AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Should I ask him for it? Maybe show Lily a picture and see if it triggers her memory?
Maybe?
“He was one of those doctors who go around the world, working with non-profit organizations. He lived alone. Had no family.”
No family.
It means it might not be the same person. If he were, there would be records of family or friends, and Lily would be in it. Ethan would have seen her picture and said something.
Why worry her over things that hold no weight?
“Okay.”
“We’re back!”
The door flies open, and Madison and Lily walk in, carrying more grocery bags than Madison and I have ever gotten, even in a re-stock season.
“Uncle Ethan!” She drops the bags in her hands and flies into his arms, squealing. I immediately get up to help Lily with the bags.
“Thanks,” she says. “I thought my arms would fall off.”
I chuckle. “I wouldn’t let that happen. Where did you two go, though? And I half-expected you’d be gone all day.”
“Well,” she shrugs, “we went to a lot of places. Bought a bit here and there, some useful and others… Madison wanted them, and I just couldn’t say no. Plus, she said Daddy has a lot of money, and no matter how much we buy, it won’t run out.”
I shake my head in amusement.
“She’s not wrong. But, did you get something foryou?”
She nods. “Yeah. I hope that’s okay?”
“It would not be okay if you didn’t get something for you,” I say.
“Alright then. I just have to drop a couple of these bags in the kitchen. Could you help me?”
I pick up three of the five she points out, and we head to the kitchen, leaving Madison to keep Ethan busy. Lily and I start putting the items into the overhead kitchen cabinet, but on the third bag, I see two rose flowers in a transparent plastic wrap, a bit of soil attached to the bottom.
“Flowers?”
She nods. “Yeah. I bought them for you. They looked so nice, and I thought it was the perfect way to thank you.”
“For?” I ask, even though the gesture warms my heart.
“Letting me stay here. With you and Madison. It’s been more than two months, and I’m still in your cabin, eating your meals and—”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I say, cutting her off. “You’ve added much to our lives, too, Lily. There’s only so much a single father like me can do with an active child like Madison. But she’s found someone to share the parts I can't understand.
And as I watch you two, I learn a new thing about my daughter. I learned how to be patient, how to be kind, how—
“But you’re all of these things,” Lily cuts in. “I’m sure you hear it every time. You go to the hospital, and you help out here. I’m sure you donate to the town in different ways, and you go out of your way to assist people.
Back where you live, I bet people feel lucky to know you.”
If only you knew.
“You make it sound like I’m the poster person for philanthropism. I’m not as good or kind as you think, Lily. Or at least, I don’t think I would have been this person if not for what happened.”
“What,” she moves from her kitchen end closer to me, “happened?”
