Page 88 of Always Us

There’s silence. None of us knows what to say. Eleanor hasn’t talked to Garret since last summer, other than to call him and tell him to come here today.

Katherine appears at the door. “Lilly, I need you to come downstairs.”

Lilly doesn’t move or say anything. The room is quiet as we all wait for Katherine’s reaction. She straightens up and her lips purse as she stares at Lilly.

Katherine goes and stands next to Garret. “Did you hear me, Lilly? I need you to come downstairs. Right now.”

“I want to stay with Garret.”

Garret smiles a little, which makes Katherine even more furious.

“He’s here all weekend. You’ll see him later. Now hurry up.”

She doesn’t move. I guess Lilly’s developing a rebellious streak. Good for her.

“Garret.” Katherine’s tone has an edge, like she’s warning him.

“Katherine.” He says it back the same way, staring at her.

More silence as this standoff continues. Then Garret turns and kisses Lilly’s head, which is still on his shoulder. His gaze returns to Katherine as he says, “I have to go get ready, Lilly, but later we’ll watch a movie, okay?”

“She’s not allowed to—”

“She’s not what?” Garret cuts Katherine off. He gives her a look which she seems to understand.

She clears her throat. “Very well. But for now, she needs to be downstairs.”

He lowers her down to the floor. “Lilly, let go.”

She reluctantly releases him. “We’ll watch a movie later? You promise?”

“I promise.”

Lilly follows Katherine out of the room. The woman still hasn’t even acknowledged me.

Eleanor steps in front of Garret. “I should say a proper hello.”

He leans over for her usual faraway hug, but she moves in and gives him a full hug. A real hug. Arms all the way around. I see his face. He’s completely shocked, but he hugs her back.

“Go get yourself ready.” She pats his back, then steps away. “And please shave, Garret. A five o’clock shadow is so unsightly on a man.”

“I will. We’ll see you downstairs.”

Actually, I like Garret’s five o’clock shadow. I think it’s sexy.

We go down to his room. Katherine still hasn’t touched it. I keep waiting for her to tear it apart and redecorate it, painting the walls beige or white instead of the dark blue he picked out.

“Damn, I’m tired.” He collapses on the bed and so do I.

“Me too. Maybe we should’ve left yesterday so we wouldn’t have had to get up so early today.”

“I guess, but too late now. I’m sure we can find some caffeine to keep us awake. Charles always has coffee going.”

“I want to go see Charles. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

“We’ll see him later. We need to get ready. It’s getting late.” He gets up and pulls me to standing. “You can shower first. I’ll shave.”

I follow him into the bathroom. “What’s going on with you and Katherine?”

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