Page 46 of Upshot

“It’s fine. My father is the president of the company. He deals mostly with investments. My mother is involved in various charities and sits on the board of one of the hospitals. She was a pediatrician years ago before I was born. My sister, Geneva, does all of our marketing research and planning. She’s a year younger than I am.”

Everyone’s gaze swings from Rand back to Dad. We’re like spectators at a tennis match.

“And yourself?” Dad continues. I try glaring at him, but he just ignores me. Rand squeezes my knee again.

“I was born in San Francisco where I attended school until I was sent to boarding school in Connecticut in seventh grade—”

“Your family was in California, but you were sent to school in Connecticut?” Mom asks, interrupting him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Did your sister go there too?”

“No, she went to a girl’s school in California.” She frowns like I’ve seen her do when something doesn’t make sense. “Anyway, I went to Stanford. Then back east for my MBA. I got my real estate license and went to work for my father.”

The table grows silent for a beat before Reed pipes up. “Can she go with him to the prom now?” Everyone laughs, including Dad. “You know, Patrick. I’ve been at Rand’s new house almost every evening. I haven’t seen anything yet that makes me believe he’s going to hack Brontë into small bits and pour her in cement while they’re gone.”

Reed winks at me. I always had a crush on him growing up. Sadly, he always had eyes for my sister.

“Do you plan on selling the house when it’s done?” Austen asks. Why can’t she just let it die? I can almost see Dad’s ears perk up.

“No. I plan on living in it,” Rand replies.

“And are you in favor of sending our grandchild to boarding school?” Mom slides in.

I see one of Rand’s eyebrows shoot up toward his hairline. The same question has been weighing on me also. I don’t think I could bear it.

“No, ma’am. I would never want to send a child that far from his grandparents.”

Good answer. Mom pats him on the arm.

“Besides, I’m sure the Texas schools are just as good.”

“I don’t know about that. I mean, look what Dansboro Crossing turned out,” Reed says with a grin.

“Hey!” Austen whacks him. Chaos breaks out at the table as everyone starts comparing schools.

I take the chance to glance at Rand. He must be appalled at the way my family acts. My family isn’t loud, but we like to tease each other. Reed is used to it. He grew up putting up with it. Rand, however, came from a higher class. One of wealth and privilege. I wonder if he’s reconsidering hanging around? If he’s thinking about pulling a runner?

* * *

RAND

I could not have picked a more different family to impregnate their daughter if I had tried. You can’t even compare them to mine. It would be like apples to walnuts. Except for the fact they’re both human, nothing else matches up.

My family snarls, snaps, and cowers at family functions. Oh, we look nice from the outside. But really, we barely survive each other.

The Caraway family, on the other hand. They laugh, tease, and hug. I knew I made the right choice when I decided to stay. Our child will grow up knowing they are loved unconditionally here. Something Geneva and I never had.

“I’m sorry,” Brontë’s mother says quietly, “I just can’t get over sending you so far away to school. Was it that much better an education?”

“Not really,” I answer. It was a stellar education, but that didn’t make up for being so far away. “It wasn’t bad though. I met my best friend and business partner there. We were assigned as roommates my first year.”

“Really? Is this Peter?” I look at her with surprise. She laughs. “Brontë keeps telling us how he thinks she’s got potential to be a designer.”

A pang of jealousy shoots through me. It’s ridiculous to feel like this, but I can’t help it. Peter, though, would never make a move on her. Even if the baby didn’t stop him cold, he’s just not the type to stab a guy in the back.

“He wasn’t lying. She has a natural eye for it. That’s why I wanted her to go to Denver tomorrow with me. There’s an old school the city is hoping we’ll buy. I think helping decide what would be best to do with it will be right up her alley.”

---