Page 191 of Promising You
Pearce doesn’t answer.
“Then I’ll go into hiding. I’ll move out of the country.”
“If Garret thinks there’s even a possibility they would harm you, he’ll do what they say. And now that he knows what happened to his mother, he won’t call their bluff.”
Pearce’s cell phone rings. He looks to see who it is, then answers it. “Hello, Arlin. Yes, she’s still here. You shouldn’t have told her this. You know better than that. If they found out—” He stops and listens. “Yes, I suppose.” His eyes dart up at me. “Garret is sleeping now. I’ll have someone take her back when she’s ready to go.”
He hangs up. “Arlin has a car waiting out front for you, but I assumed you’d want some time to say goodbye to Garret.”
“This isn’t goodbye. I’m not letting them win.”
“There’s nothing we can do. If there was, I’d be doing it. Now I have some work to get done, so perhaps you could wait in the living room until Garret wakes up.”
“Can I see Lilly?”
“It’s best if you don’t. She’s grown very attached to you and seeing you one last time will only confuse her. We’ll come up with a story to tell her later.”
I get up to leave.
“Oh, and Jade, I don’t think I need to tell you this, but just so we’re clear, this conversation never happened. You know nothing about any of this, including what Arlin told you. Do you understand?”
He says it in that threatening tone he uses whenever he tells me to keep his secrets. It always freaks me out.
I nod. “Yes, I understand.”
He turns on his computer, ignoring me.
I don’t get Garret’s dad at all. Sometimes he acts caring and then two seconds later he turns cold and emotionless. It’s like turning a switch.
I walk out of his office and go sit in the sunroom. My cell phone has a bunch of messages from Harper, so I check one of her voicemails while I wait.
“Hey, Jade. Sean and I are at the airport. Our plane’s delayed because of Kyle Andermeyer, that actor from those kid movies. Sean what’s the name of those movies? Sean’s in the ticket line. He can’t hear me. Anyway the guy was a total jerk. He got on the plane drunk and was cursing and grabbing the stewardess’ ass and then he brought out some suspicious liquid and we all ended up having to get off the plane. The liquid turned out to be an energy drink, but now we have to wait for a new plane. Someone got the whole thing on video and posted it online. His career’s over. There’s no way parents will take their kids to his movies after they see that video. Anyway, just wanted to give you an update. Hope you and Garret are enjoying your reunion.” She giggles before hanging up.
Harper always leavesreallylong voicemail messages. That was a short one. I check my text messages. There’s a whole string of them from Harper, mainly about how the video of Kyle has gone viral on the Internet and how people are trashing him online. She sent me a link to the video and told me to watch it but my battery is running low so I turn off the phone.
I look for something to read. There aren’t even any magazines. I glance around at the house with its all-white decor. Carson’s house was so much better. It felt like a real home, not this stark white, hospital-look Katherine has created.
It’s making me feel sick so I decide to go wait in the game room. As I’m walking over there, I stop when I get to the stairs.
Why am I waiting down here? I should be upstairs with Garret. I don’t care if he’s asleep. I don’t even care if he reeks of alcohol. I just want to be with him.
I make my way up the stairs and down to his room. His door isn’t locked so I go inside. He’s sprawled out on his bed, his head face-down in a pillow. I gently smooth his messy hair with my hand. He jerks up at my touch, then flips on his back, still asleep.
Now that I know what’s going on, seeing him again makes my eyes tear up and my heart hurt. I literally feel pain in my chest as I think about us not being together anymore. This isn’t fair. There has to be a way to stop this.
I kiss his cheek and lie next to him.
“Jade?” He whispers it, his eyes still closed. I assume he’s saying my name in his sleep, but then I feel his arm lift up and land on my leg.
“Garret? Are you awake?” I ask softly.
He slowly opens his eyes. When he sees me there he bolts up, his body ramming against the headboard. “Jade, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” I try to hold his hand but he yanks it away.
“No! You can’t be here. They’ll—”
“They’re not going to kill me right this second. They have a good 20 years to get you ready. My being here right now isn’t screwing with their plan.”
