case and I told them I’d consider it. I retired to my room to reflect.”
Leaning closer, Poppy murmured, “You enjoy the theatrics.”
Marigold laughed. “Oh, my dear, I missed you. You’re the only one since Will who understands me.”
“I think you should do whatever makes you happy,” Poppy said.
“And what about you? What would make you happy?”
That was a question she couldn’t answer with the truth. Her feelings on the subject didn’t matter anyway. “I should wash up before dinner. Mom’s already going to faint at the sight of me.”
“Don’t worry, she spends all of her time glaring at me these days… At least Holden gave us something to talk about… other than my senility of course.”
Her anger and disgust collided. “I don’t even want to look at him.”
“I was serious when I said we wouldn’t let him in. Let him try to sell that to the press. We have our own megaphone. If we have to use it, we will. He doesn’t get to own you, doesn’t get to dictate your life. Putting up that reward was his hissy fit. We don’t reward hissy fits by giving the petulant child what they want. He can want you all he likes, we won’t let him near you.”
“Thank you,” Poppy said while knowing she’d have to speak to him at some point eventually.
“No, we have to give him some time to miss you.”
Giving her Grammie the side-eye, Poppy wasn’t surprised to see her smirk, even though she didn’t understand it.
“I don’t want Holden to miss me. I’d rather he forgot I existed.”
“I’m not talking about Holden,” Grammie said. “We want the stud to miss you.”
Her Grammie would believe what she wanted to believe. She wasn’t wrong and if Poppy protested too much, Marigold would figure it out.
Poppy was home. Where she was meant to be. All her life she’d done the Granger dance; it wouldn’t take her long to fall back into the rhythm of it. Poppy Jones was no more and never would be again.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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TODAY!
ONE
Two weeks. That was all the time Poppy needed to get back into the swing of Granger life. In the fourteen nights she’d been home on the Adler Estate, she hadn’t left the grounds. Not once. None of the Granger women had.
Only her father, Clark Granger, ventured beyond their perimeter walls. He had to go to work, to meetings and had other things to deal with. Important things. Given how much security he had access to and the fact he went from the house to a car then into a building, the press didn’t hound him. Not as much as Poppy and her sisters would be hounded if they tried to go out to say, a nail appointment.
Going out wasn’t necessary for the women anyway. Nails, hair, clothes, whatever they needed was brought to them. That was the advantage of money. Her sisters and mother didn’t mind filling their days with massages and personal fashion parades. Poppy wished that she could be so easily satisfied.
Grammie was still playing up her faux senility. The longer it went on, the more likely it was that her mother would be driven insane by the antics. Still, Grammie was who she was. After enduring decades with her mother-in-law, Poppy figured her mom should’ve learned that.
Just as Grammie had insisted, Holden hadn’t been allowed anywhere near the estate. And Violet wouldn’t look at her much less speak to her. More than once, Poppy had gone to her sister’s bedroom door and tried to beg entry. Violet just ignored her. At the dinner table, it was the same scenario. Her eldest sister wouldn’t even look in her direction.
That Friday night, the family had gathered for dinner, just like always. There was so much drama in their lives, yet they’d given up trying to talk about it, so no one said a word during the appetizer. The entrée was just as silent. Dessert was served and wine glasses topped off. Going through the motions was a Granger specialty. Rather than arguing and giving the staff something to whisper about, all of them did their best to eat fast and get through the meal without addressing each other.
In the previous times her mom and sisters tried to converse, Grammie would end up either needling them or trying to bring Poppy into the conversation. The latter would silence Violet and remind them all of the animosity.
Her father had other things on his mind and didn’t have much time to worry about family drama. The man often only made things worse in his attempts to fix things. Unlike his wife, he had learned from past behaviors.
Sitting with her family was a huge contrast to the always moving, always active Maddox house. Dinner with the Maddoxes was an event; a celebration just of being together. On pizza night, they made their own pizzas from scratch. Arguments over the toppings and who got what shelf in the oven were common. On pasta night, there would always be a rush to scoop up the last meatball.
Poppy hadn’t had the pleasure of barbeque night at the Maddox house. Apparently, when Turner had the time to come over and spend an evening with the family, they grilled steaks on the deck. Imagining the scene and atmosphere put a smile on her face.
After two weeks, she’d hoped that the Maddox family wouldn’t be so prominent in her thoughts every day, every minute. Throughout the first week, it was a struggle just to breathe. Her struggle wasn’t getting any easier.
Turner was still out there. Still working to support his family, fulfilling his responsibilities. He was doing what he was supposed to do, why couldn’t she do the same?
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LOST & FOUND
LOST
FOUND
MCDADE BROTHERS
ALL. ONLY.
ONLY YOURS.
WRECK & RUIN
RUIN ME
RUIN HIM
GO NOVELS
GO WITH IT
GO IT ALONE
GO ALL OUT
GO ALL IN
GO FULL CIRCLE
EXILE
HIDE & SEEK
KISS CHASE
THE BRANDED SERIES
BRANDED
SCARRED
MARKED
THE KINDRED SERIES
RAVEN
SWALLOW
CUCKOO
SWIFT
FALCON
FINCH
THE EXPLICIT SERIES
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION
EXPLICIT DETAIL
EXPLICIT MEMORY
RISQUÉ SERIES
TAKE A RISK
RISK IT ALL
GAME OF RISK
HARROW DUET
FIGHTING FATE
FIGHTING BACK
MISTAKE DUET
MISTAKE ME NOT
SLEIGHT MISTAKE
STANDALONE ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
RELUCTANT SUSPICION
RESCUED
STANDALONE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
GETTING TRICKY
HEIR’S AFFAIR
MAESTRO’S MUSE
REMEMBER WHEN…
RIVALS ON AIR
SWEET SEAS
THIRTEEN
XY FACTOR
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