Page 163 of Promising You
“Of course not. You know that. In fact, you can pick out whatever you want for our place. It doesn’t matter to me as long as it’s nothing Katherine would ever buy.”
I’m so relieved to hear him say that. I knew Garret didn’t want a place like his parents’ house, but I wasn’t sure what that meant.
“I should probably get back to breakfast. I’ll call you when I’m on the road with Ryan.”
I hang up and turn to see Carson behind me, refilling his plate. “Was that Garret checking in again?”
“Yeah. I told him I’d call him back later.” I put the phone in my purse. “Hey, you said his name. That’s against the rules.”
“The rules only applied in the car, not here.” He smiles as he walks back to the dining room.
The four of us finish breakfast, then linger at the table, drinking coffee and talking. Around 10:30 Carson asks his dad to check something on the Jeep because it was making a noise whenever we turned the heater on high. They go to the garage and Judy gets up to clear the table.
“I can help,” I say.
“That’s okay. You’re tired from the trip. Just relax.”
“I’m happy to help. Just tell me what you need.”
I follow her to the kitchen and watch as she pulls out a stack of plastic containers. “Could you put the leftovers away?”
“Sure.” I scoop the food into the containers while Judy loads the dishwasher.
“I’m so glad you and Carson became friends,” Judy says. “Growing up in the Midwest, I wasn’t sure how he’d fit in on the East Coast, so I was relieved when he found you.”
“I was happy to find him, too.” Crap! I hope that didn’t sound like I considered Carson anything more than a friend. I was just agreeing about the Midwest thing, not Carson specifically.
“It sounds like he’s made some friends. Even had a girlfriend for a while.”
“Yeah, he has a lot of friends at Moorhurst.” I’m not really sure if that’s true but I know it’s what she wants to hear.
Judy dries her hands on a dishtowel and puts lids on the plastic containers I just filled.
“Carson’s ex-girlfriend is coming over later today.” Judy lowers her voice even though there’s no way Carson could hear her from the garage. “Madison’s a lovely girl. Very pretty. Very smart. But I just hate to see her break his heart again. I’m worried she wants to get back together with him, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
I don’t know why Judy thinks this is any of my business. I keep quiet and focus on filling the remaining containers.
She raises her voice back to normal. “So do you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes. He goes to Moorhurst. He’s a Connecticut boy, born and raised.”
I’m surprised Carson hasn’t mentioned Garret. It sounds like he told his parents everything else about me.
“Well, maybe you could find a nice girl for my son.” She stacks the leftovers in the fridge as I hand them to her.
I try not to laugh. Carson would die if he knew his mom asked me to find him a date. “Okay, I’ll keep my eye out for someone.”
The doorbell rings and Judy goes to answer it. I hear her calling me. “Jade, your brother’s here.”
I race to the front of the house to find Ryan standing there. I give him a huge hug. “Finally.”
“What are you talking about? I’m right on time.”
I step back and look at him. He cut his hair. It’s much shorter now, cut close to his head. But it looks good. More of a cute college guy look and less of the slacker artist look he used to have, which never really fit him.
“You changed your hair,” I say to him.
“Yeah, I didn’t think they’d let me into med school the way I looked before.”
