Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

KENNEDY

I went to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner that night with dread sitting like a rock in my stomach. After the day I’d had, I felt so low that I couldn’t imagine how I was going to get through this evening, but my sister and her boyfriend arrived to pick me up right on time, both of them fussing over me even though they’d already called to check in.

It turned out all that bad press Austin had warned me about had already started, and Winrey and Benji had both seen it before I’d even told them about what had happened. From the sounds of things, the videos were everywhere and articles of the fiasco were being shared left and right.

“It will blow over,” Winrey said gently as we climbed into Benji’s car. “Stuff like this always does.”

“Definitely.” Benji pulled away from the curb after we’d all buckled up. “Those vandals didn’t know what they were talking about anyway. From where I’m standing, they just look like a bunch of bitter jerks who needed to ruin a good thing for everyone.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate your support, but honestly, I’m not convinced that they’re a bunch of jerks. I feel like we should’ve seen this coming.”

Benji glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “The last time I checked, you didn’t have a crystal ball, Kenny. There’s no way anyone would’ve been able to predict something like this.”

“You sound like Austin,” I mumbled.

He laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment, but it’s true that no one would’ve guessed that this would happen. How could you? Did you know people were protesting your use of that house?”

“No,” I said, my heart in my stomach and my spirits not even just down but gone. “Rationally, I know that the historians came out of left field with this, but I can’t shake the feeling that they have a point.”

Winrey twisted in the passenger seat to face me. “Most revolutionaries do. Buried underneath all the vitriol, there’s almost always something that is open to debate, but it’s how you do something that matters, Kenny. Obviously, I’m not calling these guys revolutionaries, but the point remains the same. Just because you’re not entirely wrong about something doesn’t mean you have the right to toss out the rule book and do whatever you want to do.”

I sighed, knowing she wasn’t wrong, but still, what the historians had done was eating at me, and it wasn’t only because they’d ruined the float. Their actions, as devastating, heartbreaking, and destructive as they might’ve been, had gotten me thinking.

Unfortunately, we arrived at my parents’ estate and we received an unsurprisingly chilly welcome. Jeff and Lori were nowhere to be found, and their house manager, Bella, was waiting at the door.

A middle-aged woman, she had been running the estate for our family ever since we’d moved in, but she practically ignored Benji, giving me a bit of warmer greeting, but embracing Winrey as if she was her own daughter.

“Come on in,” she said as she released her. “Happy Thanksgiving. Your parents are in the dining room.”

“Thanks, Bella,” I said, moving past her and bracing myself for the night ahead. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

Now that we were here, I was wishing that I’d taken Austin’s suggestion and canceled, but given that even our house manager had now taken to ignoring Benji, I knew he and my sister still needed me to have their backs.

Leading them through the expansive entrance hall and down a short, richly carpeted corridor, I paused outside the dining room and reached for Winrey’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “Are you ready for this?”

“No, but let’s get it over with.”

I nodded, glancing at Benji in turn. “Remember not to take anything they say to heart. We’ll be out of here soon enough.”

He grimaced, shaking his arms out at his sides before he dragged in a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

I released Winrey’s hand, lifted my chin, and strode into the dining room with the two of them behind me. As Bella had said, our parents were waiting, standing by the bar in the corner dressed as if they were going to the opera rather than having their own kids over to their own house.

My dad was in a sharp three-piece suit, clutching a tumbler of amber liquid while my mom looked gorgeous in an evening gown, sipping on a glass of red wine. Both of them looked over at us when we walked in, and I expected at least a greeting before they started criticizing us. No such luck.

They had always been relentless, but they were even more so this evening. Mom strode over to the table, waving us into seats, and she held my gaze over the rim of her wineglass. “That parade was a disaster, Kennedy. What an embarrassment.”

I groaned and dropped into my chair, knowing I was just giving her something else to criticize me about, but behaving like a lady just wasn’t in me tonight. “I know, Mom. I think I’m going to be okay, though. Thanks for your concern. It’s really heartwarming.”

“Don’t be a brat, Kennedy,” Dad instructed me firmly. He came over to join us, gracefully lowering himself into his seat at the head of the table. “You should’ve thought things through before you decided to throw yourself into the spotlight like that. Do you have any idea what kind of explaining we’re going to have to do to all our friends?”

“Everyone at the country club knows,” Mom said dramatically before elegantly sliding out her seat across from mine and sitting down as carefully as if the chair were made of glass. “All we’re asking for is your consideration, darling. You can’t jump into things without properly considering all the potential consequences and you know that.”

I rolled my eyes, but thankfully, the door to the kitchen opened and the caterers they must’ve hired to help their private chef this evening came in and set down the first course in front of each of us. Just once, I would have loved to come here and be served mac and cheese, made by us as a family in our own kitchen, but nope.

The last time we’d done that, I’d been eleven, we’d still been living in Firefly Grove, and we hadn’t been able to afford a private chef or caterers. I nodded my thanks at the server, picked up my fork, and pushed my food around my plate.

It appeared to be some kind of tiny chicken dish, but I didn’t have an appetite at all, even if whatever this was smelled delicious. I really just wasn’t in the mood to eat, especially after the welcome we’d just received.

“You’re not a child anymore, Kennedy.” Dad sipped his drink. “As an adult, you have a responsibility to yourself, your family, and your community. The days when you could just act rashly are over.”

“Yes, Dad.” Arguing was futile and I knew it. I didn’t have the energy to even try, but I couldn’t help but notice that neither of them had asked me what had actually happened.

For all they knew, I’d broken into that house and simply decided it was mine now. It certainly didn’t seem to have occurred to them that I might not have acted rashly. That I might’ve been working with the city council and that legally I wasn’t in the wrong.

Benji didn’t follow my lead by keeping his trap shut. His back straightened as he frowned at our parents. “Kennedy and her business partner were victims in today’s incident. They have all the necessary permits to do what they’ve been doing and the only people who should have any explaining to do are the criminals who destroyed their property.”Mom’s lips pursed, but she hardly spared him a glance before turning her sights on my sister instead. “We’ve opened a trust for the baby.”

Winrey sat up a little straighter, blinking hard. “You have?”

Dad nodded and she was visibly overwhelmed with gratitude. A wide smile spread her lips and tears were suddenly shimmering in her eyes.

“Oh, thank you,” she blurted out, red splotches appearing on her face as she tried not to cry. “You have no idea how much this is going to help us. Benji and I have opened our own account that we’ve started putting money into for the baby, too. We know the key is starting early to cash in on as much interest as you can, but this is a huge weight off our shoulders. Now our savings can be for a rainy day or to help our family get into the housing market one day.”

She shared a hopeful, happy look with Benji and reached out to take his hand. He slipped his palm into hers, but his features were taut and there was a glimmer of suspicion in his eyes. Suspicion I definitely shared with him.

While my sister had been quick to believe our parents had done a complete one eighty on all this, her brain was drenched in pregnancy hormones. She never would’ve been so fast to thank them if it hadn’t been. Personally, I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I wouldn’t get excited until we knew exactly what was coming.

Mom and Dad shared a look that spelled trouble. Then Dad leaned forward, his gaze locked on Winrey. Here it comes.

“We’re not done,” he said. “Over and above the trust, which the child will gain access to on his or her twenty-first birthday, we’re also prepared to pay the full expenses of the child’s education, which includes private school and college.”

Winrey’s eyes kept getting wider, but Benji’s kept getting darker. They’d even started narrowing as he stared at my father, and I felt exactly the same way he did.

Mom took my dad’s hand on the table and gave Winrey a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Of course, we’ll also cover the birth as well as childcare in the early years. We’ll see to it that he or she has a nursery fit for royalty and that they never want for anything.”

Tears were streaming down my sister’s cheeks, and her free hand flew up to her mouth.

Then Dad took over again. “We’re willing to do all this and more but under one condition.”

My spine snapped straight and I glanced at Benji, knowing that he was about to receive a monstrous blow. He kept his gaze locked on my father, but his jaw was so tight, it looked like his teeth might crack.

“What is it?” Winrey asked eagerly. “What’s the condition?”

Mom finally glanced at my sister’s beloved. “You have to leave him .”

I closed my eyes. The dining room hummed with silence except for the sounds of my parents cutlery on their plates as they continued eating now that their ultimatum had been issued. For a long minute, my sister was completely speechless. When I reopened my eyes, I realized that Benji was turning redder and redder with anger with every passing second.

Deciding it was time to take charge, I pushed my plate away and stood up. “Come on, guys. We’re leaving. It was a mistake coming here.”

Without looking at my parents, I left the dining room and led the charge out of their house and back to Benji’s car with him and my sister right behind me. I heard her sniffling, crying softly as we strode down the front steps to the driveway, and my heart broke for the second time that day.

“You are not leaving,” my dad demanded somewhere close behind us, obviously following. “Stay, Winrey. Let’s talk this out. Don’t be childish.”

I groaned and shook my head as I kept walking, knowing without even having to look that Winrey and Benji were still doing the same. There was no way my sister would accept our parents’ offer or even consider it as long as anything even remotely like that condition was attached.

“We’re doing this for you and the baby!” Mom called after us. “One day, Benji will understand that this was for the best, Winrey. Just stay and talk to us.”

Blindly reaching behind me, I felt Winrey’s hand slide into mine and I wrapped my fingers around it. Both of us were furious as we reached Benji’s car and slammed the doors behind us. I was so mad that it felt like my anger was choking me and my heart was about to explode with it.

Just a couple of hours ago, I’d been wondering whether I could continue with my business at all, but now, I was more motivated than ever to make it work. My sister needed me. My niece or nephew needed me.

There was no way I could give up now. Despite everything that had happened, I had to keep pushing. I had to make a success of this venture, not only to honor my aunt but also to prove to myself that I wasn’t as fucking pathetic as my parents seemed to think I was.