Page 24 of Legacy

Jesse clears his throat, and I realize I’m staring at him again.

What is it about this man?

“Margaret seemed better today.” He glances at the hallway that leads to her bedroom.

I nod. “She said the new medications are helping with the pain.”

“That’s good.” He rests his elbows on his thighs. “Have you updated your mom?”

“My mom?” My eyebrows pinch.

“You said she was the one who told you Margaret wasn’t doing well. I guess I figured she’d be wondering.”

“Oh, right…” I fumble with my book. “I texted her yesterday.”

“You two aren’t close?”

“She’s a difficult woman to be close with, even after…” I trail off, realizing that there’s no way Jesse cares about my complicated history with my family when he’s probably just being nice making conversation.

“Even after what?” he pushes, surprising me by sounding genuinely curious.

I wet my lips. “Even after my dad died.”

“Let me guess.” He leans back. “You weren’t close with him either?”

The answer is so much more complicated than that, and I don’t know how to put words to it when no one has ever really cared to ask.

“Not exactly. My parents were just difficult to please.”

“Parents have a way of being like that.”

“Tell me about it.” I sigh. “But for the record, you seem nothing like that with Bea.”

“Is that a compliment, Reagan Brady?” He grins, and it’s blinding.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.”

I swear this man is as disarming when he’s charming as he is when he’s insufferable.

Jesse leans forward, watching me. “What was your dad like?”

“Stubborn. Difficult.” I brush my hands on my thighs when this conversation has my palms sweating. “He was respected in his field, and that came with certain expectations. He was very clear on how he wanted us to present ourselves.”

“How so?” Jesse hitches an eyebrow.

“You’ll think it’s ridiculous.”

“Try me.”

I bite my lower lip, debating why I’m even continuing this conversation. But we’ve already come this far.

“Like…” I swallow hard. “He wanted us to be just like our mother. Pretty, without being overly obvious about it. Curvy while still being palatable to men. He drilled it into her, and she drilled it into us. Bleaching our blonde hair blonder, monitoring our diets, parading us at his business functions. I got really good at wearing the mask, especially after Livie started rebelling and pissing them off. One of us had to keep the family together.”

“And that fell on you?”

“Apparently.” I shrug. “I was the only person who could seem to bridge the gap between her and them, so it was easier to shoulder that responsibility than let them fight all the time. But then dad died—” I shake my head. “You’d think with him gone, Mom would loosen up, but I think it only made her worse. She became so obsessed with keeping up the pretenses he set that she disconnected entirely. She drowned herself in work, and then it really was just me and Livie.”

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