Page 57 of Always Knew It Was You

Ah, shit. I forgot to warn her that my grandfather was also staunchly anti-homeless.

She meets my eyes, and I send her a silent plea.Come on, Carly, just this once ignore it. Be cool.

She takes a deep breath and smiles, but it’s tight. “Yes, well. I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

Mark harrumphs in response. “So what do you do Carly?”

“I’m in college. Currently studying accounting.”

“That’s a good career. Do you plan on working after you get married?”

Aha. This was a question I coached her extensively on. And she answers it perfectly.

“It would depend. I do like to stay busy, but in my experience, kids are best raised by stay-at-home mothers. Of course, I could always help my husband’s business, but raising a family is what comes first.”

My grandfather offers her a smile and I nearly crow in victory.Nailed it.

“You seem to understand the importance of the family unit. Many young women don’t.”

“Yes,” Carly says with a forlorn look that plays up her background. “In my opinion, family is everything.”

Oh, that was gold, Carly. Way to go.

My grandfather seems to buy it nodding, sagely. “I’m glad you think so. Which is why you should know something about Micah’s family before you decide to continue. You should know that he has tainted blood.”

I freeze. I throw my grandfather a horrified look.

He wouldn’t.

Oh, God, please tell me he wouldn’t.

But Mark seems to be testing both of us, and Carly throws me a surprised look as he drops a bomb on us. “Did Micah not tell you that he was adopted?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CARLY

The announcement stuns me silent.

It’s all I can do to keep from gaping like a fish, but I restrain the urge because Micah already warned me that his grandfather finds over-expressiveness to be uncouth and unladylike.

Something tells me this man finds a lot of normal behavior uncouth and unladylike but that’s beside the point.

I’m supposed to be on my best behavior here.

But the reveal nearly breaks my decorum.

Especially when I see Micah’s expression and it feels like something reaches into my chest and squeezes.

He looks like someone slapped him across the face.

He’s full-on gaping incredulously at his grandfather, in a way that suggests he never expected the older man to share that piece of information. His eyes are shocked and hurt. He even makes a choking sound.

And Mark Landing regards him with a stern glittery gaze that seems almost like a dare. As if to say, “Yes, I said it. And what are you going to do about it?”

Suddenly I’m filled with outrage.

I know all about parents picking on their children and poking at their insecurities to amuse themselves. My mother used to do it all the time. Every time she wanted to establish some power over me or simply use me as an emotional punching bag for whatever slight she’d received, she would come to my room and start provoking me with insults. Fatso. Ugly. Those were the usual culprits, juvenile but effective.

---