Make Believe Bride (Marriage by Fate Book 3) by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin [Nordin, Ruth Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wedded Bliss Romances, LLC
Published: 2018-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The next morning when Stacey approached the dining room table to eat, her father looked up at her. He was halfway into his meal. At the moment, he was dipping his small spoon into the soft-boiled egg on his plate.

The butler pulled out the chair for her, so she sat down across from her father. Ever since she could remember, her father picked out every meal for her. Even if she didn’t like the items on her plate, she had to eat them. And this morning was no different. Her father had selected a soft-boiled egg, a neat’s tongue, and slices of pineapple for her. And to drink, he had given her plain, black coffee.

She hated everything in front of her. Usually, her father would put something on her plate she liked. And if he gave her coffee, he would allow her a lump or two of sugar to put in it to help compensate for the bitter taste. But this morning, he hadn’t even allowed her that luxury.

He was angry. He hadn’t been able to be her chaperone last night at the dinner party, and he was taking his anger out on her this morning by giving her everything she hated. But she knew better than to say anything. She was going to have to eat and drink everything in front of her. Only then would his anger go away. Then, maybe, she could have something she liked for a snack or for dinner.

“Did you enjoy yourself last evening?” her father asked, his tone surprisingly pleasant.

She blinked back the tears from her eyes and picked up her fork. Which horrible thing should she start with first? After a moment, she chose the tongue. It was the hardest to stomach because it was a tongue, and just the thought of eating that part of an animal’s body made her shudder. She would eat the egg after this and finish up with the pineapple. The tart taste of the fruit should wipe out the taste of the tongue and egg from her mouth.

She picked up the knife and, holding the tongue down with the fork, cut into it.

“I asked you a question,” her father said.

Pausing, she looked up at him. She was so nervous she’d forgotten he’d asked about the dinner party. “Last evening was all right,” she forced out. Then she continued cutting into the tongue.

“I take it your chaperone did a good job of making sure Lord Whitney didn’t take advantage of your innocence.”

Though he had meant for it to be a statement, there was a hint of a question in it. She picked up the piece of tongue on her fork and took a deep breath. Usually, her father didn’t talk to her while they ate. Getting through this meal was going to be more difficult if he wanted to have a conversation with her.

She released her breath. “Lord Whitney didn’t do anything inappropriate.” She shoved the tongue into her mouth before she lost her resolve to eat it.

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