Beautiful.
Confidence.
And, at least at first, apparently alone.
I actually felt sorry for her.
I baked an apple pie as a welcome gift.
He helped her unpack a few boxes.
He invited her for coffee.
Looking back, that was probably the first mistake.
Within weeks, Vanessa developed a strange dependence on my husband, Irvin.
Whenever something needed to be fixed, moved, opened, tightened, lifted, or checked, she called it.
Not a plumber.
Not a maintenance staff.
My husband.
At first, the petitions were harmless.
A bottle that I couldn’t open.
A smoke detector battery that could not reach.
A loose cabinet handle.
He then asked her to move an eight-inch shelf to the left.
