“We didn’t have a lot of money, you know? And when my dad passed, it was just my mom and me. I was young, but I knew my mom was struggling. Some nights there was nothing for dinner. I’d sneak over to the neighbor’s house, and she would always make me a sandwich. She was in her eighties and her kids had all moved away. She looked out for me.”
Danika inhaled and held the breath for overly long, the sound of her exhale loud and ominous, like she was bracing herself.
“My mom was desperate, you know. So, when she got a new boyfriend and he asked her to marry him, she said yes right away. It was fast, like four months. Next thing I know, I have a stepfather and a new baby brother on the way.”
That sounded all right to me, but I knew there was more to this story. I stroked my mate’s back and s
