Loving You (The Jade Series #3) (14 page)

As we’re walking in the airport Garret’s phone rings. “Hey, Dad.” He listens. “Yeah, I’m fine. We’re at the airport now. I’ll call you when we get there.” He puts the phone in his pocket.

“What was that about?” I ask him as we stand in line with our luggage.

“It’s nothing.”
 

“It’s
not
nothing. Your dad’s been calling you all week. It’s like he’s worried about you.” We inch forward as the line moves. “Is there a reason your dad is worried about you? And don’t lie to me.”

“We’ll talk about it later.”
 

“Did someone make threats against you? Is it the same person who threatened to do something to your dad? And Lilly?”

He leans down and lowers his voice. “Not here. This is not the place to talk about this.”

I glance around and notice people staring at us. I keep quiet until we’re on the plane, in first class of course.

“You should’ve told me someone’s making threats against you,” I say as I fasten my seatbelt.
 

“Nobody’s made any threats, so you don’t need to worry.”
 

“I
do
worry, because I love you and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” I reach over and hold his hand.

He kisses my forehead. “Nothing bad will happen to me. I don’t know why my dad’s acting so overprotective like this. He’s probably just being overly cautious.”
 

“Yeah, because he thinks you’re in danger.”
 

The plane starts taking off. I move closer to Garret and rest my head on his shoulder.
 

“Get some sleep,” he says. “I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
 

We arrive in Hartford a few minutes early and our luggage is the first to appear on the belt.

“I guess it’s our lucky day,” I say, grabbing my bag. Garret grabs his, then wheels both of our bags to the car.
 

Garret’s car had to be delivered to us from a private storage facility because last time we left it at the airport someone disabled the brakes. Sinclair admitted he hired someone to do it, but even with him dead, Garret didn’t trust that the car would be safe sitting at the airport parking lot for that long.
 

As we drive away from the airport, Garret checks to make sure the brakes work. Then he tests them again as we get on the main road. “Okay, they work this time.”

“I should call Frank quick and tell him we made it.” I take my phone out of my purse and turn it on but nothing happens. “The battery’s dead. And the charger is in my suitcase which is in the trunk.”

Garret reaches into his pocket and hands me his phone.
 

I start to call Frank, then stop. “I should’ve said this earlier, but thanks for coming out to see me. It was nice that you spent time getting to know Frank and Ryan like that. I think they might actually like you now.”

He laughs. “I wasn’t aware that they didn’t like me before. But I’m glad they do now.”
 

I call Frank, but Ryan answers. “Hi, Ryan. We made it to Connecticut. We even got in early.”

“So are you guys headed to campus now?” Ryan asks.

“Yeah. The fun is over.” I glance at Garret. “It’s back to homework, tests, and cafeteria food.”

“Well, thanks for letting us know you got there. I’ve gotta run to work. Dad is sleeping, so we’ll call you later this week.”

“Okay, bye.” I hang up just as another call is coming in. A photo appears on the screen and I stare at it as the phone continues to ring. Garret reaches for the phone, but I hold it away from him.

“Jade, who is it?” He reaches for it again, making the car swerve. “Give me the phone.”

But I won’t do it. I’m too angry. Too hurt. Too confused.
 

The phone finally stops ringing and the photo goes away.
 

“Why is she calling you?” There’s a tightness forming in my chest that’s making it hard to breathe.

Garret shifts in his seat, keeping his eyes on the road. He knows who it was without me even saying her name.
 

“Garret, why is she—”
 

A text pops up on the screen. It’s from her.
 

My heart beats faster as a lump forms in my throat. “How long has this been going on?”

“It’s not like that. There’s nothing going on. She just needed a friend. That’s all.”

“She doesn’t have any other friends? You expect me to believe that?” I turn my back to him and read the text. I swore I’d never be the girlfriend who spies on her boyfriend’s phone, but tough shit. I’m her today.
 

The text reads:
Are you back yet? Can we meet?

I toss the phone on the floor of the car.
 

“Jade, stop it.” Garret reaches over to hold my hand, but I won’t let him. “She’s just a friend. I swear to you, that’s it.”

“Have you been seeing her? Did you see her while I was gone?”

“No! She doesn’t even live around here.”

“That doesn’t mean she couldn’t drive here. Or take a plane. It sounds like she’s here right now.”

“Why? What did she say?”

“That she wants to meet. Why does she want to meet with you, Garret?”

“Because her fucking father died, Jade! That’s why. Do you seriously think I’m cheating on you?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m being so unreasonable. Your ex-girlfriend, a girl you actually
chose
to date and weren’t forced to date by your family, has been calling and texting you for God knows how long and you don’t even mention it once to me? No, I shouldn’t be mad. Why would I be mad?”
 

“I’m with
you
. Not her. She’s just a friend. I have no interest in dating her now or ever again. She has a boyfriend, Jade. You met him.”

“It doesn’t matter. You should’ve told me. The only reason you’d hide this from me is if you felt guilty. Like you were doing something you shouldn’t.”

“I didn’t tell you because this doesn’t concern you. So I talk on the phone to her. Big fucking deal. Why do you care?”

“Don’t you dare act like I’m overreacting! If I had an ex-boyfriend calling and texting me all the time, you would beat the shit out of him and then monitor my calls from that point forward.”

“What the hell? I would never do that. You can talk to whoever you want. I trust you.”

“I don’t think we should talk right now.” I lean against the door, getting as far away as possible from him.
 

It starts to rain and I focus on the drops as they hit my window and slide down the glass. It’s a steady rain and the rhythmic sound of it helps calm me down.
 

We drive in silence all the way to campus. Garret parks the car in front of our dorm. It looks like only about half of the students are back. It’s still raining and dark clouds hint that there’s more to come.

As I start to get out of the car, Garret grabs hold of my coat sleeve. “Wait.”

“I want to unpack. Let’s just go.”

He lets go of my coat and takes my hand. “I’m sorry, Jade. I should’ve told you. I was just being selfish. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to have this fight with you.”

I sigh as I sit back in the car and shut the door. “So are you going to tell me what’s been going on with you two?”

“Yes.” He turns to me, keeping hold of my hand. “Sadie called me right after you left for Des Moines. She was crying and saying how nobody would talk to her about what happened. Her boyfriend wasn’t supportive at all, which doesn’t surprise me. I thought he was a real ass that night we met him. Anyway, he didn’t even go to the funeral with her. He said that a guy who kills himself and leaves his family behind like that shouldn’t have anyone at their funeral, so he refused to go. Sadie was really close to her dad. She always has been. She took his death really hard. She’s still a mess.”

“Did you see her while I was gone?”

“No. We only talked on the phone. And I had no idea she was coming to Connecticut, so I was surprised when you said she wanted to meet.” He pauses. “Jade, I don’t want this thing with Sadie to come between us. I thought I was doing the right thing helping her out like this. The first time she called she sounded so upset and I felt guilty because of, well, you know.”
 

Thinking about it, I guess it makes sense that Garret felt he had to help her. His dad killed Sadie’s father, Royce Sinclair. The man who is also
my
father. It’s still hard to believe that Sadie is my half sister and she doesn’t even know it.
 

Garret continues. “We only talked a few times that week you were gone. The first time was for about an hour and then the other times were short, maybe 10 or 15 minutes. And we haven’t texted that much. You can check my phone if you want. You can read the texts and see when she called and how long we talked. And I swear, Jade, I never went to see her. You can ask my dad. He’ll tell you I was home that whole week you were gone.”

I’m not sure if I should believe him. I could check his phone, like he said, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to be the jealous girlfriend. And I really do want to believe him.

“You can’t keep hiding stuff from me, Garret. You know I have problems trusting people. Even you. And then you hide this from me and I feel like I’ll never be able to trust you.”

“If you don’t want me to talk to her anymore, I won’t.”

“She wants to get back together with you. She’s not going to stop calling you. She won’t give up that easily.”

“She has a boyfriend. She doesn’t want to get back together with me. She just wanted to talk.”

“Why can’t she talk to someone else? I thought you only dated her for two months. You can’t be that great of friends.”

“No, but I understand what she’s going through.”

“Because your mom died?”

“It’s more than that. Whenever I asked anything about my mom’s plane crash, people brushed me off. I never got answers. Sadie’s describing the same thing. She can’t understand why her dad would kill himself, so she keeps asking questions but doesn’t get answers. You and I know what really happened to her dad, but she doesn’t.”

The raindrops pelt harder against the window of the car. They almost sound angry. As I listen to them, I think about Sadie and what she’s going through. To her, Sinclair was probably a loving father. It’s hard for me to imagine that, given what he did to my mother and me. But he lived a double life. Sadie only knew the good Sinclair, so of course she’s upset. Still, I don’t like her confiding in Garret. There’s a history between them and no matter what Garret says, I don’t believe that Sadie only sees him as a friend.
 

“What do you want me to do?” Garret squeezes my hand to get my attention. “I won’t fight with you about this. It’s not worth it.”

“I feel bad for her, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to keep talking like this. What if you accidentally let something slip out about what really happened to her dad? Plus, she’s my half sister. And your ex. That makes this whole thing really weird.”

“All good points. I should’ve just told her I couldn’t talk to her. She should be talking to Evan about this. Or one of her friends.”

My eyes focus on the water droplets streaming down the window, racing each other to the bottom of the glass. “I’m sorry I accused you like that, but when I saw her face pop up on your phone it was an automatic response.”

“I know, and I totally get that. And what you said earlier was true. If the situation was reversed, I’d react way worse than you just did when you saw Sadie calling me.”

The rain is now coming down even harder and the cold air is starting to turn it into an icy sleet. I zip up my coat and pull my hood over my head. “We should go. We’re gonna get soaked carrying everything inside.”

He shrugs. “So we’ll stay here until it stops.”

“And do what?”

He slides my hood off and reaches behind my head, bringing my face to his. “Steam up the windows?”

A minute ago I was flaming mad at him and now I’m kissing him. I’ve got to learn to get more control around this guy. But not now. His kisses feel way too good.
 

The sound of the icy rain hitting the windows is so loud that I almost don’t hear Garret’s phone ringing. When it continues to ring on the floor of the car I pull away from him and pick it up. I don’t even want to see who it’s from.
 

I hand him the phone. He sighs and shakes his head as he answers. “Hi, Sadie.”
 

He puts the phone on speaker and Sadie’s voice fills the car. “Hey, Garret. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Are you back yet?”

“Yeah, I’m back, but—”

“I need to see you. Can we meet somewhere? I’m in New Haven visiting Evan.”

Garret looks at me. “And Evan doesn’t care if you meet up with your ex?”

“Forget about him. Will you meet me somewhere? I don’t care how far a drive it is. Just pick the place and I’ll be there.”

“What’s going on? Why do you want to meet? Did something happen while I was gone?”