The Bride He Took For Granted novel Chapter 54

The Bride He Took for Granted

Chapter 54

Harold answered honestly.

“No. He just doesn’t like the food I make.”

Elise glanced at the bowl.

“I think the combination is pretty good.”

Harold didn’t look the least bit guilty.

“Exactly. That’s why I made him eat it for six months straight.”

Elise was speechless.

After Blitz reluctantly finished his dinner, Elise got up to leave.

Blitz didn’t make a sound. He just stared at her without blinking.

Unable to stand, he thumped his big tail against the floor again and again.

The sight almost made Elise promise to come back the next day.

But this was Harold’s home. She couldn’t exactly keep showing up whenever she wanted.

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Chapter 54

“How about I make Blitz dinner tomorrow? I can leave it outside your door.”

Harold replied casually, “Outside my door? People might think you made it for me.”

Elise paused.

Seriously?

“Then where should I leave it?”

Harold looked at her as if the answer were obvious.

“Outside the door of whoever you made it for.”

He turned and pointed at Blitz’s kennel.

Blitz tilted his head at them, then glanced back at his own door.

Elise thought about it.

“I’ll bring his dinner over around seven.”

It would still be light out then. Coming over wouldn’t feel quite as awkward as it did tonight.

Harold nodded.

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“Okay.”

After Elise left, Harold helped Blitz settle back into his kennel.

He adjusted the temperature, closed the door, and left him to

rest.

Then he sat down in the living room, took out a cigarette, and lit

The marks on Elise’s body came back to him.

The whip marks. The burns on her legs.

And now the imprint of a hand across her face.

Harold picked up his phone and called Laurel.

She answered almost immediately.

“It’s almost nine. Aren’t you worried about waking me up?”

Harold saw through her at once.

“Do you ever put your phone down before midnight?”

Laurel replied matter-of-factly, “I never used to, but these days I take my health very seriously. I just have this feeling I’m going

/be a great-grandma next year.”

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Chapter 54

Harold paused mid-drag, then deliberately played dumb.

“Gavin’s going to be a father?”

Laurel’s voice immediately rose.

“You little brat! Gavin is seventeen!”

“Sure, but his girlfriend’s thirty. She’s at the perfect age to start thinking about kids.”

“Oh, for God’s sake!”

“One of you acts like you’d rather die than date, and the other acts like he’d die if he couldn’t. What did I do to deserve the two

of you?”

Before she could launch into another dramatic speech, Harold gave in.

“Grandma, I need you to look into someone for me.”

Laurel immediately perked up.

“Who?”

Harold opened his mouth.

Bug for some reason, Elise’s name wouldn’t come out.

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He frowned.

Why do I care so much about what happens to her?

“Never mind. Good night.”

He hung up before Laurel could ask another question.

Then he stubbed out his cigarette and texted Kai.

He needed to hit the gym.

******

At the house Landon and Elise were supposed to move into after the wedding, Landon sat in the study off the master bedroom with his headphones on, completely absorbed in a game.

He didn’t hear Joan talking on the phone in the guest room.

“What? Caleb already sent in his résumé? He’s way too impatient.”

Joan frowned. Caleb had just made things more complicated for her.

Lynn sighed. “Joan, you don’t get it. Caleb has bills to pay. If he doesn’t find a job soon, he won’t even be able to make his car Bargment.”

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Chapter 54

“And that’s just the car. He still has rent, utilities, insurance, groceries, gas… It all adds up.”

Caleb had financed a car worth nearly a hundred thousand

dollars. The monthly payment alone was almost a thousand.

Lynn rarely saw much of Caleb’s money herself.

But she had spent plenty of time in that car.

Whenever they wanted some privacy without paying for a hotel, the car had come in handy.

Joan rolled her eyes.

“I’ll figure something out.”

After hanging up, Joan checked the time.

It was almost nine.

She wondered if Landon would suddenly remember some urgent business and leave again instead of spending the night, like he so often did.

Joan changed into a pink lace slip dress that hugged her figure.

Her complexion was naturally fair, and the soft pink made her book even more delicate. The lace neckline dipped low enough to

Chapter 54

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