Page 40 of Finding Us

“Theycouldbe. Maybe someday.”

She shakes her head but she’s smiling, like the idea of marrying Sean makes her happy, which I know it does. She just won’t admit it. “We’re probably going to see them around the middle of August. We talked about it while you guys were gone. Sean wants to stay there for a week so we have time to—” She stops and looks off to the side like she’s thinking.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just realized that we’ll miss Garret’s birthday if we go that week. I’ll ask Sean to talk to his parents. Maybe we could go later.”

“Harper, it’s fine. Just go. We’ll have an early party for him. We’ll do it the week before.”

“Are you sure?”

“Totally sure. You know I’m making him dinner, right? Trust me, you don’t want to witness that. It may not even be edible. I’m already trying to come up with a back-up meal in case it doesn’t turn out.”

“It’ll turn out. You have the best cooking instructor.”

“Yeah, Sean’s been great. You have to tell me where he likes to buy his cooking supplies. I want to get him a gift card to thank him. So what are you guys going to do at his parents’ house?”

“We’re not sure yet.”

Sean’s parents live in New Hampshire on a dairy farm. I can’t imagine Harper hanging out at a dairy farm all week. They’ll have to find stuff to do around town or take some day trips to the mountains. They both like to go hiking.

“Jade.” I hear Garret calling me from the bottom of the stairs.

“What?” I call back.

“Sean and I are going surfing. We’ll see you guys later.”

I go out in the hall and stand at the top of the stairs. “We just got home. We haven’t even unpacked.”

“Yeah, I’ll do it later.”

“But it’s almost dinner time. Don’t you want to eat?”

“We’ll only be out for an hour or so. We’ll just order something for dinner so we don’t have to cook.”

I run down the stairs. “You two are crazy. I swear you’re addicted to surfing. But have fun.”

“See ya soon. Love you.” He kisses me, then takes off out the front door. Sean’s already left. I love seeing Garret with a real friend. He’s so happy. Way happier than when I first met him.

“Did they take off?” Harper yells from the bedroom.

“Yeah. They’re gone.” I meet her back in her room. “I bet they stay out there for more than an hour. I can’t wait that long for dinner. I have to eat something.”

She hops off the bed. “Let’s grab a snack and go out on the deck.”

We go downstairs to the kitchen. She gets a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa while I take some sodas from the fridge. We bring them outside to the table. I look out and see the guys already way out in the water.

“I was only gone a few days but I missed being on the ocean,” I say, taking a chip.

“Yeah, I’m going to miss this when I go back to Moorhurst.” Harper pulls her hair back and secures it with an elastic from around her wrist.

“Maybe you should stay here in California.”

She gives me a funny look. “What are you talking about? I can’t do that.”

“Why not? You don’t like Moorhurst that well.”

“It’s not that bad. And I get to be on the tennis team. Plus Sean’s in Connecticut. I can’t move.”

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