Page 246 of Finding Us

“Hey, Harper. I tried calling you earlier but you must’ve been in class.”

“No, I met Sean for lunch and forgot my phone.”

“How’s Sean doing?” I haven’t asked her about Sean for a few weeks so I figure now’s a good time to get a status update on their relationship.

“He’s good. He hates his job, though. His boss is a total jerk. Sean made some special seafood dish the other day and this food critic came in the restaurant and ordered it and loved it and Sean’s boss wouldn’t even give him credit. He told the food critic that the head chef made it instead of Sean.”

“He needs to find a different job.”

“I know. I tell him that all the time but he still stays there.”

“Has he looked for other jobs?” Maybe I shouldn’t ask these questions, but this is getting ridiculous. Sean shouldn’t be suffering at that stupid job when he has this great opportunity waiting for him in California.

“There aren’t any other good restaurant jobs around here. There’s just fast food and diners. And he’s too talented to work at some crappy diner.”

“Maybe he should look in a different town.”

“Yeah, I told him he should try to get a job at one of the fancy restaurants in Manhattan. But he doesn’t want the long commute and I don’t blame him. It’d be over an hour each way.”

“What if he moved there?”

“He can’t afford to live in the city. It costs way too much.”

“But if he could, would you be mad if he moved?”

“Of course not. This is his career. It’s important. He needs to be in a job that has a future. Or a job that will teach him what he needs to know to open his own restaurant someday.”

“If he moved, you wouldn’t see each other as much. Wouldn’t that bother you?”

“Yeah, it would suck. But I love him and I want him to be happy. And right now, he’s not. He pretends he’s okay working at that place, but I know he hates it. I can tell.”

“Aside from the job, how are things going? I mean, how are you and Sean? Are you still unsure about him?”

“I’m not unsure.” Her voice changes to a happier tone.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I love him.” She says it all slow and dreamy.

I laugh. “I know you love him, but last summer you said you weren’t sure if you could see a future with him.”

“Yeah, but then I thought about it and I realized that it’s myparentsthat can’t see us together in the future. Not me. Last summer, I was so focused on makingthemhappy that I wasn’t able to letmyselfbe happy. It’s like I had this wall up before and I wouldn’t let Sean get past it until my parents approved of him. Well, mostly my dad. I really wanted my dad’s approval. Then I realized that it’s not going to happen so I need to stop worrying about him and my mom and just be happy. And once I decided that, everything changed. Sean and I are so much closer now.”

“So you love him the way I love Garret?”

She laughs. “I don’t think anyone has that type of love. You and Garret have that one-in-a-million type of love that nobody believes exists until you actually see it in front of you. I don’t know what kind of love Sean and I have. I just know that I really love him and I’ve never felt this way about anyone else.”

“Harper, this is big news. Why haven’t you told me this?”

“Because you wouldn’t talk to me for weeks. Every time I called, you said you had to study.”

“I know, and I’m sorry about that. I dropped my organic chem class so things are getting better now.”

“Good, because I was really starting to worry about you.”

“So have you and Sean talked about the future at all?”

“Not really. I’m not sure if I’m ready to. I like just being where we are right now. I’m not ready to get married and I’m sure he’s not either.”

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