Page 114 of Finding Us

“Sure, we’ll be ready.” I wait for her to leave, then give Garret a kiss, on the lips this time. “So what did you do all day?”

“Hit some golf balls, had lunch, rented a bike for an hour, then went to a movie. Sorry I didn’t stay out longer but I was running out of things to do.” He kisses me. “And I missed my wife.”

“You love saying that, don’t you?”

“Calling you my wife? Yeah, I do.” He kisses me again. “Let’s go inside. I need to shower and shave before we go out tonight.”

The restaurant Grace takes us to has the best Italian food I’ve ever had. We linger there for a couple hours and just sit and talk. Then we go for dessert at a little ice cream shop downtown.

On Sunday we spend most of the day cleaning. Grace won’t be coming back here after she goes to Victoria’s house next week. She’s moving back to her house in the Hamptons so she wanted to get some things done here before she left. I had to practically beg her to let Garret and me help since she kept saying that guests shouldn’t be put to work.

After finally convincing her, she gives us each some simple tasks. I help her clean out the pantry and refrigerator while Garret washes off the patio furniture and stores it in a shed she has out back. She could easily hire people to do this but she said she likes to do these things herself. She said it makes her feel like she’s putting the house to sleep until she returns, which probably won’t be for months. She uses this house as a vacation home, only staying here a few weeks out of the year.

At night, we go out for dinner again, this time to a seafood restaurant that overlooks the ocean. I don’t like seafood but the place also has steaks and other stuff on the menu.

All through dinner Grace watches Garret and me. She’s been watching him all day, smiling whenever she saw him open a door for me or help me with something.

As we’re finishing dessert, she looks at Garret and says, “Your mother would be very proud of the man you’ve become.”

“Thank you.” He pauses, then says, “Did you know my mother?”

“I didn’t know her well, but I knew her. I met your parents years ago at a dinner party Royce hosted.” She smiles. “I met you, too, that night. Your parents brought you with because Victoria had hired a sitter to watch all the children for the evening. You were maybe two at the time.”

“What was he like at that age?” I ask.

“He was a darling little boy. And very sweet. I remember the sitter coming out to get his mother during dinner because Garret was trying to hug all the little girls and some of them didn’t like it.”

I turn to Garret, laughing. “You’ve been using that hug trick to get girls since you were two?”

He shrugs. “Apparently.”

Grace continues. “Anyway, I didn’t see your mother again until years later. She and I were on a committee together for a charity that raises money for leukemia research. A lot of our meetings were held in Manhattan and sometimes after the meetings several of us, including your mother, would go out for coffee or grab a bite to eat somewhere.”

“My dad never mentioned that.”

“Maybe he didn’t know.” She smiles. “Us girls don’t always tell our husbands what we’re up to during the day. Just like you men don’t telluseverything.” She winks at me.

“Was that the only charity she was involved in?” Garret asks.

“You’d have to ask your father about that. I really only knew your mother as an acquaintance, mainly because of the committee we were on together. That charity was close to her heart so she was very involved in it.”

“Why was it so important to her?”

“Because of her sister.”

“She had a sister?”

“She had a twin sister who died of leukemia when she was six.” Grace picks up her purse from the empty chair beside her.

“I never knew that.”

“It was difficult for her to talk about. Maybe she didn’t want to tell you until you were older.” Grace sifts through her wallet, taking out some bills and putting them on the tray that holds the check. The waiter walks by and she hands it to him. “This is all set.”

The waiter nods, “Thank you. Have a nice evening.”

“Shall we go?” Grace scoots her chair back.

Garret’s gazing down at the table.

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