Page 83 of Finding Us

When the song ends, Ryan takes my hand and leads me back to Garret who’s standing at the side of the room.

“You better take good care of her,” Ryan says to him. “If I hear otherwise, I’ll be on the first plane out here.”

Garret nods. “Understood.”

“I have to get Dad back to the hotel,” Ryan says to me. “It’s been a long day and he’s tired.”

“You guys will be over tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, probably early afternoon.”

I give him a hug and then Garret and I go over and tell Frank goodbye.

As we’re walking back to the dance floor, Pearce stops us. “Could I have a dance?” he asks me.

I’m surprised he wants to dance with me, but then again, hehaschanged. I can’t imagine the old Pearce asking me to dance.

“Yes, of course.” I look at Garret, who’s smiling as his dad takes me away. I don’t think Garret’s stopped smiling this entire day.

“Welcome to the family, Jade.” When Pearce says it, I instantly remember when he said those same words to me just months ago, right after I saw him shoot Royce Sinclair. It’s different this time. It doesn’t sound as scary as when he said it then, but still, it freaks me out a little.

“Thank you, Mr. Kensington.”

He laughs. “Jade, for the last time, you need to stop calling me that. You married my son today. You’re my daughter-in-law. You need to call me Pearce.”

“I know. It just doesn’t seem right for some reason.”

“Why is that?”

“I guess because you’re really important and it kind of seems weird to call you by your first name.”

“I’m not any more important than anyone else. I just have money. That doesn’t mean anything.”

That may be true but he still intimidates me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s his money. Or his power. Or his sheer size. He’s so big I feel like a child next to him. I have to really reach to get my hands on his shoulders as we dance. He has big shoulders, like Garret, and they seem to be all muscle. If he wasn’t a rich businessman he could get a job as a bodyguard.

“It’s getting warm in here,” Pearce says as the song ends. “Do you mind if we step out in the breeze for a moment?”

“Okay.” I follow him out to the chairs that are still set up on the beach. As I sit down, he flips one of the chairs around and sits so that we’re facing each other.

“Jade, I just wanted to say that you’ve been a wonderful influence on Garret. I’m glad you two found each other and ended up together like this. I know I made things difficult for the two of you this past year, but I think you understand my reasons for that. It certainly wasn’t because I didn’t like you or didn’t think you were good enough for my son.” He pauses. “Anyway, I truly am sorry for my behavior.”

I nod and smile, not sure what to say.

“Garret will be a good husband to you, Jade. And he’ll make a good father. I know he looks like me, but he’s actually very much like his mother. Generous. Caring. And he somehow always manages to stay positive. His mother was the same way. I wish she could’ve been here today. She would’ve loved seeing her son get married.”

“I wish she could’ve been here, too. I know Garret really misses her. He tells me about her sometimes.”

Pearce seems surprised. “I didn’t think he ever talked about her. What did he tell you?”

“He said she laughed a lot and liked to give hugs. And that she grew flowers. He took me to your old house and showed me where she planted them. And he showed me the tree that he—”

“Fell out of and broke his arm. Twice.” Pearce shakes his head, smiling. “He was always climbing that damn tree. I should’ve built him a treehouse. He would’ve lived up there.” Pearce gazes down at the sand. “Seems like a whole different life back then.”

I feel like I should leave Pearce alone with his thoughts. I glance back at the dance floor. “I should probably get back there.”

His head jerks up. “Yes. Go ahead. I think I’ll stay out here a couple more minutes. When you see Lilly, tell her we need to leave soon.”

“Okay, I will.” I stand up.

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