Page 158 of Finding Us

“I guess. Why?” I keep walking, taking her with me, our hands still attached.

“That’s so annoying. You go to the gym for an hour and make friends with the most popular guy at our school.”

“We’re not friends. I don’t even know him. And why is that annoying?”

“Because making friends is so easy for you. Can you give me lessons or something?”

“You don’t need lessons.” I open the car door for her. “You’ll make friends.”

We go to the store and then home. Harper calls Jade just as we pull in the driveway. I send Jade inside, telling her I’ll carry the groceries in.

As I’m getting the bags from the trunk, I see a white car driving slowly by the house. It’s an older model Toyota Camry with a dent in the front end. I noticed it parked on our street yesterday.

I take the groceries into the house and when I come out again, I see the car turning around at the end of the street. It looks like a guy’s driving it. He drives back, going even slower than before.

Something doesn’t feel right. Why is he going so slow?

As he approaches my driveway, I get a better look inside the car. The guy has dark hair and is wearing sunglasses and a black t-shirt. He looks like he’s in his late twenties.

He turns his head and notices me watching him. He guns the engine and takes off down the street.

“Hey! Wait!” I run to the end of the driveway. I try to get a license plate number but he’s too far away.

What the hell was that about? Why did he speed off like that when he saw me? Is he casing the place, planning to rob us? Or is it something else? My chest tightens and I inhale some deep breaths to loosen it up again.

I can’t be this way. I can’t live in a constant state of fear of what might happen. It’s just a car driving down the street. The guy was probably just looking for an address.

But my gut tells me it’s more than that.

CHAPTERFORTY-ONE

JADE

“So you just got back?” I ask Harper as I plop down on the couch. She and Sean were in New Hampshire visiting Sean’s parents.

“Yeah. I’m doing laundry at Sean’s place. We’re going out to dinner in a few minutes. Is Garret around? Sean wanted to talk to him.”

“He’s bringing groceries in from the car,” I tell her as I watch him go back outside. “I still can’t believe you spent all that time on a dairy farm.”

They were only supposed to stay for a week but they were having such a good time they ended up staying for two.

“I loved it. It was quiet and relaxing. So different than LA. Did you show Garret the photos I sent? The ones from our hiking trip?”

“Yeah, and now he wants to take me hiking there.”

“You should totally do it. It’s really beautiful.”

“So what’d you do yesterday? Anything fun?”

“I went to a movie with Sean’s mom and then we went out for coffee. The guys stayed home and did stuff around the farm. I already miss Sean’s mom. We got along great.”

“My mom loves her.” Sean takes Harper’s phone. “She’s making the wedding invitations as we speak.”

“She is not.” Harper’s laughing in the background.

“Is Garret out surfing?” Sean asks.

“No, he hasn’t surfed since we got here. We’ve been busy moving in and getting settled before his dad gets here tomorrow.”

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