Page 177 of Promising You
His comment makes us all laugh and lightens the mood.
“So, Jade, are we going to see you at all this summer?” Frank asks.
“I hope so. Garret and I haven’t figured out our itinerary yet. I was thinking maybe we could stop here on the drive out and again on the way back.”
“You’re driving to California?” Ryan asks. “I figured Garret would hire someone to drive the car out there and you two would fly. Isn’t that what rich people do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll talk to Garret about it. But I’ll come home at least once this summer.”
Frank pushes away from the table. “Well, I suppose you two need to hit the road.”
“Yeah, hurry up, Jade,” Ryan says. “We have to leave soon.”
I quickly shower, dress, and finish packing and a half hour later I’m ready to go.
“I’ll see you later, Frank.” This is my new way of saying goodbye. I find it easier to tell him I’ll see him later than to tell him goodbye, which seems so final.
“Bye, honey. Have a safe trip.” He hugs me, then stays close and lowers his voice. “I know you don’t always tell me everything, but if you need to, I’m here. It can be hard to keep secrets to yourself.”
What does he mean? Does he know something? If not, what secrets is he referring to? Maybe it’s just the reporter in him. He’s always thinking there’s more to the story. And he’s right, but I can’t let him know that.
Frank lets me go just as Ryan comes into the living room. Ryan doesn’t know about the incident with Sinclair or the story about my mother or any of that, and Frank and I have decided it’s better if he doesn’t know.
“You ready?” Ryan has his coat on, his car keys in his hand.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Frank follows us out and watches as we drive away.
As we’re leaving Des Moines, I get a text from Garret saying he had to go somewhere with his dad and won’t be back until late afternoon. I text him back asking where he’s going, but he doesn’t respond.
The drive to Carson’s house goes by fast this time because Ryan and I are talking instead of giving each other the silent treatment. Every hour, I call Garret to check in but his phone goes straight to voicemail. I’m guessing he has it turned off, which doesn’t make sense given how insistent he was that I call him during the trip. But maybe he’s someplace where they make you turn your phone off.
When we get to Carson’s house, Howard’s at work but Judy is there, preparing more food. She packs a lunch for Ryan to eat on his way back to Iowa and fills a foam cooler with food and drinks for Carson and me.
After Ryan leaves, Carson and I head out. As we’re pulling out of the garage his mom yells, “No speeding, Carson. And don’t text and drive. Love you!”
He waves at her as we drive off. “She sees all these kids come into the ER because they were texting while driving so she always says that.”
“Your mom is funny. She really likes to feed people.”
“I know. I’m surprised I don’t weigh 400 pounds.” He turns the heat up when he sees me put my gloves back on. “So did you have fun at home?”
“We got snowed in for a couple days, but we found stuff to do. How about you? Did you get back together with Madison?”
“No. After we talked about it, I decided I didn’t want to. I used to be okay with the long distance thing, but now I think I’d rather date someone I can see every day.”
“But you made this big deal about how people should have their space and how it’s not healthy to spend your time with one person.”
“I know, but then I thought about it some more and I changed my mind. I don’t want to date someone I can only see during the summer and once or twice during the year.”
“I guess I better start looking then.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mom told me to find you a nice girl to date in Connecticut.”
“Did she really?” He shakes his head. “God, that’s embarrassing.”
