Page 235 of Promising You
Knowing I can help Frank makes me even more excited about the money. He could get a new house. Move to a better neighborhood. Pay off Ryan’s loans. This will change their lives.
I reach over and give her a hug. “Thank you for this. I don’t even know what to say.” I pull back and look at her. “Other than that I need you to know that I never,everexpected you and Arlin to give me money. I only wanted to get to know my grandparents.”
She pats my hand. “Yes, I know, honey.”
“So when will I see you again?”
“Whenever you want to see me. I do enjoy California.” She smiles. “In fact we have a small cottage in Santa Barbara. I plan to spend a few weeks out there this summer.”
I’d love to know what she considers to be a small cottage.
“Then I’m coming to see you. Or you can come stay with me. I have a whole condo and it’s just going to be me there.”
“Jade.” She clasps her hands around mine and waits for our eyes to meet. “This issue with Garret will get resolved. I’ll take care of it myself if I have to. If those idiot men would just let women into their little club they wouldn’t make such stupid decisions.”
Grace is usually soft spoken, but she said those words forcefully like she was both fed up and pissed off. I didn’t realize she knew about everything going on with Garret. It’s not something we talk about. Plus, Garret said the members usually don’t tell their wives what goes on within the organization.
“I’m not feeling good about it. There’s a meeting on Monday.”
“Yes. I know about the meeting. My son, William, is a member. He’ll be there.”
“Does he know what’s going to happen?”
“No. But you shouldn’t give up yet, Jade.”
“I’m not. I’m—”
“Yes. You have.” She squeezes my hand. “I could see you struggling all through lunch because you think this is over. But you’re giving up too soon. You need to have hope. Sometimes things just work out.”
I nod like I believe her even though I don’t at all.
“You should know that before Arlin passed, he fought hard to keep Garret out of this. And I don’t just mean with the negative press that was created. I mean that he let his feelings be known to every member of the organization. And that’s not something you do. It’s against the rules.”
“Then why did he do it?”
She takes a sip of her coffee. “When Royce was picked years ago, Arlin asked them to pick someone else, but he didn’t do anything else to get it stopped.”
“But Royce wanted to be president, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t right for him. He always had an obsessive personality. He’d set his mind on something and wouldn’t let anything or anyone stop him from getting it. The organization took advantage of that. When we learned about their plan for Royce, Arlin and I knew it would destroy him. And it did. Arlin always regretted that he didn’t do more to stop what they did to our son. I think helping Garret was his way of trying to fix the past. That and the fact that he wanted you to be happy.”
I wonder what exactly Arlin did. What if his attempts to help Garret caused him to get in trouble? What if the organization did something to Arlin? What if the heart attack wasn’t natural but was caused by something they did? Wait—what am I saying? I sound like Carson, coming up with his crazy conspiracy theories. I quickly shake them from my mind and notice Grace getting up from the table.
“You should get back to school and finish packing. I have some issues to take care of at the lawyer’s office and then I’m heading home to work in my garden.”
We walk out together to the parking lot.
“You should try gardening, Jade. It’s very relaxing. Whenever I’m feeling stressed I find that I have to do something physical like take a walk or work in the garden.”
“Me, too. Except I go running.”
“Running’s hard on the knees.” She winks. “Try gardening.”
I smile. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
“No goodbye?”
“I don’t like goodbyes.”
