Page 172 of Promising You
I hear him laughing from his room. He yells back, “I’m making you feel at home. Treating you like any big brother would.”
All three of us go to the movie, which is weird because we never used to do that. We always rented movies. This is the first time we’ve gone to a theater. After the movie we go home and order pizza, then play cards the rest of the night.
Monday morning, we take Frank to see Dr. Cunningham who’s in town for the day. He has an office at a clinic that’s inside the hospital.
While Frank and Ryan are filling out paperwork in the waiting room, I pretend to go to the restroom but I really sneak back to see Dr. Cunningham to ask him if I can fly home. As I expected, he says no because I’m still having headaches. But at least he’s okay with me not using the crutches anymore.
The rest of the week goes by slowly. A March blizzard traps us inside on Tuesday and Wednesday. Frank doesn’t have cable so there’s nothing to watch on TV and we quickly get tired of playing cards. Thursday Ryan and I go to another movie while Frank rests at home and then we all go out for a farewell dinner since I have to leave the next morning.
After dinner, Ryan drops Frank and me off at home, then leaves again to pick up Chloe from her part-time job because her car’s in the shop.
Frank and I sit in the living room. As I reach for the TV remote he stops me.
“Let’s talk, Jade.”
That’s never a good way to start a conversation. I put the remote down. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Tell me about your involvement with Garret’s family.”
“They’re paying for my school. That’s it.”
He rubs his jawline which has two days worth of stubble on it. “I feel like there’s something going on. Are they making you keep secrets? Bribing you to keep quiet about something?”
“What?” I let out a nervous laugh. “Of course not.”
Where is this coming from? Do I look like I’m hiding something? Then again, Frank was a reporter for 25 years. He tends to pick up on stuff.
“You can tell me, Jade. This is just between you and me. How did you really get that concussion and hurt your knee?”
“I told you. I tripped when I was running on the trail.”
“I’ve interviewed a lot of people over the years and I can tell when someone’s lying. Now what’s the real story?”
I know Frank will keep prying until I tell him the truth. Or at least part of it.
“Okay, here’s what happened. Garret’s sister, Lilly, ran away and everyone thought she’d been kidnapped because bad people have kidnapped her in the past to get ransom money. So Garret and I searched the property to see if maybe she just ran into the woods behind the house. And that’s where she was. We were searching at night and I tripped over her and fell. My head hit this huge log and my knee scraped over some rocks.”
Frank continues to rub his scruffy jaw. “Why did you lie about it? And why did Garret’s father lie to me about it?”
“He didn’t want to scare you with the whole kidnapping thing.”
“Why would it scare me? You weren’t the one in danger of being kidnapped.”
“Just the fact that dangerous people come after his family sometimes. That’s the scary part.”
“Do they ever come after Garret? Threaten him?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
Frank doesn’t look like he believes me. He sighs. “Jade, I realize that you’re becoming more serious with Garret, but being with him won’t be easy. I hope you know that.”
“I can handle it.” I keep my eyes on the couch, tracing the lines in the plaid fabric with my finger.
“He’ll have to deal with the same problems his father has to deal with. Problems with the company. Lawsuits. People making threats against him and his family.”
“That won’t happen. Garret’s getting away from all that. He doesn’t want to run Kensington Chemical. He’s getting his business degree, then an MBA, and then he’ll start his own company.”
“It may not be that easy. He may have obligations he’s not able to get out of. He’s his father’s only son. And in wealthy families like his, sons are often expected to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. They’re not given a choice.”
