But a few weeks later, something happened that changed everything.
I bumped into one of Dad’s oldest friends, Mr. Jenkins, at the local grocery store. After some small talk, he leaned in and said, “Your dad came to me about four months before he passed.”
“Oh?” I said, curious.
“He bought a house,” Mr. Jenkins continued. “Used my name to make the purchase. Then transferred it to someone else.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“It’s all in Linda’s name now.”
I stood there, stunned. The buzzing fluorescent lights of the grocery store felt suddenly too bright, too harsh.
It didn’t make sense. Why would Dad do that?
But slowly, painfully, it began to click.

