Page 5 of Always Us

“You want guest rooms, but you also need rooms for all your kids.” He snickers as he reaches in the cupboard for some glasses. “You’ll need at least eight bedrooms to accommodate the guests, along with you and Garret and your four kids.” He snickers again.

Garret rubs my arm. He thinks I’m upset because of the kid comment, but Ryan teases me about this all the time because I tell him I don’t want kids. And for whatever reason, his kid comments never bother me.

“Ryan, don’t—”

I interrupt Garret. “Four? We were planning on having five or six. Right, Garret?” I smile at him.

He looks totally confused. “Um, sure. As many as you want.”

“Six grandkids?” Frank smiles. “It’s a good thing I bought a big dining room table.” Frank motions to a room off the kitchen. “That’s where we’ll be having dinner tomorrow.”

I go and peek around the corner at the dining room. There’s a long table that seats 10. The table has an orange runner down the center topped with small white pumpkins and greenery.

“Did you decorate the table?” I almost laugh imagining Frank doing that.

“No, Chloe did it,” Ryan says. “You guys want something to drink?”

“Just water.” Garret and I both say it, then I say, “We’re both thirsty from the plane.”

We take a seat at the kitchen island as Ryan hands us our glasses of water. The kitchen is big and open. It has stainless steel appliances, dark cabinets, and the counters are covered in granite that has a brown, black, and beige swirl pattern.

We talk some more and then Frank shows us the bedrooms, which are on the other side of the house. The room Garret and I are staying in has its own bathroom and a walk-in closet.

I’m impressed with how well Frank did picking stuff out. The wall colors, the lighting fixtures, the flooring. It all looks good together and it fits his style, not too contemporary but more of a traditional look. Frank told me his girlfriend, Karen, helped him pick stuff out.

Ryan’s phone rings. “It’s Chloe. I’ll be right back.” He goes in his bedroom to talk to her while the rest of us go back to the kitchen.

“So Karen’s coming over tonight.” Frank says it casually, but his lips are creeping up just mentioning her.

“Good. I’ll finally get to meet her.” I gulp my glass of water down.

“She wanted to meet you before the race tomorrow. She’ll be here at seven for dinner. Ryan’s going to throw some steaks on the grill and Karen’s bringing over a salad.”

“Are you going to the race?” I ask him.

“Yes. Karen will meet us there. Ryan is staying here with Chloe. She’s coming over early in the morning to start the turkey. Are you going to the race with us, Garret?”

“Yeah, I’m going.” He gets up and refills my water glass from the fridge dispenser. “I’ve never seen Jade race before.”

“I’m not going to race. I’ll just keep pace with Karen.”

Garret gives me my water. “I’m gonna go unpack.”

“Right now? Why don’t you do that later?”

“I want to clean up a little. Change my shirt.”

“Okay.” I watch him walk away. He’s still acting strange. It’s subtle and Frank doesn’t notice, but I do.

Frank starts telling me more about Karen. His face lights up as he talks about her.

I can’t wait to meet this woman. I still can’t believe Frank has a girlfriend.

CHAPTER TWO

2

GARRET

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