Page 168 of Finding Us

“I think it’s a good idea, actually.”

“You do?” Jade sets her donut down. “What about Katherine?”

“She’s been gone a lot lately. Garret probably told you that she’s seeing someone.”

“Yeah. I heard.”

“Lately she’s made more time for him than she has for Lilly, which has left me taking care of her. And I’m happy to do so, but I also have to deal with work and it’s been difficult to watch Lilly and get my work done. It would be great to find a sitter we could trust. And I definitely trust Harper.”

“But Katherine won’t. She’s never met Harper.”

“She knows the Douglas family. They’ve been to our house several times. And Katherine’s been on charity committees with Kelly. I’m sure she’d be okay with Harper watching Lilly, as long as they stayed at the house and didn’t go anywhere.”

“Harper’s going to be so excited. Can I tell her or do you need to talk to Katherine first?”

“Let me talk to Katherine, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.” He stands up. “I should be going.”

Jade and I walk out to the driveway with him. He gives Jade a hug. “Goodbye, Jade. Good luck at school. I’m sure you’ll excel as you always do.”

“Bye. Thanks for coming.”

He gives me a hug next. This hug thing is all new for us. My mom was a hugger but my dad isn’t, so it’s still a little awkward.

“I love you, son.” It’s another new thing he does that feels awkward. But it’s good.

“Love you, too.”

“Dr. Cunningham will be in touch with you in the next day or so. I called him last night. And I’ll call about the other thing before I get on the plane.”

Jade looks at me, confused about what he meant by ‘the other thing.’ I sigh, because now I have more stuff to tell her that I know she’s not going to like.

CHAPTERFORTY-THREE

JADE

“What did your dad mean by ‘other things’? What was he talking about?”

Garret and I walk back inside and sit on the couch.

“He’s installing a security system for us.”

“Why do we need one?”

“Because once word gets out that we’re Kensingtons, we’ll be a target for criminals. They’ll think our house is full of expensive shit, like jewelry and electronics. So my dad’s setting up cameras and an alarm system.”

“You really think someone might try to rob us?”

“The other day I saw a guy driving by our place. He was going really slow and when he saw me watching him, he drove off. It seemed suspicious.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I wasn’t sure what he was doing. I thought maybe he was just looking for an address, so I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you. But Jade, you’ve gotta be more careful. You need to stop running by yourself and you need to always lock the doors and windows when we’re gone and whenever you’re alone here. I know you like the windows open but keep them closed unless I’m home with you.”

“You didn’t tell me to do that last summer.”

“Because you had Sean and Harper next door. Someone was always around. Now we’re alone out here. Most of our neighbors are gone, so we’re basically by ourselves. You know, now that I think about it, this seems like a bad place to live. Maybe we should move to an apartment where there are more people around.”

“I’ll just keep everything locked, like you said.”

---