Page 38 of Always Us

“I don’t think so. I’d be surprised if he made it through the week.”

“You said he wouldn’t make it through the night, but he did.”

“Garret, I really can’t talk right now. I have at least 10 people waiting outside my office. We’ll talk later.” He hangs up.

So it sounds like my grandfather’s still going to die, but now it’s happening later this week. Dammit. I just wanted this to be over. And it will be. In a few more days. Until then, I need to start acting normal so Jade will stop wondering what’s wrong with me. I need to start eating and sleeping and going to class. And when my grandfather dies, I need to play along and act sad.

At noon I meet Jade at the coffee shop for lunch. She’s sitting at one of the small round tables but she gets up when she sees me. She has on jeans and a light pink sweater that reminds me of the pink flowers we had at our wedding. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail with a few loose strands falling down around her face. I see her every day, but sometimes I have these moments where I see her and realize how lucky I am that this beautiful woman is my wife. That she’s all mine.

“Hi.” She gives me a hug and I smell the fresh, flowery scent of her hair. I hold on to her for just a moment longer when she tries to pull away.

“You look beautiful.” I kiss her head, then slowly let her go.

“Thanks.” She gives me a funny look as she glances down at herself. She obviously disagrees, which I don’t understand, but maybe if I keep telling her, she’ll eventually realize that she really is beautiful.

“So did you call your dad?” she asks as we sit down at the table.

“Yeah. He said my grandfather’s condition hasn’t changed.” I put my arm around her. “Let’s not talk about this. I need a break from it. Talk about something else.”

“Well, it’s not a fun topic, but Sean called yesterday. And then I called Harper.”

“I don’t like the sound of this. Did something bad happen?”

“Kind of.” She tells me about Sean moving to LA for that job he was offered back in September. Then she says Harper wants Sean back and doesn’t care if her parents disown her.

“But you told her to leave him alone, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if she will. She really wants him back.”

I’m not surprised she’s trying to get Sean back. I kind of thought she would. She doesn’t know the real story behind why her parents threatened to disown her if she didn’t break up with Sean. And I knew if she thought about it, she’d realize that her parents’ disapproval of him was not enough of a reason for her to lose the person she loves.

Sara comes up to the table. “Sorry I haven’t been over here. It’s been super busy.” She turns to me. “Garret, I’m really sorry about your grandfather. Jade told me before you got here.”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t already heard about it. It’s all over the news.”

“I don’t have time to watch the news. I barely have time to take a shower.” She gets her order pad out. “Do you guys know what you want?”

We give her our order, then she leaves and I look back at Jade. “You have to tell Harper to let Sean go.”

“I did. And I’ll keep telling her that. It’s just hard because she really misses him and doesn’t want to accept that it’s over. Maybe when she starts classes again she won’t have time to think about him.” Jade threads our hands together. “I tried that last spring. I tried to keep busy so I wouldn’t think about you, but it didn’t work. You were all I could think about.”

“At least you had stuff to keep you busy. I was stuck in a house in the woods every weekend. I thought about you constantly.”

She gazes down at our hands. “Someday I want you to tell me what you did all those weeks we weren’t together. I don’t want to know right now. It’s still too fresh in my mind. But years from now, when I know for sure you’ll never be taken from me, I want you to tell me.”

“Jade, I’m not going anywhere. Nobody’s going to take me.”

She nods. “I’ll believe that someday. I’m just not there yet.”

If she only knew how close we were to being separated again. This time for good.

I can’t tell her what almost happened. I don’t want her ever knowing what my grandfather had planned. He’ll be dead soon, and once he is, I don’t want to think about this ever again.

Our food arrives and as we’re eating, Grace calls to check on me. She worries about me as much as she worries about Jade. She’s such a nice lady. She’s more like a grandmother to me than my own grandmother.

I called my grandmother several times yesterday and again today and she hasn’t returned my calls. I haven’t talked to her since the Fourth of July. I know she’s been avoiding me because my grandfather forbid her from talking to me. But now he can’t control her so I don’t know why she hasn’t called me back.

Sometimes I get so freaking tired of my family and all their drama. I don’t know why we can’t just act normal and get along. Why does everything have to be so damn difficult? I just want to live my life and be happy, without them interfering. So today, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve been miserable ever since my grandfather showed up last week. But today, I’m going to be happy.

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