7
“Why do you like my daughter?” Marie asked once Alyssa was out of the dining room.
Jake didn’t like questions like that. Whenever someone asked him a question so open-ended, one that never had a right answer, he felt cornered.
He knew what he would tell Alyssa if she asked him why he liked her, but telling her mother, and her grandmother who followed Marie into the dining room, was different. Jake wasn’t built to lie, but he knew they needed a different version of the truth than Alyssa would need.
“Alyssa is different than anyone I’ve ever known. She beautiful, yes, but it’s so much more than that.” Jake paused, wondering how much to tell Marie. “I’ve struggled for the last few months to find good again. I lost someone. Someone who was like a brother to me. When he died… I left the A
