Page 103 of Always Knew It Was You

It’s like observing the aftermath of a disaster, like coming out of a warzone but still hearing the blasts in the background. Okay, maybe that last comparison is a little dramatic, but it’s hard to get my heart to stop pumping from the leftover adrenaline, and it’s even harder to stop hearing the sounds of battle drowning out my screams for everyone to stop. None of them listened. Even though I screamed till my voice was hoarse for Micah to stop what he was doing, he didn’t care, smiling in rage as he continued to wreak havoc throughout the room.

I can’t believe that just happened. As I glance around the bar, taking in the broken chairs and the glass shards on the floor, along with the disturbed patrons who didn’t flee during the fight, devastation tightens my chest. I can’t help but think that somehow all of this was my fault. I did something bad that inadvertently led to this.

Even though I can’t pinpoint exactly what I did wrong, the guilt remains. I just can’t help being a screwup and I attract trouble everywhere I go and now that has brought all this to a head.

It’s what my mom used to tell me when I was younger, after all.

You’re bad luck, Carly.Her words echo in my ears.Ever since I had you, we haven’t had a moment of peace. You mess up everything around you and it’s because of you this family can never be happy.

She told me all those vile words when I was six years old and broke a plate. She’d already been annoyed that day at something my father did, and the broken plate just gave her an excuse to unleash her vitriol at me.

I told myself that she didn’t mean it and even if she meant it, it wasn’t true.

But after today, I might have to reconsider. Tears push the back of my eyelids, bathing me in waves of emotion.

“Carly?”

I jerk around to see Emma approaching me with a concerned look on her face. Her body guards stand back, though they’d leaped in to protect her during the fray.

“Are you okay?”

I nod and swallow my emotions, even as the guilt pushes past my control. “I’m so sorry, Emma,” I say and my voice still cracks a little despite my best efforts. “This is all my fault. I can’t believe this happened.”

Emma frowns and shakes her head. “Carly, it’s not your fault. Those assholes probably came in here looking to start trouble, and they did.”

“Yes, but Micah attacked them because of me, and that led to all this... obliteration.” I gesture around. “The chairs and the drinks… all of it wasted. Destroyed.” I’ve seen how hard Emma and her grandfather worked to keep this place running, especially through all those months where they barely had any customers and we were hemorrhaging money. Still, they kept the doors open and kept things going. They took care of their employees and they worked hard because of how much they love this place. The Tiki Bar is their pride and joy.

And because of me, some assholes just destroyed everything.

“It’s okay,” Emma says gently, moving to hug me, maybe because she can sense I need it. I hold her tightly, trying my hardest not to cry and not to keep babbling about how sorry I am. “It’s fine. Sure, I wish Micah would have controlled his temper and let Yule handle it and toss those assholes out. And I definitely wish Old Man Shoreton and his pals hadn’t gotten involved. But none of this is going to break us, alright? We have insurance, and even if we didn’t, I have that hot billionaire fiancée, you know?’

She winks at the quip and I manage a weak smile. “Still. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to take it out of my check.”

“Okay, now you’re talking nonsense and you’re going to piss me off.” Emma sighs. “Look, no one’s taking anything out of your check because none of this is your fault. And even if it was, I wouldn’t take money from you. And for you to tell me that means you’re not in the right state of mind right.”

I press my lips together and say nothing. If I do, I might cry.

Emma’s gaze gentles even more. “Look, you can go home for the rest of the night. Yule and I are probably going to clean up and then close. Maybe you should bail out Micah. Looks like he’s going to need it.”

I shake my head. I don’t want to see Micah right now. I’m still too angry at him, and also feel guilty because of that anger because I know he did this to defend me. I don’t want to hurt him.

At the same time, I’m not happy with how he acted, so I can’t stand in front of him and pretend to be okay with it right now.

But I don’t want to go home either, or even to Mrs. Peach’s right now. If I do, all I’m going to do is cry and torture myself with the thought of Micah sitting in a jail cell somewhere because of me.

Ugh, Emma’s right. My mind is a mess.

“I’ll help you clean up,” I tell Emma instead.

“You sure?” she asks and I nod.

We get to work and as we do, Yule returns from soothing the customers. I apologize to him too. Like Emma, he waves it off and tells me that it wasn’t my fault and somehow their easy acceptance only makes me feel worse.

And then to top it all off, Grandpa Crane walks in while we’re picking up the broken pieces from the floor and says, “I heard there was some kind of kerfuffle in here. What happened?”

“Nothing major, Grandpa,” Emma responds. “Just some asshole who was bugging Carly, and Micah defended her, but then it devolved into a whole bar fight.”

“Carly?’ Grandpa turns to me and something on my face makes his eyes melt in concern. “You doing okay, Lady Fishy?’

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