Page 213 of Choosing You

“Dr. Cauldwell,” Mr. Kensington moves past me to shake the man’s hand. “How’s my son doing?”

“Excellent. But if he needs anything, Ms. Driesen will take care of it.”

An older woman shows up behind him with Garret right beside her.

“Garret.” I move past everyone to get to him. His arm is in a sling, but other than that he looks healthy.

“Hey.” He takes my hand.

Mr. Kensington puts his arm around Garret. “You’re feeling okay?”

“Yeah, Dad. I’m fine.”

His dad turns back to the doctor and nurse. “Let’s go inside to my office. Let these two be alone.”

Garret and I go into the living room. I’m afraid I’ll hurt him if I touch him, but he hugs me with his free arm. “I was so worried about you, Jade. My dad said you were okay, but I had to see for myself.”

“I’m fine, but how are you? Are you in pain?”

“No. They loaded me up with stuff.”

“Were you hurt anywhere else?”

“No, just the shoulder. Well, right below it.” He points to the spot where I held my hand trying to stop the blood. “If I’d been just a second faster it wouldn’t have hit me at all.”

“So did anyone tell you what happened? I mean, what happened with Sinclair?”

Garret nods. “Yeah. I know the story. I know both stories.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird?” I whisper. “It’s like your dad knew exactly what to do and then these people just showed up and—”

“Jade, we shouldn’t talk about it. It’s over now.”

By his tone, I can tell that he’s witnessed something like this before. Maybe more than once. That must be what he meant when he said that his family has ways of covering up secrets. If he’d told me this before, I never would’ve believed him. I had to see it for myself.

“You seem really tired, Garret.” His eyelids look like they could fall shut at any moment.

He rubs his eyes. “It’s the painkillers.”

“Let’s go upstairs so you can sleep.”

We go to his room. I lie down next to him and we both fall asleep.

His dad stops by around 9 to check on him. “How’s he doing?” he asks me as Garret continues to sleep.

“He seems okay. He’s been asleep for hours.”

“The nurse is staying in the fourth bedroom down. She’ll leave her door open slightly, so just go get her if you need her.”

“Okay, thanks.”

I guess Mr. Kensington assumes I’m spending the night in his son’s room, which is good because it’s what I was planning to do.

The next few days I keep Garret company while he recovers. We watch movies, play games, and veg in front of the TV. We don’t say a word about what happened, which is still strange to me, but I guess I just have to accept it.

I ask Garret if he thinks anyone will come after me to get revenge for Sinclair. He assures me they won’t but doesn’t go into details, so I’m not sure I believe him.

On Christmas Eve morning, Katherine and Lilly return. Katherine must know what happened because she doesn’t act surprised to see me there.

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