I opened the door.
Graham was handsome in an almost annoyingly effortless way.
For one ugly second, a thought slipped into my head.
Please don’t let this be some joke.
I hated myself for thinking it.
Graham held out a bottle of wine.
“Mercy?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m Graham.”
Before I could answer, Marissa appeared behind me.
“Mari,” Graham said, smiling.
His entire face brightened when he saw her.
“Your mom actually let you bring dessert?”
Marissa rolled her eyes.
“I made it.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She smacked his arm.
He laughed.
Dinner went better than I’d hoped.
Graham asked about Henry.
He listened while I explained how Marissa and I had managed before Henry came along.
He knew which parts of the lasagna Marissa disliked.
He refilled her water without interrupting her.
At one point, Marissa started telling me about their disastrous weekend at a cabin.
Graham pulled out his phone.
“No,” she warned him.
“Oh, yes.”
He showed me a photo.
Marissa stood beside a dead campfire, hair blowing across her face, laughing with her eyes nearly closed.
Her birthmark was completely visible.
No careful angle.
No flattering lighting.
Nothing hidden.
I looked at my daughter.
Years ago, she would have grabbed the phone.
“Let me see.”
“Delete that.”
“Is it awful?”
That night, she simply kept eating.
“That picture is evidence of a crime,” she said.
“You killed the fire,” Graham teased.
“It was raining.”
“You poured half a bottle of lighter fluid on wet wood.”
“Because you said it needed encouragement, Gray.”
“I said air.”
I laughed.
But the photograph stayed in my mind.
After dinner, Marissa stood.
“I forgot the cheesecake.”
“You made cheesecake?” I asked.
“It’s upstairs in the little fridge.”
Graham stared at her.
“You hid cheesecake from me?”
“I know you.” She kissed the top of his head as she passed. “I’ll be right back.”
Her footsteps disappeared upstairs.
Graham waited until we heard her bedroom door open.
Then he set down his fork.
The warmth vanished from his face.
He leaned toward
me and lowered his voice.
“I did my part of the deal, now it’s your turn.”
I froze.
“What deal?”
He gave a quick, nervous laugh.
“Mercy, please. Don’t tell me Henry didn’t explain any of this to you.”
My hands went cold against the table.
