My Mother Told Me To Stay Behind While She Took My…

One morning, while Olivia and I were eating cereal at the kitchen table, Mom stood by the counter with a cup of coffee in her hand and announced, “I have some news. I’m getting married.”

I almost choked. “What?

Mom, Dad’s only been gone for three months.”

She waved her hand like that detail did not matter. “Sometimes true love happens unexpectedly, Lauren. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Two weeks later, Paul moved in.

He was fine, I guess, at least on the surface. He was tall and good-looking in the kind of polished way that made adults at church luncheons say, “Oh, he seems nice.” He dressed neatly, smiled easily, and always knew exactly what to say when other people were around. But from the beginning, something about him did not sit right with me.