Page 24 of Daddy's Best Friend

“Well, about a month ago she told us she is seeing someone. I heard from Alex that she hasn’t been doing the party scene lately.”

“And?” I couldn’t see a problem with that. “Isn’t that a good thing? You didn’t want her out drinking.” I understood the logic behind comforting my friend, but the guilt I carried made my gut churn. I was the person she was seeing, and I was blatantly throwing my friendship with Todd under the bus because I couldn’t control my lustful thoughts of her.

“Yes, well. I worry about her throwing her life away. I need you to find out who she’s dating and tell me.” Todd’s question pricked my heart. Under no circumstances could I tell him who she was dating. My throat constricted and I cleared it.

“Sure. Yeah… I can try to find out.” The bold-faced lie fettered my heart, but I had no choice.

“Try? Alan, this is my daughter.” Todd was growing angry. His voice rose in pitch and volume. “I am trusting you to help me with this.”

“Todd, I told you I will try. You should consider talking with Ella about this. She really deserves a bit more respect and—”

“Respect?” He cut me off. “Shedeserves respect?” I imagined the vein bulging in his forehead. I knew as a parent that there wasn't anything I wouldn’t do to protect my son, but I felt Todd took things too far. Ella was 22 years old. She needed to live her life now.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to tell you how to parent.”

“Then don’t. Just tell me what I need to know to protect my daughter. Alright?” Todd hung up, leaving me wondering what had just happened. It was obvious he had heard some sort of gossip or something about her, and part of me wondered if he’d heard anything about me. I knew Todd, though. If he had heard anything about my relations with Ella, he’d have laid down the law.

Now really frustrated, I put my phone in my pocket and stood, shutting off the light in the conference room as I left. I headed straight to Ella’s office, hoping to catch her in a good mood. If Todd was leaning this hard, it was only a matter of time before he put two-and-two together. What was happening between Ella and I had to stop now. I couldn’t keep taking that risk.

As I walked past Heather’s desk, she perked up, smiling like normal. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, so I didn’t even say hi, but she called out to me anyway.

“Sir!”

I spun around to see her standing up at her desk. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and blinked.

“Yeah, Heather?” The stress of the day came out in my words and her smile faded.

“Sorry, Sir. I just wanted to let you know, Ella said to tell you she’d have the reports for you tomorrow. She wasn’t feeling well, and she went home.”

I stared at her, surprised by the news but not upset by it. My first thought was to reach for my phone and call Ella, ask her if she needed me to bring anything. My next thought was to make a mental note to ask her about the reports first thing in the morning. Those were crucial to convincing the final few board members not to scrap the entire hotel chain and renege on the sale.

“Not feeling well?” I took a few steps toward Heather’s desk, and she nodded.

“I don’t think she was actually sick.” Heather winced as she spoke. “She needed your help with a spreadsheet issue. She asked me to help and when I didn’t have a clue, she broke down crying. I think she was feeling like she’d let you down and she was really stressed. I tried to comfort her, but she wasn’t having it.”

Heather sat back down at her desk and smiled again. “I hope you have a good evening. Tomorrow’s Friday!”

No longer concerned, I decided against calling Ella. She didn’t need medicine; she likely needed a box of chocolates and a dozen roses. That is how I’d have handled this situation if I were able to, but she wasn’t mine to comfort like that. She would never be.I had made a promise to her father, and I had to keep it—even if I’d failed so far with the mistakes I’d made.

I took a deep breath and said, “See you tomorrow.” I didn’t even bother returning to my office. I headed straight for the elevators. I was exhausted, and I just wanted to eat dinner and relax, but I still had the hardest part of my day ahead of me.

Ella had to be let down easily.

19

ELLA

My hands shook the entire time I took that test. It was harder than it looked, holding the tiny felt end of the plastic stick in my stream of piss. I almost dropped the damn thing in the toilet bowl. After replacing the cap on the end and washing my hands, I left it lay on the bathroom counter and crawled into bed. I set a timer for three minutes, the amount of time I had to leave it sit before I could check it.

Three minutes had never seemed so agonizing, but when the alarm on my phone went off, I didn’t rush in to see the test result. I lay there staring at the wall, listening to the ringer on my phone. Shock had me frozen. I didn’t want to see the answer. Deep down I already knew it.

When the phone stopped chiming on its own—an indicator it had been sounding for at least two minutes—I pried myself off the bed and walked on unsteady feet back to the bathroom. The test mocked me, beckoning me closer while laughing at my stupidity. I had sworn to Alan I knew my cycle, and yet here I was in the exact situation we had been trying to avoid.

What would he think?

I stared down at the two pink lines on the test strip. I’d read the instructions at least a dozen times before taking the test, but I still had to pull it out and read it again. Two lines meant pregnant.

Two lines meant my entire life was about to be in upheaval.

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