Page 92 of The I Do Over

ChapterFifteen

“We fall in love by chance. We stay in love by choice.”

Unknown

The following month was exhausting on pretty much every level.

Things were progressing great with Babette taking over the clinic. They hired two new therapists who had been coming in for the last week to get situated before starting full-time. They had a closing date set for two weeks from now and even though it wasn’t official, Maddie stepped back a bit and was sort of easing herself out. So far, it seemed to be working.

The sale of her house took a little longer because she was just so tired and all the packing and getting it de-cluttered and staged took more out of her than she was prepared for. Last weekend, she and Knox packed up a bunch of her stuff and put it in storage in Raleigh so her realtor could do an open house.

Today she accepted an offer for above her asking price so she was thrilled. Knox was on his way to pick her up and she couldn’t wait to tell him the good news. He had been back in Raleigh the last two days and was coming in this afternoon because she had an appointment with the ob-gyn in the morning for their first ultrasound. Still, she was super excited about the offer and figured she’d give him a call and see how far away he was. Just as she was about to pick up her phone, however, Babette peeked into the office.

“Um…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but…”

“Madalyn! Why is there a for sale sign on your front lawn?” Her father’s voice boomed.

Well, crap…

Seriously, the man hadn’t come to Virginia in over five years and yet somehow in the last month, he was here twice. It was enough to make her want to scream.

With a tight smile, she thanked Babette and stood to greet her father. “Dad,” she said weakly. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s the kind of greeting I get?” he asked with annoyance before glaring at Babette. “Why are you selling your house?”

Deciding that this was going to be the day that she finally asserted herself, she said, “Because I’m moving.”

His eyes narrowed and she knew that look. He did not appreciate her response. “Where to?”

“It’s really none of your business,” she replied and went to sit back down since they weren’t going to go through the motions of a pleasant hello or even a simple hug. “Why didn’t you call and tell me you were coming to town again?”

“Well, how was I to know if you would even answer my call?” he said sarcastically. “Now that you’re back with that boy…”

“Knox. His name is Knox, and he’s not a boy. He’s a grown man,” she corrected.

“And I see he’s gotten you back into the habit of disrespecting me. Charming.”

“Any disrespect isn’t on him. That’s all on you.”

“How dare…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Please don’t bother with the whole being offended thing, Dad. It’s insulting to us both.” Pausing, she gripped the arms of her chair tightly. “We both know that you’ve had no real interest in me or my life and particularly not in my happiness in years. You didn’t care about it before you and Mom divorced and you cared even less once you went to Maine. So please spare me the lecture. You went on to have a life that makes you happy. I’m simply doing the same.”

For a moment, he looked like he was about to become completely unhinged and Maddie felt that sinking sensation in her stomach as panic threatened to overwhelm her. But then she remembered that she wasn’t doing anything wrong and every word she just spoke was the truth. If he got that upset over being called out on his actions, that was on him, not her.

“I should have had that boy arrested years ago. Maybe then he wouldn’t be here turning you against me again.”

Tell him.

You have to tell him the truth.

“Knox never forced me to go anywhere, Dad,” she said and was amazed that her voice wasn’t shaking as much as her body was. “I wanted to marry him. We planned the whole thing together and we never had any intention of telling you until after my birthday.” With another pause, she let out a long breath and felt an overwhelming sense of calm wash over her. “I panicked when we got home and because of that, everything fell apart.”

“But…”

“I knew you were going to be upset,” she said. “I just didn’t realize how upset. And then you were screaming and I didn’t know what to do and because of that, I lied. I made a huge mistake and in the heat of that moment, I just wanted to take some of your hatred off of me. I had no idea how you would turn it on Knox.” She shook her head. “I’ve had to live with that guilt for all these years.”

“You were underage! You were sleeping with him and I had your college plans ready and…”

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