Page 31 of Finding Us

Holton doesn’t shake Garret’s hand but instead looks him up and down like he’s disgusted with him. It causes a bolt of pain to rip through my chest. I know how much Garret wants his grandfather’s approval. I don’t know why that’s so important to him, but it is and his grandfather knows that. Holton knows exactly what he’s doing and I hate that he’s purposely trying to hurt Garret. He may not approve of Garret marrying me, but that’s not an excuse to act this way to his own grandson.

Garret slowly puts his arm down. This is so uncomfortable. And whenever I’m this uncomfortable I say or do stupid things which usually only makes it worse.

“Hi, Mr. Kensington,” I say, breaking the silence. I offer my own hand and as expected, it only makes things worse.

Holton barely glances at me before turning and storming back into the house, leaving the sliding glass door open.

Garret stands there, looking just as shocked as I am that Holton just walked off like that. Seconds later, Garret wakes from his shock and heads toward the door. “Grandfather! You can’t treat her that—”

“Garret.” Pearce gets a firm grip on Garret’s arm, stopping him.

Garret turns to his dad and nods. Then he comes back over and stands next to me.

Eleanor still hasn’t said a word. She closes the sliding glass door, then comes over and offers her hand to me. “It’s nice to see you, Jade.”

“Nice to see you, too.” I shake her hand, still in shock over the scene I just witnessed.

“Garret.” She waits for him to approach her, then gives him the same distant hug she gave Pearce.

“Hello, Grandmother.” He tries to smile but it’s strained as his eyes search through the glass patio door trying to see where Holton went.

Eleanor looks over at Pearce and he looks at her. They seem to have some kind of secret message going between them. Then Eleanor looks at Garret like she wants to reach out and give him a real hug but can’t. Like she’s not allowed to or something. It’s very weird.

“Are you enjoying your summer, Garret?” Eleanor talks in this formal tone that reminds me of the way people talk in old black-and-white movies.

“Yes.” Garret finally directs his gaze away from the door and back to his grandmother. “Jade and I really like California.”

“Good.” Eleanor’s lips turn up just slightly. “Well, I’m going to see what Lilly is up to.” She takes off toward the grassy area behind the pool where Lilly is twirling around with her princess wand.

That’s it? She hasn’t seen Garret for months and that’s all she has to say to him? She could at least talk to him for a few minutes. Act like she’s happy to see him. What is wrong with these people?

Garret watches her leave. Pearce notices his disappointment and puts his hand on Garret’s shoulder. “The fireworks will be starting soon. Why don’t you and Jade go find a place to watch them?” His face brightens, as if he’s trying to pretend the scene with his parents never happened.

“Yeah, okay.” Garret plays along, his serious expression gone. “Come on, Jade. Let’s go look out back.”

Pearce turns to leave, then says, “Oh, Charles picked up some bug spray when he was at the store earlier. He has it inside if you need it.”

“We could probably use that,” I say to Garret. “I’ll go get it. I’ll be right back.”

I walk quickly through the house, hoping I don’t run into Holton. I still can’t believe he stormed off like that. I wonder if he’ll hide in the house for the rest of the night. Or maybe he’ll just leave.

This really sucks. I feel like everyone would get along if I weren’t here.

When I get to the kitchen, I see Charles arranging the firecracker cookies on a large platter. “Hi, Jade. You need anything?”

“I was looking for the bug spray.”

“It’s in the closet.” He walks down a short hallway to the closet by the back door and pulls out two spray bottles. “I meant to bring these out earlier but I got busy cooking and forgot.”

He hands me the bottles and we walk back in the kitchen.

“Everything all right out there?” Charles asks.

“Um, yeah, it’s fine.”

He smiles, knowingly. “They can be a little intense. Believe me, I know.”

I love Charles. He always knows what to say. It’s like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. I feel like we have this special bond as the two outsiders in this crazy, drama-filled house.

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