Seeing my mom laugh, dress up, and fall in love again after so many lonely years should have been enough to silence my doubts. Instead, one question grew louder every time Richard came to dinner.
My mom hadn’t hummed in 11 years.
Not since Dad passed away.
But there she was one Sunday afternoon, standing in front of her bedroom mirror and humming an old Sinatra tune while fastening the pearl earrings Dad had given her for their 30th anniversary.
I leaned against the doorway with my arms folded, trying not to get emotional.
“Mom, you look beautiful!”
“Oh, stop,” she said, waving me away with a smile. “It’s just dinner, Avery.”
“You’re even wearing the red dress!”
“I’m allowed to wear the red dress.”
“You bought that red dress recently, and it’s already been out of the closet more than my winter coat!”
Mom laughed.
It was such a wonderful sound that for a moment, I forgot why I had come upstairs.
Which, admittedly, was to snoop.
My mother had been alone for 11 years, and now she moved around the house like someone had turned the lights back on.
The reason was Richard.
He was 52, apparently lived alone, and had met Mom through the community gardening club after complimenting her tomato plants.
Within a month, he was bringing her sunflowers.
Within two months, he had repaired her porch railing without being asked.
He even remembered that my 15-year-old daughter, Chloe, loved mint chocolate chip ice cream and often brought her a pint.
After a few months, Mom seemed like a version of herself I thought we had lost when Dad died.
She bought the red dress.
She started wearing perfume again.
Sometimes she smiled at her phone like a teenager.
I wanted to like Richard.
I really did.
“So, what time is he coming?” I asked.
“Five. And he’ll need to leave by 7:30 p.m. again, so let’s eat by six.”
I stopped halfway toward the stairs.
“Seven-thirty again?”
“Avery.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You said it with your face.”
Downstairs, Chloe was setting the table with Mom’s good plates, the ones she only used when company came over.
My daughter had her grandmother’s cheekbones, her father’s stubborn chin, and lately she’d been watching Richard with increasing suspicion.
“Cinderella’s coming to dinner,” Chloe announced while folding a napkin into something that only vaguely resembled a swan.
“Be nice.”
“I’m being nice. I’m just saying. The man runs on a Cinderella schedule.”
“Chloe.”
“What?! He does! Every Sunday, boom, 7:30 p.m., out the door like the pumpkin’s about to blow.” She examined the crooked napkin. “I’m only half joking, by the way.”
I nearly defended him.
Then I stopped.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
For six months, Richard had joined us for Sunday dinner, and not once had he stayed beyond 7:30 p.m.
He was always polite about leaving.
And he always had an explanation.
The problem was that the explanations changed every week.
“Set out the water glasses,” I said.
“Deflection…”
I gave her a look.
Mom came downstairs, and Chloe let out a low whistle.
Mom swatted at her, blushing like a teenager, then asked whether her lipstick was too much.
It wasn’t.
She looked nearly ten years younger than she had at Christmas.
Richard arrived precisely at 5 p.m. carrying daisies and a bottle of sparkling grape juice for Chloe.
He shook my hand, kissed Mom’s cheek, and asked Chloe about her history project.
On paper, he was wonderful.
But I already knew that by 7:29, he’d be preparing to leave.
While Richard and Mom talked in the living room, Chloe caught my eye from across the kitchen.
She tapped her wrist, silently mouthed seven-three-zero, then raised one eyebrow.
I turned toward the stove and stirred gravy that didn’t need stirring.
Somewhere inside me, the doubt had started tightening into a knot.
The following Sunday, I watched Richard more carefully.
He was carving the roast beautifully while repeatedly checking his watch.
“Big plans tonight, Richard?” I asked, passing him the potatoes.
“Oh, nothing exciting. I’ve got a client in Singapore, believe it or not. Eight o’clock call.”
Chloe’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth.
“Singapore? On a Sunday?”
“Markets never sleep, kiddo.”
“Cool,” she said. “Neither do plumbers, apparently.”
I nearly choked.
Two weeks earlier, Richard had hurried away because, according to him, a plumber was coming to his house at 9 p.m.
Even Mom had looked confused about that one.
Richard laughed, but something around his eyes tightened.
The next Sunday, his leather tote was already under his arm by 7:25.
This week’s reason was his neighbor.
“Mr. Mendez can’t get his blood pressure pills open. Arthritis. I told him I’d swing by.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” Mom said warmly.
“So sweet,” I echoed.
Chloe kicked me beneath the table.
Five minutes later, Richard was gone.
Same time.
Same tote tucked under his arm.
Every Sunday.
Exactly like clockwork.
After we finished the dishes, I cornered Mom at the sink.
“Mom, can I ask you something without you getting mad?”
“That’s usually a great start, Avery.”
“Six months you’ve been dating this man. Have you been inside his house? Even once? Have you seen his kitchen? His couch? His mailbox?”
She turned the faucet higher.
“He’s private.”
“He’s evasive.”
“There’s a difference.”
“Is there? Because Chloe says twice now she’s watched him turn south after dinner, and he supposedly lives 20 minutes north.”
Mom’s shoulders stiffened.