The Registry Said I Was Single, So They Assigned Me My Husband's Boss novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: House Rules

I called the number on the back of the card at six the next morning.

He answered on the second ring.

"I can't be in this house another night," I said.

"A car will be there in twenty minutes."

He didn't ask why.

I liked that more than I wanted to.

The house in Bexley was brick and old, with a porch swing and a tall front door painted dark green.

Silvan had said his grandmother lived there.

He had not said she would be waiting on the steps with her arms crossed.

"You're the vet," she said before I'd closed the car door.

"I'm a vet tech."

"Worse. You work for your living. Good." She looked me over with sharp blue eyes, from my boots to the duffel bag. "Deborah Hallam. Come in. Don't mind the hall, it's mostly dog."

The hall was mostly dog.

A scratched leather leash hung from a hook.

A water bowl sat by the stairs with dust floating on the water.

In the corner, on a square of folded blanket, was a worn-out dog bed in the shape of a donut.

Walter's.

"He won't move it," Deborah said quietly. "Six months. I water the bowl when he's not looking and he pours it out when he thinks I'm not."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be fed. Sit."

She sat me at a kitchen table that seated twelve and put a plate of eggs and toast in front of me.

I ate all of it.

She watched me do it with approval.

"My grandson says your fellow is a liar," she said.

I nearly choked.

"He said that?"

"He said you'd had some trouble. I got the rest from your face." She poured coffee. "I'm sixty-eight. I've buried a husband and a son and one extremely stupid dog. You can tell me as much as you want or nothing at all."

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