Page 127 of Finding Us
“I don’t know. You can be awfully distracting. Look what you did just now. I would’ve been done unpacking if it weren’t for you distracting me.”
“It wasn’t entirely my fault.” He runs his hand over my shoulder and down my arm.
“I’m pretty sure itwasyour fault. It all started with you insisting on taking that bag from me.”
He smiles. “Itdidall start that way, didn’t it?”
“Yes, and now here we are, married, moving into a new place, and starting a new school. Just think how different everything would be if you’d let me carry that bag last year and—”
He kisses me before I can finish. “You’d still be in the same place, Jade. We’d still be here together. I would’ve made sure of it.”
He releases the towel that’s fastened around my chest.
“Garret,” I say, the towel falling down around me.
“What?” He lowers me back down on the bed, kissing my neck, his hand on my hip.
“You’re distracting me again. I need to unpack.”
“You can’t lie around in a towel on a bed and not expect this to happen. If anything, I would sayyou’rethe one distractingme.”
I laugh. “Okay, that’s fair.”
I unhook the towel from his waist and we let ourselves get distracted one more time. Then it’s time to get back to work.
“I’ll go get the rest of the bags.” Garret takes a clean shirt from his box of clothes. He used boxes. He wouldn’t use my garbage bags.
“Do you care if I turn the air on?” I slip on one of Garret’s t-shirts because my bags of clothes are still sitting in the trunk. “It’s so hot and stuffy in here and the breeze isn’t helping much.”
“Go ahead and turn it on. I’ll close the windows.”
While he does that, I locate the thermostat and turn the air conditioning on. Cold air blasts from the vents.
“They must’ve installed a new air conditioner, too. This air is freezing.” I say it to Garret but notice he’s already back outside, getting my bags from the car. I drag the other bag to the hall closet and take out the sheets and towels, arranging them on the wire racks.
We don’t have much to unpack since the place is furnished but it still seems to take forever. Just hanging up clothes or stuffing them in dressers takes longer than you’d think. Then we unpack the boxes of bathroom stuff and cleaning supplies and kitchen items and it ends up taking the rest of the day to get everything put away. I guess we could’ve waited and unpacked later, but Garret’s dad is coming here this week and I want everything put away and organized before he arrives.
I used to not care about things like that. I wasn’t the most organized person when it came to household stuff. My dorm room was kind of a mess. When I needed to clean up, I just tossed whatever was lying around my room into a drawer or in the closet. But now I feel the need to put things where they belong and not be so messy. Garret’s not messy so maybe I’m learning from him. Or maybe I’m just growing up and the sloppiness bothers me more than it did before.
“Let’s go return the van, then grab something for dinner.” Garret’s standing in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water.
“Just a minute.” I run back to the bedroom and rifle through a box, looking for a hair elastic. I can’t find the one I tossed on the floor before the shower sex. It’s probably under the bed.
I take one from the dresser and put my hair up while walking to meet Garret at the door.
“Ready?” He holds the door open. “Just follow me. The rental place is only a few miles from here.”
I get in my car and he gets in the van.
We rented the van to move our stuff because our cars are too small to carry everything. Yesterday we drove Garret’s car up here and dropped it off. Then this morning, he drove the van and I drove my car. Between all the packing and the driving the past couple days, it’s no wonder we’re both exhausted. We could’ve hired movers, but it seemed silly when we don’t have that much stuff.
After we return the van, we stop at a fast food place for dinner. I’m really tired now and I just want to hurry up and eat so I can lie on the couch and watch TV for the rest of the night.
When we get back to the house, Garret puts his arm around me as we walk in the door. “So what do you think? Does it feel like home?”
I glance around at the living room and the kitchen. The boxes are gone and everything looks neat and clean.
“Not yet, but it will.” I take his hand and lead him to the couch. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
