Page 155 of Always Us

“Have a good time.” Jade smiles at her.

“Thank you.” My grandmother gives Jade a weak smile. She still doesn’t approve of her and probably never will.

Once she’s gone, my dad grins like a little kid who’s happy his mom finally left so he can do the stuff she doesn’t approve of.

He hangs his arm off my shoulder. “Do you want to race?”

For Christmas my dad bought Lilly two new car-racing games. One has cartoon animals, so it’s meant for kids. The other one is for adults, so I think my dad really bought it for himself, and for me when I visit.

“You know I’ll beat you, right?” I say.

“We’ll see about that.”

“Dad, you’re gonna lose. I’m just preparing you.”

“Is he always this overly confident?” my dad asks Jade.

She laughs. “Yes. Always.”

“Just like his father.” He pats me on the back. “Well, I’ve been practicing, son, and my skills on the raceway have improved, so you might want to tone down that confidence a little.”

“I don’t need to. I know I’ll beat you.”

Jade walks to the stairs. “I’m going to let you two battle it out. I’m going upstairs to play with Lilly.”

“After she goes to sleep, are you up for some poker?” my dad asks Jade.

“Definitely. But I’m going to beat you again.” She continues up the stairs.

“Who’s overly confident now?” I yell at her.

“She’s definitely a Kensington,” my dad says as we walk away.

I look back and see Jade smiling at his comment.

My dad and I play the video game and get so into it that we’re still playing it when Jade and Lilly find us two hours later. I play the kid race car game with Lilly and then Jade plays with her. Then Lilly goes to bed and the three of us play poker with Charles until two in the morning.

Sunday, we all sleep in, then have breakfast together. It snowed again, so after breakfast my dad takes everyone sledding at the park that has the big hill. In the afternoon, while Jade’s playing with Lilly, my dad and I watch a football game.

Every time I see my dad, I’m amazed at how much he’s changed. My relationship with him just keeps getting better. I hope my mom is watching over us, because if she is, she’ll be very happy.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

35

JADE

Monday morning we wake up to someone knocking on the bedroom door. I check the clock. It’s only nine and our plane doesn’t leave until one.

“Garret. Jade. I need you to get up.” It’s Pearce. He should’ve left an hour ago for the organization’s meeting. He knocks again. “Are you awake?”

Garret shoves the covers back and gets out of bed. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He yawns as he opens the door. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the meeting?”

“Something came up. It’s been delayed until later today.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Katherine told the organization about Jade. She told them Jade is Royce’s daughter.”

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