We showed up at my mom’s house with birthday presents in hand, expecting to surprise her. But when her husband opened the door and whispered, “You shouldn’t have come,” our hearts dropped. We thought something terrible had happened.
My mom’s new husband seemed fine on paper.
He was polite, steady, and kind to her. But something about him always felt off, especially the way he double-locked doors and tracked everyone’s whereabouts.
So, when we surprised my mom on her birthday and saw his reaction, we thought we finally understood why.
“There’s something weird about Rick,” I told my brother, Noah, as we sat in my car outside Barnes & Noble. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s not right.”
Noah rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was listening.
“Hannah, you’ve been saying that for two years. Maybe he’s just awkward.”
“Awkward doesn’t explain why he knows exactly when Mom goes to the grocery store every Tuesday. Or why he triple-checks every lock before bed.
Or why he always asks where we’re going when we leave family dinners.”
“Okay, that is pretty weird,” Noah admitted, unwrapping the Pop Mart figurine he’d just bought for Mom’s birthday. “But Mom seems happy. Isn’t that what matters?”
I wanted to agree with him.
Mom had been alone for so long after Dad died when I was 16.
She deserved someone who brought her coffee in the morning and held her hand during movies, and Rick did all of those things.
But he also did other things that made me wonder if he was really the right guy for her. For instance, he once mentioned things that Noah and I discussed when he wasn’t even in the room.
“Remember last month when we were talking about my job interview?” I asked Noah. “Rick wasn’t even home.
But the next day, he asked me how it went. How did he know about it?”
Noah frowned. “Maybe Mom told him.”
“She was at her book club that night.
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