Page 8 of Promising You
Katherine appears just as we’re about to follow Lilly to the kitchen. “Did you have fun sledding, Lilly?”
I’m positive Lilly is going to tell her what happened. Why wouldn’t she? Kids her age can’t keep secrets.
“I went down the hill with Jade and then I went all by myself,” Lilly says. “I wasn’t even afraid. And now we’re having hot cocoa.” She runs back to the kitchen.
Katherine turns to Garret. “Did you have any problems with her?”
“No problems,” Garret answers. “Everything was fine.”
I hear someone in the foyer and turn to see Mr. Kensington coming toward us in the hallway. He’s back from work with his coat still on. He walks up to Katherine. “Hello, sweetheart.” Her body stiffens as he kisses her cheek. She gives him a tight-lipped smile and says nothing.
“Hi, Dad. Jade and I are going out tonight, so we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Garret grabs my hand and starts walking toward the stairs.
“How was the sledding?” his dad calls after us.
“It was good. Lilly liked it,” Garret yells back as he hurries me up the stairs.
We go in his room and he shuts the door. “Let’s get out of here. You need to change or anything?”
“I need to shower. I’m all sweaty from running up that hill a hundred times.”
“You can use mine if you want. I’ll get you a towel.” Garret disappears in the bathroom, then comes out again. “It’s all set. Go ahead.”
“What’s wrong with you? What’s the big rush?”
“Those two were acting really strange and after the thing with Lilly, I just need to get out of here.” He lies down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m seriously not going to survive living here until school starts again.”
“You only have to spend a week here. The rest of the time you’ll be with me in New York and then Iowa. And the week you’re here, your family will be in the Bahamas.”
He sighs. “They’re not going.”
“Why not?” I sit down next to him on the bed.
“It’s not safe to leave right now.”
“Not safe? What do you mean?”
He sits up and puts his arm around my shoulder. “Do you want to have an early dinner? Or go to a movie?”
“Garret, stop it. Don’t hide stuff from me. You know I hate it when you do that. Tell me what’s going on.”
He keeps quiet.
“Come on. Just tell me.”
He gets up and goes to his closet and takes out a long sleeve, button-up shirt. “There’s some fallout from what happened last week.”
“Fallout? You mean people wanting revenge or something?”
“Not so much revenge as punishment, although I’m sure there are people who want revenge.” He takes his t-shirt off and puts on the other shirt, buttoning it up. “That’s why I about had a heart attack when Lilly ran off.”
“What do you mean by punishment?”
“My dad broke the rules when he did what he did.” Garret still hasn’t talked about his dad shooting Sinclair. It’s like he’s wiped it from his memory. Either that or he doesn’t want to admit that his dad killed someone.
“What rules?”
“Just forget it.” He goes to his desk and starts swiping through his phone.
