Promising You (The Jade Series #4) (36 page)

“Garret?” I shove the covers off me and stand up. “Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”
 

“So they’re allowing you to call me? Why? Did they give you one last phone call to say goodbye?”

He’s quiet and I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I sink back down on the bed. I’m not prepared for this goodbye. I can’t do this again. I thought our goodbye in the woods was the last one, and now he’s calling me to say one last final goodbye? Why is he doing this to me? I don’t even know what to say to him. I finally hear his voice again.
 

“I’m not saying goodbye. And this isn’t our last phone call.”

“What are you talking about? What does that mean?”

“They let me go.”
 

“Don’t joke about this, Garret. I swear I’ll—I don’t know what I’ll do to you, but something really bad for playing this sick joke on me.”

“I’m serious. The plan wasn’t approved. They didn’t have enough votes for it to pass.” Now he sounds happy. Why the hell didn’t he sound that way when I answered the phone? I was having a freaking panic attack here!

“Wait. So it’s over?”

“It’s over.”

“But how? What did—”

“How was the flight to Des Moines?”

His sudden topic change is a sign that he can’t talk about what happened over the phone. Someone might be listening. I don’t know who or why, but in Garret’s crazy world there’s always a possibility someone’s listening.

But I’m having a really hard time acting calm and normal when I just want to jump up and down and tell him how happy I am. How relieved I am. How I want to see him again as soon as possible. I take a moment to calm down and try to contain my excitement.
 

“The flight was okay.”
 

“Good.” He gets quiet.
 

This is very odd. I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say. And I don’t understand this. If someone from the organization is listening to the call, then why is Garret calling me at all? Are they allowing us to date now? That doesn’t make sense. Even if he’s not their presidential pick, he’s still a member of the organization. He was born into it. He has no choice. Or did his dad manage to get him out of it?
 

I need Garret to give me a clue, anything that will at least hint about what’s going on.

“So are you going to California?” I ask.

“In a week or so. I have to take care of some things first.”

From his tone I get the feeling I’m not supposed to ask what those things are, so I don’t. But the fact that he’s going to California seems like a good sign.

“And, um, you’ll be staying there a while? In California?”

“Yeah.” His tone lightens and he sounds even happier. “I’ll be there all summer.”

Another good sign.

“And then you’re going back to Moorhurst?”

“No. I’ve decided to go to a different college next year. I don’t know where yet. But my options are open. I can choose wherever I want to go.”

He puts a slight emphasis on the words ‘options’ and ‘choose’ which I’m taking to mean that he’s somehow not part of that group anymore. Or if he is, they eased up on the rules and are letting him make his own choices, something his dad was never allowed to do.

“Okay, well, when you figure out your plans, just let me know.”

“I will. Hey, I can’t really talk now and things will be a little crazy the next couple days, so I probably won’t call you until Friday.”

“All right.” I go along with it, but find it strange that he can’t talk to me for the next two days. “Did you get a new phone? I didn’t recognize the number.”

“I’m calling from the home phone. I kind of trashed my cell.” He pauses. “I had to say goodbye to someone I didn’t want to say goodbye to and I um, got really pissed and threw my phone in a creek in the woods.”

I almost laugh. It’s not really funny, but the image of him throwing it in there is a little funny.
 

“Tell Frank and Ryan I said hi. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

He hangs up without an I love you or I miss you or anything like that. He obviously wanted to make it sound like we’re just friends and not dating. So what does that mean? I’m so confused.
 

Maybe I’m getting all worked up about nothing. Maybe Garret was just being extra cautious, just in case someone was listening in.
 

I’m not going to worry about it. Besides, Garret sounded happy. And he wouldn’t sound that way unless he knew he could be with me. Unless he knew we could have a future together. It takes a moment for that to sink in. Garret thinks we can be together? So this whole thing is over? We can be together without people trying to break us apart?
 

Then what I am doing in bed? I get up and jump around like a lunatic. I know I’m acting crazy but I’m too excited to go to sleep.
 

Who would’ve ever thought that Jade Taylor would be jumping around her room in the middle of the night because of a guy? Anyone who knew the old Jade would never believe it. But in the past year, I’ve learned that love can make you do crazy, silly, stupid, ridiculous things. And the fact that one person can make you feel this way and do those things is amazing to me. Now I just need to get that one person back and never let him go.

29

The next two days go by and as Garret said, I don’t hear from him. On Friday morning, I pack up for California. Frank and Ryan take me out for breakfast and then we head to the airport. Ryan parks at the drop-off area and gets out to give me a hug.
 

“I’ll definitely make it out there to see you this summer,” he says. “I just don’t know when yet. This car will never make it. I’ll have to fly, which means I need to get some extra shifts at work to pay for it. But I’ll be there.”

“You better be,” I say, hugging him tight. I smile knowing that as soon as Ryan finds out about the money he’ll be able to quit his job and not worry so much.

Frank gives me a hug next. “Have a good trip, honey.”
 

I whisper near his ear. “I’ll get you the money as soon as possible. I don’t know how all that works, but I’ll figure it out. Get Ryan a car before anything else. And then get yourself something.”

He pulls away, smiling. “You have fun this summer. Be sure to call us.”

“I will. See you later.”

The plane ride to California is a few hours so I use the time to sleep. Since getting the news about Garret I’ve been too excited to sleep, but I sleep really well on planes for some reason. When we land, the guy next to me has to wake me up.

Harper is picking me up at the airport so I get my suitcase, then wait for her outside the terminal.
 

This is my first time in California. Harper told me the weather here is almost always perfect. Today it’s sunny and dry and feels like it’s about 75 degrees. Perfect, just like she said.

I hear my phone ringing while I’m waiting and I have to dig through my carry-on bag to get it out.
 

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Garret?” I instantly smile just hearing his voice again.
 

He laughs. “Yeah. It’s Garret. Why were you asking like you weren’t sure? I thought we were on the ‘it’s me’ level.”

I start laughing. “We are. We totally are. I just wasn’t expecting it to be you. I’ve been dying to talk to you. I can’t believe you made me wait—”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the airport. Harper’s picking me up. She should be here any minute.”

“Yeah. About that. Harper called and said she isn’t coming.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I told her not to.”

“Why would you—” I stop when I notice a white BMW convertible parked two cars down from where I’m standing.
 

“So you want a ride or what?” I turn around and Garret is right there in front of me, looking all California-like in his white polo shirt, navy shorts, sunglasses, and a golden-brown tan.

My heart explodes with happiness. If I were a cartoon, little pink and red hearts would be floating around my head right now. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to see someone. In fact I know I haven’t.
 

I go to hug him but he hugs me first, lifting me off the ground.
 

“Garret, how did you do this?”

“I’ll tell you later.” He sets me down and gives me a long, not-so-innocent kiss that is probably causing the people around us to stare. Who cares? They have no idea what we’ve been through.

“You need to move your car, sir.”
 

We stop kissing and notice a police officer pointing back at the car.
 

“Yeah, we were just leaving,” Garret says.

The guy shakes his head, annoyed. Garret just laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the car. He opens the door for me, then goes back for my luggage and puts it in the truck. When he gets in he asks, “Do you want to drive? It’s your car.”

“You go ahead. I have all summer to drive it.”

He takes off away from the airport.
 

“I can’t believe you’re really here! That you’re actually sitting here next to me.” I move my hand up and down Garret’s arm to make sure he’s real and this isn’t a dream.
 

“So it was a good surprise?” He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it.
 

“Are you kidding? It was the best surprise ever. You’ll never top that one.”

His cocky smile appears. “Oh, I think I can.”

I have no idea what that means, but I don’t bother asking.

“Is this really over? Their plan for you?”
 

“It’s over. And they already picked someone else.”

“Do you know who? I mean, not that you’d know the guy but—”

“I know him. And so do you.” He glances at me like I should know who he’s talking about, but I give him a blank stare. “Evan Cauldwell.”

“Evan.” I repeat it as I try to think of how I know that name. “Evan as in Sadie’s boyfriend? That guy from Yale?”

“Yeah, the one who was so rude to us that night of the fundraiser. I got a bad feeling from that guy as soon as we met him. I don’t know why they didn’t pick him originally. He’s a way better choice than me. I’m sure he’ll do whatever they ask without even thinking about it.”

“Is Sadie still dating him?”

“Yeah, and get this. Apparently she aspires to be first lady someday. One of the members told my dad that she actually volunteered to marry whichever guy they picked. I guess before he died, Royce told Sadie how the system works and she was all set to make herself part of it.”

“Is that why she wanted to get back together with you? Did she know about their plans for you before
you
even knew?”

“I can’t say for sure, but that’s what I’m guessing. After I talked to her that day you were in the car with me, she broke it off with Evan. And she just got back together with him after she found out he was taking my place.”

“Huh. My half sister’s going to be first lady someday.”

“That’s what it sounds like.” He opens a compartment in the dash of the car and pulls out some sunglasses. “Here. I got these for you.”

“Thanks!” I try them on and check out how they look in the visor mirror. “So why were you acting so weird on the phone the other night? Was someone listening in?”

“Probably not, but I didn’t want to take any chances. My dad always says to never trust the home phone. That’s why we hardly ever use it. But I didn’t have my cell phone and I had to talk to you.”

“Well, now that we can talk, tell me what happened at the meeting.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. We’re here in California. It’s a beautiful day. Let’s just enjoy it.”

“Okay.” I’m a little worried he doesn’t want to talk about it. Is he not telling me something? Is this group making him do something else now? He seems really happy so I decide to let it go. “Have you been to our place yet?”

“Yeah. I got here yesterday and scoped out the area. It’s a great condo. You’re going to love it.”

“You got here yesterday? Why didn’t you call me?”

“Because that would’ve ruined the surprise.” He reaches across the seat for my hand. “You still don’t understand the concept behind surprises, do you?”

I roll my eyes at him, smiling. “So the car was already here?”

“It got here Wednesday. I unloaded all your stuff but didn’t put it away. I figured you’d want to decide where to put everything.”

“Are we going there now?”

“I thought we’d stop at the beach first. You’re in California. You have to check out the beach.”

He turns onto a small road lined with strip malls that turns into a smaller road that eventually comes to a dead end. There’s a metal railing and just past it is a beach and beyond that, the ocean. I can see it from the car.
 

Garret parks next to the metal railing and comes around to let me out.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to park here,” I tell him.
 

“Don’t worry about it. We’re good.” He clicks the car remote, locking the doors.

“I have to go see it.” I run off toward the beach. Garret runs after me and scoops me up into his arms.
 

“Not yet,” he says and plants a kiss on my lips.
 

I love being in his arms again. And hearing his voice again. And feeling his lips again. I love everything about him.

“I can’t go to the beach?”
 

“I’m taking you to the beach. But I’m taking you to a different part of the beach. Over there.” He points to a giant black rock formation jutting out from the sand that has stairs so you can climb to the top. It’s so big it’s like a small hill.

“Why there?”

“It’s a lookout point. It has a great view of the ocean.” He sets me down. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

We run along the sand and climb to the top of the rock. There’s nobody up there, but near the edge of it there’s a blanket with a picnic basket on top.
 

“That looks just like the blanket we used in the woods.”

“Because it is.” He grabs my hand and leads me to it.