Page 17 of Finding Us

“Thanks.” I take Garret’s hand. “It’s only a few weeks away.”

“I’m sure you have people telling you you’re too young to get married, but just ignore them. Everyone’s different. Harper’s dad and I got married young and we’ve been happily married ever since.”

“Are you talking about me?” A man with blond hair, tan skin, and artsy, black-rimmed glasses walks up behind Kelly. He puts his arm around her and kisses her.

“I warned you guys about the two of them,” Harper says, referring to their public display of affection. She always tells me how her parents can’t take their hands off each other. “Jade, this is my dad. Dad, this is Jade.”

“Hi, Jade. Welcome to our home.” He smiles and extends his hand.

“Hi.” I shake his hand. “I like your movies.” It’s a dumb thing to say, but I’m kind of nervous being around him knowing he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest movie producers.

“Thank you.” He laughs a little. “But honestly, some of my movies aren’t that great. I’m the first to admit that, so it’s okay if you don’t like them. I won’t be offended.” He turns to Garret and shakes his hand. “Garret, I was just talking to your father last week. He invited us out to Connecticut in December for a holiday party and fundraiser. Will you be there?”

“Probably not. I think it’s the same week as finals.”

He nods. “Yes, I suppose it is, although it’s the week before Christmas so maybe your finals will wrap up early and you’ll be home by then.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Garret glances at me. He knows I don’t want to go back to his family’s house for winter break. Maybe we’ll go back for a few days around Christmas or New Year’s but I can’t spend a month at his house with Katherine.

“So how did you like the campus?” Kiefer asks us.

Garret answers. “It was great. I think it’ll be a good school for us. Thanks again for the recommendation. And for helping us get accepted so quickly.”

“Certainly. I was happy to help.”

I just realized that Harper’s dad hasn’t even said hello to Sean. He just keeps talking to Garret, like Sean’s not even there even though Sean’s standing right next to Garret.

Harper must notice this as well because she says, “Dad, you should see how good Sean’s gotten at surfing. Maybe you guys could surf together later.”

Kiefer finally turns to Sean. “Sure we could do that.” He looks at Garret again. “You surf, Garret?”

“Yeah. Sean and I go out almost every day.”

“Then the three of us should get out there this afternoon.”

Kelly puts her arm around him. “Honey, you don’t want to do that. You need to get ready for the party.”

He leans down and kisses her cheek. “We’ll just go for a couple hours. Us men don’t need much time to get ready. And this way we’ll be out of the way so you girls can do whatever you need to do.”

“Let’s at least show them to their rooms and feed everyone before you head out.”

Kelly gives us a tour of the house. It’s painted white, like Garret’s house, but the red Spanish tiles on the floor and the wood beams along the ceiling warm up the cold white walls. The furniture is very casual; warm wood tables and big, comfy couches and chairs. It’s not like the stiff, uncomfortable furniture at Garret’s house.

Kelly takes us upstairs to the rooms we’ll be staying in. I figured she’d put us all in separate rooms but she doesn’t. Sean is staying with Harper in her room and Garret and I are staying in a room just down the hall.

We drop our stuff off, then everyone meets up for lunch on the back patio, which overlooks the ocean and their private beach. Attached to the patio is a large oval-shaped pool with a waterfall.

Lunch consists of a bunch of salads and a bowl of chopped fruit. Now I get why Harper eats that way. But I hope they have more than salad at the party tonight or I’ll be starving until we get home.

After lunch the guys go surfing and Harper takes me to one of the upstairs bedrooms to shop for something to wear tonight. And when I say shop, I mean it. The entire bedroom is set up like a store. In the middle of the room there are eight racks of clothes with the tags still on. I walk past the racks and see shelves along the wall that hold folded jeans and t-shirts. Then I peek in the walk-in closet and see boxes of shoes neatly arranged in tall stacks.

“It’s just like being at the mall,” I say to Harper.

“I know, right? Every time I come home she’s got new stuff in here.”

“So this is all freebie stuff designers sent your sister?”

“Yeah, and this is nothing. Just wait until her movie comes out. She’ll get so much stuff it won’t even fit in here.” Harper holds up a bright pink dress. “What do you think of this one?”

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