Married to My Ex's Uncle novel · Chapter 9 of 32

Chapter 9: The Pantry

Kristi laughed into her napkin.

Tanner raised his whiskey to Greta and drank.

Under the table, Lukas's hand closed on his knee so hard his knuckles went white.

Greta set down her fork.

Then she stood up too.

"Thank you, Margit," she said. "That's really thoughtful."

Margit's smile stayed exactly where it was.

"My father signed that note to pay for a lawyer for his son," Greta said. "He paid on it every month until the day he died. I've paid on it every month since. Not one payment late. Not one."

"I'm sure that's true, dear."

"So here's what happens now," Greta said. "On the first of every month you'll get a check from me. Same day, same amount. I'll hand-deliver it if you want. In your showroom. In front of your customers."

Tanner snorted.

Greta looked down the table at him.

"Your son tried to buy me for four years," she said. "It didn't take. You bought a piece of paper. That's all you bought."

She sat back down and picked up her water glass.

"The fish is wonderful," she said. "Really."

Nobody said anything for a long moment.

Then Lukas started to laugh.

He tried not to.

He put his hand over his mouth and his shoulders shook, and it was the first time Greta had ever seen Margit Hollenbeck look at anyone with open hate.

Dessert came.

Tanner went out to the terrace to take a call, leaving his empty whiskey glass by his plate.

Kristi followed him out.

Greta reached across Kristi's empty chair for the salt.

She wrapped the glass in her napkin on the way back and slid it into her bag.

Ten minutes later she went to find the bathroom.

On the way back down the hall, a hand closed on her elbow and pulled her through a swinging door.

It was the butler's pantry, narrow and dim, shelves of china and tinned goods floor to ceiling.

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