“But he went to school with Garret. And he seemed to know you.”
“Did he say how he knew me?”
“No. We didn’t talk long. Where’s your car? I’m parked on the side street.”
“I am, too. Are you heading home?”
“Yeah, I’m done with work. I have to get Caleb at day care. Come on.” She motions me to follow her. “Walk with me. I can’t be late to day care or they’ll charge me for another hour.”
I take a few steps to catch up with her. “So are you ready to meet the family?”
She rolls her eyes and smiles. “It’s not like that, Jade. He’s not taking me there to meet his family. We’re just going for Thanksgiving dinner.”
“He wouldn’t take you there unless he wanted you to meet them. He really likes you, Sara. Stop acting like he doesn’t.”
“I just don’t want to get my hopes up. I already like him more than I should, which means it’s going to suck when he dumps me.”
“Why do you think he’s going to dump you?”
“Because he doesn’t want an instant family.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“No. But I’m sure he’s thinking it. No guy his age wants that.”
“Sara, if he felt that way he wouldn’t be dating you. And he always tells you to bring Caleb when you guys go out.”
“Because he knows I can’t afford a sitter.”
“Yeah, but he also knows Garret and I would watch Caleb for free, so that’s not the reason. He likes Caleb. And he likes you. A lot.”
She smiles. “Okay, maybe he does. But I’m still not getting my hopes up.” She looks over at the street as a limo goes by. “What’s a limo doing here?”
“I don’t know.”
The limo is going really slow and almost stops as it approaches us, but then drives off. The windows were so dark, I couldn’t see inside.
We turn and go up the side street toward our cars.
Sara gets her keys out. “The only time I see limos here is during prom season, and even then, it’s rare.”
“Maybe a celebrity’s passing through town. I bet it’s one of the parents of someone who goes to Camsburg. A lot of them have celebrity parents.”
“Yeah, it’s probably some famous actress visiting her kid. Wouldn’t that be weird to be related to someone who’s in the movies or on TV all the time?”
“Yeah, it would.”
Sara doesn’t know Garret was on a reality show. Well, he wasn’t really on it, but she doesn’t know about his involvement with the show. She doesn’t have cable and she never watches TV.
“Hey, there it is again.” Sara points back to the street we were just on. The limo is driving by, the other direction this time. “They must be lost.” We’re at her car now and she stops to give me a hug. “Have a great Thanksgiving.”
“You, too. Tell Alex I said hi and give Caleb a hug for me.”
“I will. Call me when you get back.” She gets in her car and drives off as I walk farther up the hill to my car.
I open the door, but before I get in I look back at the street. I’m getting a strange feeling about that limo. People in the organization often drive around in limos. And that limo slowed way down when it approached Sara and me. Why would it slow down?
Dammit. Why am I even thinking about this? I told myself I was not going to think about the organization, because if I do, it’ll ruin my Thanksgiving. That whole thing with Brook trying to fix Garret’s image got me thinking about last spring and what the organization did to us. I’ve been trying to get it out of my head but then I’m reminded of it again when I think about Sean and Harper.
I don’t want to think about any of that this week. I just want to enjoy the holiday. I want to set aside all the bad things that are going on and focus only on the good. Because I have so many good things in my life right now. My classes are going great. My counseling sessions are going well. Garret and I are closer than ever. And in a few days, I’m going to have an awesome Thanksgiving.
As I drive home, I think about what a difference a year makes. Last Thanksgiving, when I was at Garret’s house, I told him it would never work between us. I loved him so much, even back then, and it scared me. I knew it would hurt really bad when things ended between us, so I just wanted to get it over with. I wanted to end things before I loved Garret even more. Because I was sure our relationship would end. I was convinced people would always be trying to tear us apart. And they tried, but they didn’t succeed.
That’s another reason why I need stop worrying so much and just be happy. And thankful. Thankful that Garret and I are finally together and married and no one can tear us apart.