Page 142 of Always: A Legacy Novel

And that was bad.

She knew it was bad because things were really good lately. For her, and her parents. Things were settled, the tension was gone, and her father didn’t look at her like he didn’t know who in the hell she was staring back at him.

Still …

Catherine had a terrible habit of chasing bad things.

Or something like that.

She hadn’t figured out what it was with her, yet. She didn’t know what she wanted to be, except good to her parents, and someone they could be proud of when they looked back at her. Her house was calm again, and her parents were happy.

“You could learn,” John suggested, taking Catherine from her thoughts. “Like anything, you just have to learn how to do it, Catty.”

“Learn how to deal.”

“How to supply.” He smirked again. “Use words that don’t make people feel like they’re doing something wrong or dirty. You never want to make someone feel like they shouldn’t be coming to you for what they want. It’s bad for business.”

“Bad for business,” she echoed.

“Lesson number one.”

Catherine’s attention caught her father heading through the other side of the dining room, with her mother at his side. They laughed about something, but barely paid any mind to Catherine and John at all.

“I’m not sure I want to do any of it at all,” she admitted.

“But you’re curious.”

Catherine shrugged. “Wouldn’t you be?”

“I was—that’s how I ended up where I am, doing what I do.”

John’s gaze drifted to where Dante and Catrina lingered in the entryway between the dining room and kitchen. Her mother whispered something in her father’s ear, making him grin. They were better again, and not battling their silent war of resentment and stubbornness. Although, Catherine wasn’t sure how the two worked through their issue. It happened behind closed doors, and pretty quickly after that conversation she had with her mother.

Catrina had been right.

Not everything was for her to fix.

“You’ll never know what it’s like unless you try, and then you’ll know if it’s something you want to do,” John added. “You’re playing with fire on your mom and dad, though. You can’t show them one face, and make another when their backs are turned. That’s bad for family.”

“What if they wouldn’t want me to be like you, or like them?”

“You don’t really know that, do you? You’ve never asked.”

Catherine didn’t have to ask.

She knew.

“You want to learn,” John said, “then you call Andino, and the rest we can worry about another time.”

“Just call. That’s it?”

“Call, yep.”

She snatched her phone up. “All right. Thanks.”

“But don’t take too long to decide,” John warned. “That’s the nature of this business, Catherine. Someone is always ready to step in where you don’t. You’re just another back to break on someone’s way to the top.”

Yeah, she got it.