Can I pay for them ahead of time? Like when we get back?”

“There’s no pre-payments allowed but we can still do stuff, Jade. You don’t have to wait until next Sunday.”

“Good, because it’s been almost a week and that’s just way too long.” She leans in and whispers. “And we never got to celebrate our sexiversary.”

“We’ll celebrate it.” I kiss her, then open the door. “Let’s go eat.”

Jade wouldn’t have sex in Frank’s house so we haven’t done it since before we left. Truthfully, I haven’t been in the mood because of everything that’s been going on. I’m distracted and stressed and exhausted from my lack of sleep, so right now, sex isn’t even on my mind. That’s totally messed up and I don’t like feeling this way and I’m pissed that I do. I have a beautiful wife who wants to be with me and we’re newlyweds so I should be as eager as Jade is to get back home so we can do it. But I’m not.
 

I don’t know how long I can go on like this. Hiding this from her is nearly impossible. She knows I’m not sleeping, she notices when I don’t eat, and if I give her any indication I’m not in the mood for sex, she’ll definitely know something’s wrong.
 

“It’s all ready,” Ryan says as Jade and I walk in the kitchen. “Help yourself. We’re just eating at the counter today.”

“Works for me.” Jade hands me a plate and takes one for herself.

Ryan has platters of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon set out on the kitchen island.

“I went out this morning and got you these.” Ryan holds a tray of donuts in front of Jade.

“Donuts! Thanks, Ryan.” She takes two. “Frank, are you eating?”

“Yes.” He’s sitting in the living room, watching one of those Sunday morning political shows. “I was just listening to our new president to see what promises we can look forward to him breaking when he takes office in a few months.”

Frank walks to the kitchen and I hand him a plate. “Not a fan of Kent Gleason, huh?”

“It’s not just him. They’re all liars. Doesn’t matter what party.” Frank scoops some eggs on his plate. “And Gleason never should’ve been elected. Part of me thinks they rigged the voting machines to make him win.”

Jade looks at me, her hand frozen in place over the piece of bacon she was about to pick up. Luckily, I’m the only one who notices. She needs to get better at hiding what we know. She can’t react every time someone says something like that. People will get suspicious.

“Look, Jade. Name brand.” Ryan’s holding up a carton of orange juice. “Remember when we used to have to buy the generic brand and water it down?”

Jade relaxes and picks up her bacon. “Yeah, it was gross. That’s why I drank soda for breakfast.”

“Real orange juice.” He takes a sip of it and smiles. “Having money is awesome.”

Just like Jade, it doesn’t take much to make Ryan happy. He’s used to having nothing, so undiluted, brand name orange juice is a big deal to him. Even though he has money now, he’s still careful with it. He doesn’t spend much. But at least he got some new clothes. He used to have on the same clothes every time I saw him. It’s like he only had one pair of jeans and a few t-shirts and they all looked really old. Other than clothes, Jade said he’s only used his money to pay for school and to buy his car.

“We never took the car out,” I say to Ryan.

“Yeah, I was just thinking that. Let’s go after breakfast.”

Jade reaches across me for the salt. “Garret and I need to be at the airport at ten, Ryan.”

“We won’t go very far. And your flight leaves at noon. You don’t need to be at the airport at ten.”

“He’s right, Jade.” I grab a piece of bacon. “That’s way too early.”

“Okay, but if we miss our plane, I’m blaming both of you.”

We finish breakfast, then Jade offers to clean up the dishes so Ryan and I can go for a drive. It’s only nine-thirty, but Jade’s already getting anxious, convinced we’ll miss our plane if we don’t leave for the airport soon.

“We’ll be back around eleven,” I say as I follow Ryan to the garage.

“You better not be gone that long!” Jade yells from the kitchen. “Garret, did you hear me? Turn your phone on.”

I just laugh. “We should probably get back by ten or she’ll have a panic attack.”

Ryan hits the garage door opener. “Jade’s always been one of those people who likes to be early. Like way too early.” He gets in the car and waits until I’m in the passenger’s side, then says, “In high school, Jade went to a party at seven forty-five because her friend said it started at eight.”

“Which means it really starts around nine or nine-thirty.”

“Yeah, exactly. So she got there and nobody was there. Nobody showed up at eight either so she just left. I had explain to her that you always add at least an hour to whatever time they tell you.”

 
He backs the car out, then stops. “Did you want to drive? Sorry, I didn’t even think to ask. Here, let’s switch places.” He undoes his seat belt.

“No, that’s okay. You can drive.“

Ryan nods. “I guess you’ve already driven one of these before. You have a six series so this is a step down. Or several steps.” He fakes a smile. “We can just skip the drive. We don’t have to do this.”

“What are you talking about? I want to take it out.” I motion him to go. “Hurry up. Show me what it can do.”

“Okay.” He smiles for real this time as he backs out onto the street.

This is one of the downsides of being rich. You can’t share stuff with people. I don’t mean material stuff, but experiences. Like the orange juice thing. I grew up drinking fresh squeezed orange juice, so I can’t really share in Ryan’s excitement over a carton of brand name orange juice. And even if you do show excitement, the person doesn’t believe you. I’m sure Ryan thinks I’m just playing along, pretending to be excited about his car. The truth is, I
am
excited. The car is brand new and I haven’t been in this year’s model and I love cars, especially BMWs. So I
want
to take it for a drive. But even if I tell Ryan that, he won’t believe me. He’ll think I’m just being nice.

“I’ll take it on the interstate,” he says, “but I can’t speed because there’s always cops sitting there.”

I glance around the inside of the car. “I like the interior. Newly designed this year, right?”

“Yeah, and part of the outside, too. They narrowed the front and changed the hubcaps.”

He turns onto the on-ramp and hits the gas. We take off, merging onto the interstate.

“Nice acceleration, huh?” Ryan’s beaming. He loves this car. I love mine, too. So that’s an experience we can share. Doesn’t matter what car you have. If you love it, you get that same feeling. That same excitement from driving it.

“You better slow down,” I tell him. “I see a cop up ahead.”

“Shit.” He taps the brakes. “Thanks.”

“How’s school going?” I figure I should talk about more than just the car since Ryan and I don’t get to talk much.

“It sucks. I’ve got really hard classes this year. Seems like I never stop studying. But at least the semester’s almost over.”

“So what do you think of Karen?”

“She’s great. She takes really good care of my dad. I can’t remember anything about my mom, but my dad said Karen’s like her in a lot of ways.” He merges into the left lane. “So how’s Jade doing?”

“She’s fine. Why? What do you mean?”

“I mean, does she ever like, hear stuff anymore?”

He means the voices. Ryan and I are the only ones who know about Jade hearing her mom’s voice in her head.

“No. She doesn’t.”

“Do you think she’d tell you if she did?” He turns the vent so the heat isn’t blowing on him.

“Yeah, she’d tell me. She’s going to counseling now. You knew that, right?”

“Dad told me she was. But she’s been to counseling before and it didn’t help.”

“It’s different now. She wants to go. Nobody is forcing her.”

“Good. She needs to deal with that stuff.” He pauses. “When I first met Jade, she was so skinny I thought she was anorexic. Her face was all sunk in, her bones were sticking out everywhere. Then I found out she was skinny because she didn’t have any food at her house. She was 12 when I met her. She saw me moving into the house with my dad and came over and said hi, a big smile on her face. She was desperate to make a friend. I invited her for dinner that night, and before she came over, my dad told me about her and her mom.”

Part of me wants to hear more about Jade’s past, but the other part of me doesn’t. I don’t want to think about her not having food or friends or anyone to take care of her. It’s the past, but it still breaks my heart.

“Anyway,” Ryan says. “I love her and I just want her to get past all that.”

“We both do, Ryan. It’s just going to take some time, but I’m doing everything I can to help her.”

He shrugs. “I’ve decided you’re not so bad. Jade could’ve done worse.”

I laugh. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Speaking of Jade, I better turn around or she’ll yell at us for being gone too long.” He gets off at the next exit. There’s nothing out here but farm fields and an old gas station. “You want to drive back?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll pull over at the gas station.” Ryan turns right, heading toward it just as my phone rings. It’s Jade.

“Garret. You need to get home.”

“Yeah, I know. We’re turning around.”

“Did your dad call you?”

“No. Why would my dad call?”

“You need to hurry.” Jade’s voice is rushed, urgent.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Ryan turns into the gas station. I nudge his arm. “Don’t pull over, just go.”

“You don’t want to drive?”

“No. Just get back on the interstate and head home.” I speak into the phone again. “Jade? Are you still there?”
 

“Yes, but—” Her voice gets cut off. I check my phone and only see one bar lit up.

“You don’t have cell reception out here?” I ask Ryan.

“It gets spotty when you’re out in these rural areas.”

I hear Jade again. “Garret?”
 

“Yeah, we got cut off. What’s going on there?”

“You need to get home. Your grandfather—” The phone cuts out again.

“My grandfather what? Jade? Are you there?”

I check my phone. It’s dead. Shit! I forgot to plug it in last night. “Ryan, can I borrow your phone?”

“I left it on the kitchen counter.” Ryan’s on the interstate now, going the speed limit.

“You need to drive faster,” I tell him.

“I can’t. I’ll get a ticket. That cop we passed earlier might still be there.”

“I don’t give a shit. I’ll pay the ticket.”

He mumbles something about his insurance rates going up. I’m not really listening as I try to figure out why Jade sounded so frantic. Did someone show up at the house? Is my grandfather there? Or did he send someone there? Shit, what if he did? Is that why Jade asked if my dad called? Does she know what’s going on? Does she think my dad’s involved?

In my mind I see images of Jade and Frank being held hostage in the house, guns pointed at their heads.

“Ryan, drive faster. I’m serious.”

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

I keep my eyes on the road. “Do you have a gun?”

“A gun? Why would I have a gun?”

“So you don’t have one? Frank doesn’t have one?”

“No. Why?”

“Something’s wrong and Jade wouldn’t tell me anything. But she sounded really upset so we need to hurry up and get home.”

“Why did you ask about a gun? You think someone’s at the house? Like trying to rob us?”

I squeeze my hand into a fist, clutching my phone with the other. “I don’t know. We just need to get home.”

He steps on the gas and five minutes later we’re back at the house. Nothing looks out of place, at least not on the outside. I jump out of the car while it’s still running and we’re still in the driveway. The front door is locked so I bang on it and ring the bell a few times.

Jade opens the door and pulls me into the living room and points to the TV. “It’s your grandfather.”

An image of my grandfather is at the top right corner of the screen.

I walk closer to the TV and hear the newswoman talking, “…suffered a severe stroke that has left him in a coma. Kensington was found earlier this morning in his Manhattan apartment and immediately rushed to the emergency room. He’s currently in critical condition. In a statement just released, Holton’s son, Pearce Kensington, said his father appeared to be in good health just last night when the two of them met for dinner. Pearce has asked the press to give his family privacy during this difficult time. In other news…”

My gaze remains on the TV as Jade hugs me. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. But I thought for sure your dad would’ve called and told you.” I feel her pull away. “Garret?”

I glance down at her. “No, he didn’t call.”

“You should call your father,” Frank says.

I look over and see Ryan standing next to Frank. Everyone’s staring at me, waiting for me to say something.

“Could you change the channel?” I ask Frank. “Find another news channel.”

He comes over and hands me the remote. “It’s all yours.”

I flip through the channels until I see my grandfather’s photo again. I turn up the volume. It’s a financial news show with two older men talking to each other at a round table.

One of the men says, “If Holton doesn’t recover, how will that impact the future of Kensington Chemical?”

The other man answers, “I doubt that it will. Holton is chairman of the board but his son, Pearce, is the one driving the success of the company. Kensington Chemical has seen tremendous growth since Pearce took over as CEO. With him at the helm, I foresee many profitable years ahead.” He smiles. “Now if the company is ever turned over to Pearce’s son, Garret, I would predict it would go out of business.”