Turn My World Upside Down: Jo's Story Read Online Free PDF

you and
Jack, too. Give you a chance to know each other. To find your way to—”
    “Papa, don’t,” Jo said, stepping back from his embrace. “I’m fine with Jack. I don’t blame him.”
    “No,” Papa said softly. “You blame
me.”
    “Papa—”
    “It’s all right,” he said gruffly, rubbing his eyes viciously. “I said I would give you time.”
    Pain slapped at her and she felt, not for the first time, like an ungrateful child. Like a spoiled-rotten daughter. Why couldn’t she forgive her father for the mistake that still haunted him? Why couldn’t she see past her own pain, her own disappointment, like her sisters had?
    But she knew why, Jo thought, coming out of her memories with a jolt. Because she carried her own secrets. Secrets that she’d never shared with anyone because she’d been too ashamed. Too afraid to tell her father because she hadn’t wanted
him
to be disappointed in
her
.
    Ironic.
    “What do you mean, you
guess
he’s all right?” Sam repeated, staring at her wide-eyed. “You’re living in the same house with him. How’s he doing?”
    Jo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She sure as hell didn’t want to admit to her sisters that she and their little brother weren’t exactly becoming best friends. Mike and Sam would assume that it was Jo’s fault. That, somehow, she was punishing the boy for being the result of their father’s affair.
    And that so wasn’t true.
    She wasn’t an idiot. She knew none of this wasJack’s fault. But that just didn’t make it any easier to relate to the kid.
    “He never
talks
,” Jo blurted, as if that would explain everything.
    “You’re kidding,” Sam said.
    “Wow. A
quiet
Marconi,” Mike muttered, astonished. “Who would have thought?”
    “Not
you
, that’s for damn sure,” Jo said tightly.
    “So you complain because I talk too much and Jack talks too little,” Mike said, looking around for something else to eat. “Yeah, you’re stable.”
    “Oh, for God’s sake,” Sam demanded, “is it really so surprising? The boy’s mother just died a few months ago, for heaven’s sake. He’s moved in with Papa and now Papa and Grace are gone and he’s forced to live with—”
    “What?” Jo stiffened and sat up straight. She was the first one to admit she wasn’t the easiest person in the world to live with, but she wasn’t exactly the Wicked Witch of the East, either.
    “Oh, look who’s Ms. Sensitive all of a sudden,” Mike said on a laugh.
    “All I’m saying,” Sam said, shutting Mike up with a quick glare, “is that the kid’s a little on edge.”
    “Who isn’t?” Jo muttered. Hell, she had the boy to look after, a business to run, and oh, hey, how about taking final exams so she could finally graduate from college?
    But no one in the family knew about the night classes she’d been taking at UC Chandler for the last three years. In fact, the only person who
did
know was Cash Hunter, of all people.
    She did a mental head slap and swallowed a groan.She’d spilled her guts to him last year, when she’d discovered she was flunking astronomy. He’d caught her at a bad moment—when she was at the end of her rope and frantic. And he’d kept at her until she’d told him everything. Maybe she’d been able to talk to him because they
weren’t
close. Anyway, she’d worried about him keeping her secret, but she needn’t have. Not only had Cash given her a book that had actually helped her through the course, he’d also kept his mouth shut about her going back to college.
    She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone until she knew she’d succeeded. And within the next week or so, she’d know.
    “Okay,” Sam said, swallowing hard and covering her mouth with her fingertips. “But he’s ten and you’re . . . almost
thirty
.”
    “Thanks so much. And if it’s so damn easy . . .” Jo countered, fixing her gaze on Sam, the middle sister. The peacemaker. The innocent bystander who was about to get flattened. “Why don’t