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personality. He displays the same disposition equally to everyone. I told her he’d at
least spoken to her. To this day, I don’t think Cassie had ever heard him speak.
Now, both families are currently settled around a picnic table in the spacious
backyard with most of their eyes on me. Under direct interrogation from her dad,
I’d blurted out I was moving. Gail, Claire, and my mom look surprised; my dad

looks proud; and Sanya’s dad looks skeptical. Sanya’s eyes are blank. I’m fighting
the urge to drag her away from everyone. I need to know what she is thinking. I am
an idiot. This is not how I want to tell her.
In my defense, he is an expert interrogator. I’m serious, he should work for the
FBI. The sweat on the back of my neck has nothing to do with the humidity. The
sun bakes my shoulders like it’s Frank’s personal interrogation spotlight. I half
expected to look down and see my wrists handcuffed to each other.
“Well…Cole has been showing me properties for a few weeks; I’ll tour my top
options next week. It could be as early as two weeks,” I say, looking and talking
directly to Sanya.
Sanya nods but doesn’t say anything. Her silence is killing me.
“Good. See that it doesn’t magically turn into months or years,” Sanya’s dad
threatens, his brown eyes leveling me with a withering look.

He is an attractive man. He has smooth brown skin and lightly salted hair cut
low around his head. He makes me think of the slightly older actors that return to
television as a middle-aged lady killer.
“Leave him alone, Frank. This is between him and Sanya,” Gail says in my
defense.
I smirk at her appreciatively. I don’t really have a strong point to make to him.
He is her father, the man chosen to protect her for life. I don’t think I would handle
it well if I returned home after working overseas for months to find my daughter
living with a man that is seemingly incapable of taking care of himself.
“I’m happy for you, son. It’s good for a man to command his own space.” All
of the women hum in disagreement.
“Thanks Dad, but I’ve only been here since March. I had my own place all of
my adult life before then.” I feel the need to defend myself; they make me feel like
a bum.
“Good, and now you can continue,” Frank says resolutely. My dad nods his
agreement.