MY SIL BORROWED $5,000 FROM MY 70-YEAR-OLD MOM AND REFUSED TO REPAY HER BECAUSE ‘SHE’S RETIRED AND DOESN’T NEED THE MONEY ANYWAY’ – SO I MADE SURE SHE REGRETTED IT

That exact amount had surfaced before.

Six months ago.

With Ethan.

My boyfriend.

And his former fiancée.

Suddenly, I remembered something I had worked hard to forget.

A photograph.

Part of a woman’s face.

And a tiny mole beneath one eye.

Lauren had a mole in almost exactly the same spot.

No.

That was absurd.

It had to be a coincidence.

At least, that was what I wanted to believe.

But this time, I wasn’t prepared to dismiss the feeling.

To explain why, I need to go back six months.

I met Ethan in the parking lot of a hardware store.

I was struggling to load a large box fan into my trunk when a man behind me began honking angrily and shouting for me to hurry.

My hands started shaking.

Before I could say anything, a calm voice came from beside me.

“She’s almost finished. Give her a second.”