Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,43
needed the facts here, and I was already well-acquainted with their disdain for me as just another piece in their never-ending war.
Well, I supposed it was over now. At least for them.
“That said, when Junior showed up at my office in a panic, I sat him down as I would you and got him to tell me what was happening. In my day, if you got a girl in trouble, you did right by her. Don’t hold your nana accountable for what comes next, because ultimately, I’m the one who laid down the law. Maddy and Junior may have been crazy about each other, but they were also hell on each other. They encouraged and brought out the absolute worst in each other. That wild impulsiveness is why we insisted they finish their schooling before they got married, and frankly, neither one could stay true to the other. They kept finding ways to hurt each other more, and I was tired of Junior being hurt by that girl. Her parents are good friends, but she’s always been…all about herself.”
He downed the last of his bourbon and shook his head.
“So you basically told them if he didn’t marry Muriel, you’d cut him off?”
“Yes.” He grimaced as he stared into the empty glass. “As much as I wanted to fix things for them and I wanted you, if he’d truly fought me and fought for Maddy, then I might have relented.”
Holy shit.
I flopped back in the chair. “It was a test.”
Grandpa tested people. He always had. He liked to know what their character was made of. He’d done it to Frankie at our dinner, and she’d rallied to my defense so swiftly and with such fire, Grandpa had liked her immediately.
“He failed.”
Another nod from Grandpa. “So, I dictated the terms of the prenuptial. If he could blow so hot and so cold about a woman he loved so much, I needed to make sure he secured the home he was bringing his child into. Strong arming? Yes. But I thought, given time and forced proximity, your parents would find a way to love each other. Arranged marriages used to happen all the time, just because you don’t love each other in the beginning doesn’t mean you won’t in the end.”
Nice thought. Definitely didn’t work out.
“You could have let them drop the prenuptial when it wasn’t working out.” Only a blind man wouldn’t have seen how unhappy they were. Then again, it might have been screamingly obvious to one too.
“He never asked, Sprout. And to be fair, after your nana died, I didn’t much think about it. I kept my eye on you. That was enough. We tried to have you with us as much as possible when it became clear they weren’t just a terrible couple but failing at being parents.” He frowned again. “I tried to talk to Junior about that once, but…your father and I don’t get along much.”
Understatement of the year.
I waited for our appetizers to be taken away and our dinners to arrive before I hit the next segment. “You knew who Frankie’s mother was the moment you met her.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, I did, and that was the other reason I tested her that night.” He grimaced. “If she was at all like her mother…I couldn’t risk having her in your life. Not after everything with Maddy and Junior.”
“She’s not.”
“No, Sprout. She isn’t. I figured that out in five minutes. And I know you’re crazy about her. I wish…I wish I’d gotten your call sooner. I could have told you she wasn’t Junior’s.”
“Wait…” I frowned, hesitating before cutting into my meat. “How would you—of course. As soon as Maddy got pregnant.”
Grandpa nodded. “Patience and Gene were beside themselves. Junior was already married to your mother, and Maddy wouldn’t tell them who the father was. They had a huge fight, but she wouldn’t budge on it and then she shocked everyone by walking away. Gene threatened to disinherit her, and she left. Packed a bag, took her car, and moved out.” He looked thoughtful. “It was your nana who tracked her down first. She always was good with reading people. Maddy had taken an apartment not far from the school. She had only a semester left, so she was trying to finish it up. She befriended, helped pay for things, and kept her close until she was ready to move, and then when she went to California, we kept tabs on her until the baby was born.”