Marty raised an eyebrow. “What kind of thing?”

Claire didn’t know why she’d said it like that. Maybe because she felt inexplicably excited to spend more time with Chip, even if he did intimidate her. “It’s a work thing, really. The general manager of the hotel, Chip, wants to meet and discuss one of the summer events. A festival.”

“Oh. Cool.” Marty seemed to be studying her for a second. “Why do you look so worried?”

Claire laughed. He had his mother’s keen intuition. “It’s just a little strange, getting to know people here.”

“Why?”

She set her fork down. She’d had this thought circulating in her mind, and it was too strong to keep ignoring. “Well, if Chip tells me about his life, then I have to share information about mine.”

“Ah.” Marty sat back and crossed his arms. “I mean, you probably shouldn’t tell him about me, but I guess that’s your choice.”

Claire sputtered out a laugh. “No, obviously I won’t talk about you. Not yet. It’s everything else, actually.”

“Like what?”

“Well,” Claire said slowly, “when you were hacking my computer, did you see anything about how I bought the hotel?”

Marty took a bite of rice and answered, mouth full. “I didn’t hack your computer. I only tapped into the DNA website’s database to find your name and address. The rest of the information I got about you was on Facebook.”

Claire frowned. Lucy was always scolding her about oversharing online. “Really?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t want to violate your privacy. Er, sorry. I guess I still kind of did.”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. I’m glad that you’re here.”

“What’s up with the hotel?”

“It’s not the hotel, exactly. But if Chip wants to know about my life – that is, my old life – he’s going to think it’s pretty strange that a woman who worked as a paralegal was able to put down a few million dollars for a hotel.”

Marty’s jaw dropped. “A few million dollars? I didn’t know paralegals made that kind of money.”

Claire laughed again, shaking her head. “They don’t, and we never had money. Ever. I over drafted my account more times than I’d like to admit.” She felt strange telling him about the money. She’d assumed that he knew. Apparently, Marty hadn’t snooped on her. It only made her like him more.

She continued. “It’s a long story, but this is your family, too, and you deserve to know.”

Marty sat back and focused his eyes on her.