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If only Dad could leave well enough alone.
If only he could keep his damn mouth shut.
“Do I have to worry about paying for the clinic renovation?” Shelby asked with a hint of panic. “Are you going to freeze my accounts, too?”
“Of course not, sweetheart.”
Yeah, of course not, Bells.
Dad lifted his napkin from his lap to toss onto his plate. “You’ve got a level head on your shoulders and a solid plan in place. But it was time for Mooch to grow up.”
A wave of humiliation slammed into Merit’s chest. Shelby had a level head, but he was the screw up. He’d always been the screw up, with no hope of measuring up to any of his siblings in anything.
He fisted his hands on his thighs as he saw Mae frowning into her lap. He wanted to tell his dad to fuck off, but it was a little different with everyone watching compared to when they were in private last week. Extra fun having Uncle Matt, Aunt Gloria, and his cousins witness all the drama.
“You get yourself a job yet?” The arch of his dad’s brow was as arrogant as ever. “Babies aren’t cheap, and you damn well better not leave this all on her shoulders.”
Turns out it wasn’t so hard to tell him to fuck off after all. He opened his mouth to do just that, but his pride lunged forward, unwilling to be completely castrated in front of Mae.
“Yes, I have a job.”
“Where?”
He named one of the two companies he hadn’t heard back from yet. His father eyed him as if he knew he was lying. “They build luxury tree houses, Dad. My degree is being put to good use.”
All that got was a rude snort.
Yep, because as he’d known, his dad wouldn’t respect that at all.
“When is the baby due?” Mom interjected, as if trying to steer the conversation into a cheerier lane.
“January twenty-third,” Mae said quietly.
“When’s the wedding?” Grandma Irene chimed in.
Mae’s head jerked around, her eyes extra wide as they met Merit’s.
Christ. Could this get any worse? “There is no wedding, Grandma.”
Grandpa Ira harrumphed next to her. “That baby needs the Diamond last name.”
He shifted his gaze from his grandparents to his dad. “Too bad you didn’t know that thirty one years ago.”
Hurt flashed in his dad’s eyes a second before his expression went stone cold.
“That’s enough.” The sharp warning came from his mother.
Guilt slammed into him when he took in her rigid expression. He’d wanted to point out his dad’s hypocrisy with a one-night-stand resulting in a pregnancy and secret baby, not upset his mom. Yet another instance where he should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“You two want to discuss this further, take it to the office.”
Merit held his dad’s glare while pushing his chair back to stand. Time to leave before he said something else he couldn’t take back. “There’s nothing more to discuss. I’m done here.”
Mae twisted to look up at him in surprise, then quickly got up to stand beside him. His heart leapt when her hand curled around his as she faced his parents. He was so used to doing this alone, he hadn’t thought about taking her with him. He was such a fucking jerk—he couldn’t believe she wanted to go with him.
She offered a quiet thank you to his mom for brunch before letting him lead her out the door to the foyer.
“Merit, wait.”
