Page 176 of Always Us

“I will.” Sean ordered us some non-alcoholic champagne. We each stand and hold up our glasses. “To Moorhurst College, for bringing Garret and me the two greatest women in the world.”

We laugh as we clink glasses, but it’s true. Jade and Harper both showed up at that tiny college in Connecticut, far away from their hometowns. And then I met Jade, and Jade met Harper, and Harper met Sean, and somehow we all ended up together. Jade married me, and now Harper’s marrying Sean, and the four of us are best friends.

When I think about that, it amazes me how everything worked out like this. I can’t explain it. That’s what I like best about the story of Jade and me. It can’t be explained. It doesn’t make sense. Two people from vastly different backgrounds coming together and becoming best friends and falling in love despite everyone around us trying to keep us apart.

So tonight, on this New Year’s Eve, I’d like to toast to those things in life we can’t explain, but that end up making our lives fuller and richer and better than we ever imagined.

Life doesn’t need to be explained. It just needs to be lived. And appreciated. And spent with those you love.

I turn to Jade, holding up my glass. “To the unexplainable.”

“What?” She has no idea what I mean.

“Just go with it.” I smile and clink her glass. “Happy New Year, Jade.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Three Years Later

JADE

Garret gives me a New Year’s kiss that melts me from the inside out. I relax into him and feel his arm go around my waist, holding me up.

“Too much champagne?” he asks.

“No. It’s your kisses.” I smile at him and he gives me another one.

He tugs me closer, getting a firmer grip on my waist. “My kisses make you weak in the knees?”

“They always have and they always will.”

He kisses me again. “Happy New Year, Jade.”

It’s another new year. Another year of this wonderful life that seems to just keep getting better.

Three years ago on this night, Garret and I were watching Sean propose to Harper. She was shocked, but also happier than I’d ever seen her. But she was even happier on her wedding day, which was last year on New Year’s Eve. Sean and Harper had a long engagement, which is what Harper wanted, especially after all the stuff going on with her parents.

A few months after Sean and Harper got engaged, Harper’s parents got divorced, and for the whole year following, her dad had to go through an investigation regarding his alleged theft of funds from the movie studio. He almost went to prison for it, but his lawyer convinced the judge to just make Kiefer pay back the money, which left him with five million dollars. It sounds like a lot but he was worth way more than that before. Kelly and Kiefer had to sell their mansion and some of their expensive cars. Kelly moved into a small house in Pasadena and Kiefer moved to New York. He now makes low budget indie films. And he still makes fake videos for the organization.

The story is that Harper’s mom divorced her dad because they didn’t get along anymore, but I think the truth is that Kelly never wanted Kiefer to join the organization. I don’t think she knew everything about it, but she knew enough that she didn’t want to be part of it. And despite her objections, Kiefer still wanted to join, at least he did until he found out about their plans for Harper. But by then, I think Kelly had lost respect for her husband and that’s what led to their divorce. Kiefer put money before his family and it broke them apart.

Harper said her mom has adjusted to living alone, but she’s not really alone. Harper’s sisters rented an apartment just down the street from their mom’s house, so the three of them always do stuff together. And Sean and Harper, who now live in Santa Barbara, are always down there visiting because Harper’s mom and sisters can’t get enough of the baby.

Yes, Sean and Harper have a baby. Soon after they got married, Harper found out she was pregnant. She says they weren’t planning on that, but I’m not sure if she’s telling the truth. I know the two of them didn’t want to wait to start a family. They had a baby boy last October. He’s super cute. He has bright blond hair just like his mom and dad.

As for their careers, Sean worked his way up to head chef at that restaurant in LA. He stayed there until Harper graduated from college last May. They didn’t like the craziness of LA so they moved to a house in Santa Barbara and started a catering and party planning business. The business is already so successful that they can’t keep up with all the requests. They’re booked through next year. Harper loves planning parties, so this is her dream job. And Sean likes the catering side of things. Plus, by owning their own business, they have control over their schedule, which they both like.

Garret and I also have a lot going on. We graduated last spring. Garret got his business degree and I got a degree in psychology. Garret is now a business owner, or part business owner. He and his dad bought WaveField Sports. The guy who started the company sold it last summer so he could work on his new business, some kind of Internet startup.

Garret didn’t have enough money to buy the company himself, so his dad offered to be a partner. By doing this, Pearce isn’t giving Garret money so the organization can’t say he’s violating any rules.

Speaking of the organization, William was promoted to the highest level. It happened three years ago, the same week I was summoned to that sentencing for Victoria. I know it sounds like a bad thing that William was promoted, but it’s actually been good. He’s changed the way they do things. I can’t say exactly what that means because I don’t know. I stay out of it. I don’t ask questions. But Pearce told Garret that the members can now face punishment for hurting innocent people who happened to see something they shouldn’t have, which has caused the members to be much more cautious in how they do things. Pearce said the older members, including his father, were reckless in how they did things and that’s what caused people like Carson’s sister to end up dead. But the older members are dying off and the younger members want to do things differently. I don’t know if they still rig elections. I’m sure they do. But Garret always tells me that if the organization didn’t, some other group would. He says that even the local elections in our town are controlled by a small group of people, basically whoever has the most money. I guess that’s kind of true. It seems like the candidates with the most money always win.

William comes to visit us a few times a year, but I never ask him about the organization. But I have asked Grace, and like Pearce, she said William’s had a positive influence on the group and that Arlin would be proud of him. So I take that to mean that they aren’t doing as many bad things. As much as I don’t like having my uncle so involved with the organization, the good thing is that with him in such a high-up position, I feel like Garret and I are safe and that they’ll leave us alone.

Pearce is no longer actively involved with the organization. He’s still a member, but they’ve asked him to keep his distance until they’re sure he’s not being followed. Pearce’s plan to distance himself from the organization worked. Well, kind of. It didn’t go as smoothly as he’d hoped. Carson, also known as Justin, and Hanniford, his billionaire boss, were determined to prove Pearce was a member. And they didn’t just follow him. They also tried to hack into his computer, using that girl, Sydney, the one I saw at Moorhurst that day, to do it. It’s a long story and I try not to think about it because it turned into this big mess and Garret and I ended up having to get involved. We wouldn’t have done it if it was just to help the organization. We only did it to save his dad. If his secrets got out, Pearce would’ve had enemies lining up to kill him.

Luckily, that didn’t happen. Carson, and the rest of the people who were after Pearce, were led to a dead end and they eventually gave up. But they planted their theory in the minds of enough curious reporters that it would be too risky for Pearce to get involved with the organization again anytime soon. Carson is now a reporter overseas so hopefully we’ll never see him again. But despite all the headaches Carson caused, he ended up being helpful. His actions allowed Pearce to be temporarily released from his obligations as a member.

---