Page 70 of Claimed by my Bestie's Dad

When I meet Alex at the first property, the one I picked out, Alex smiles widely. “Good to see you in person. All I’ve seen are your very few updates about your life on Facebook.”

“Eh, all my real friends see me in person. I don’t need to use Facebook to tell people what’s going on.”

“Well, I haven’t seen you in a while. Does that mean I’m not your real friend?”

“You have your place in my life.”

“Yeah, taking a cut when you want to buy a place. Okay,let’s get a look inside here and see what you think once you really see it.”

Alex dangles the keys in front of me then unlocks the door and steps aside.

I climb the rickety wooden steps and look around. The space feels even smaller once I’m inside. I also see some spots where the boards have been worn by the constant wind and ocean.

“It’s not in the best shape. Do you know if they would take a lower offer? I could use some money to fix it up.”

“It’s been listed for a while. I’m sure they’ll take whatever you offer, as long as it’s reasonable, of course.”

I continue to study it for a moment, playing with the cabinets that are built into the shack. There’s really no better wording to describe it. But it’s a beachfront shack, which makes every grain of wood valuable.

“Yes, I’m going with this.”

“Now, Ethan, I’ve got a list of properties you?—”

“I don’t need to see them. This is a good distance. It’s great for walk-up business, and…a little fixing up will make it look nice again.”

“It will need seasonal painting for sure. But if you’re sure, I’ll walk you through the paperwork.”

“Set up a date next week, and we can get it done before Christmas. I need to head into the hospital.”

We shake hands again, and I can’t stop the excited grin from spreading across my face when I walk away from the property, the property that will soon be mine, and by extension, Madison’s.

I’m halfwaythrough my shift at the hospital when the nurse I secretly blame for Aurora’s anger at me catches up to me in the halls. It’s been one of those days where everything is moving at full speed, and my mind is barely keeping up. Between juggling patients and trying not to think about Madison, the last thing I want is some unnecessary distraction.

She smiles at me, but there’s something off about her smile. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for a few days. You’ve just done your rounds. You should have a few minutes to talk now.”

“A doctor on duty never has time to talk.”

I glance up and down the hall, sure that someone is going to be calling me at any moment. I want someone to call me, even though I normally yearn for just a couple of minutes sitting behind my desk and updating medical files.

“It’s important, and it’s about something personal.”

I might as well get this out of the way so that she will stop chasing after me and let me go through my shifts alone.

I stiffen. “What’s up?”

She glances around, making sure no one’s within earshot before she speaks. “It’s about Aurora.”

I sigh. “What about her?” I already know what Janine is going to say, but I can tell that she wants to get it off her chest.

“She’s fine. But…I think I might’ve said something to her that upset her, and I didn’t realize it until later.” She clears her throat and rushes on, maybe afraid that I’m going to cut her off like I’ve done so many times before. “I ran into her a few days ago, and we got to talking. I mentioned something—about Madison.”

But now, I am genuinely curious. I want to know exactlywhat information was passed onto my daughter. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, Ethan. I swear. I just… I think I might’ve let it slip that you and Madison were…together. Aurora looked surprised and upset, and I realized right then that I might’ve said too much. I didn’t know she didn’t already know. I figured if you were telling people at work that your daughter must know.”

I feel my blood pressure rising. The only reason I told her was because she was pressuring me to share things about my personal life, asking me if I was dating someone. The lightheartedness of our earlier conversation cuts through me now. I was dumb. I should never have said Madison’s name out loud to anyone, especially someone who would know my daughter and have a conversation with her. It’s really my fault, but I want to blame Janine. “No, she didn’t know. But thanks to you, she does now.”

Janine nods, guilt written all over her face. “I didn’t know it was a secret. I’m so sorry, Ethan. Aurora seemed very upset. I don’t know who Madison is, but it must be someone Aurora knows. If I had known?—”

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