Rowan was always ambitious, headstrong, and impossible to sway. At 24, she already had her MBA and was climbing at a competitive marketing firm. She knew what she wanted and didn’t wait for permission.
When she sat me down in my living room, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes glowed in a way that made my stomach twist before she even spoke.
Then she said, “Mom, I’m in love.” I smiled instinctively.
She knew what she wanted
and didn’t wait for permission.
Then she said his name.
“It’s Arthur.”
I blinked. “Arthur… who?”
“You know who,” she said.
I stared at her, and my throat tightened.
“My Arthur?”
She nodded and blushed, with a smile so wide it looked pasted on. “It just happened. He reached out, and we talked. He always understood me — and now that you’re not together…”
Then she said his name.
Her words blurred after that. I could hear them, but I wasn’t absorbing anything. I couldn’t believe that she was dating my ex-husband — now a 40-year-old man! He was 16 years her senior, and she had no business being with him!