Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN MY MOTHER HAD ALREADY CHOSEN
Rachel had been perfect for my family.
That should have warned me.
She remembered my mother’s birthday before I did.
She helped Brooke decorate for baby showers belonging to women neither of them liked.
She volunteered at church fundraisers without being asked.
She wore dresses Mom approved of and laughed at Dad’s old jokes with exactly the right amount of enthusiasm.
Most importantly, Rachel understood the unspoken rule of my childhood home:
Diane Cole should never be made uncomfortable with reality.
When Rachel cheated, Mom called it “a complicated mistake.”
When I broke up with her, Brooke said I was reacting emotionally.
When Rachel appeared crying six weeks later, Dad said, “Maybe hearing her out would give you closure.”
I heard her out.
Three times.
Every time Rachel’s next relationship fell apart, she somehow found her way back into my orbit.
Until Lily moved into the apartment above mine.
Lily Bennett did not know how to perform family harmony.
That was one of the first things I liked about her.
The day we met, she stood over a flat tire in our shared driveway and said, “If you know anything about cars, mine is currently engaging in terrorism.”
I changed it.
She paid me with half a crushed granola bar.
“Peanut butter,” she said. “Slightly damaged, but emotionally available.”
Lily was like that.
She said the thing underneath the thing.
Which made my family nervous almost immediately.
Mom met her once, two months before the drive-in.
Lily was carrying laundry downstairs while Mom was leaving my apartment.
I introduced them.
Mom smiled.
Lily smiled.
Then Mom noticed Lily had one of my coffee mugs.
“You two are close.”
Lily looked at the mug.
“I’ve reached mug-borrowing status.”
Mom did not laugh.
That evening she called me.
“You should be careful with women who get familiar too quickly.”
I should have heard the warning inside that sentence.
Instead, I rolled my eyes.
Now, at the drive-in, Mom stood outside my Impala with Rachel at one shoulder and Brooke at the other.
“Come home,” she said.
“No.”
“Your father is upset.”
“I called him. His blood pressure is fine.”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But Lily noticed it.
So did I.
Mom had lied about Dad being in medical danger because she knew I would respond to fear faster than anger.
Rachel moved closer.
“You’re really choosing this over your family?”
Lily’s face flushed.
I opened the car door and stepped out.
“This isn’t about Lily.”
Rachel laughed.
“It obviously is.”
“No. It’s about the fact that my mother brought my ex-girlfriend into my home using a key I never gave her.”
Brooke folded her arms. “You’re twisting everything.”
“Then explain it.”
Nobody did.
Behind us, the movie continued across the giant screen.
Two actors kissed beneath a streetlamp while my mother quietly tried to arrange my future between rows of parked cars.
Then Dad called.
This time he didn’t sound calm.
“Ethan, don’t leave yet.”
I looked at Mom.
Her face went rigid.
Dad continued.
May you like
“There’s something you need to know about that ring.”
And for the first time, my mother looked genuinely frightened.
