Page 87 of Finding Us
“Being a father has really changed you for the good.”
“It has.”
“Does this girlfriend of yours have anything to do with your question about me and Paul?”
I exhale a long breath. “I really like her, Liv, but this is all new to me.”
“Do you love her?”
I lift one shoulder. “Maybe.”
“Maybe? What kind of answer is that?”
“I’ve never been in love before, so I’m not sure what that feels like.”
“Okay. Let’s ask Google.”
“Google? You’re joking right?”
“It’s the best I’ve got.”
“Why don’t you just answer my question?”
“Because I can’t give you a definitive answer.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was only eleven when Paul moved in across the street. I was immediately smitten, but he was fourteen, and didn’t know I existed.”
“How old were you when he finally noticed?”
“Nineteen.”
“Wow.”
“I know right. For years I used to sit at my window, watching his comings and goings, all the while pining for him.”
“So, you were a crazy stalker?”
She laughs. “Kind of.”
“What happened to change things when you were nineteen?”
“He’d broken up with his girlfriend of two years, and moved home. My parents were away at the time, so I hatched a devious plan.”
“Which was?”
“I put on my sluttiest dress and walked across the street and knocked on his door.”
“You basically entrapped him?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it entrapment.” She lets out a small laugh before continuing her story. “I did lie to him though. I told him my parents were away and I was locked out of the house, and being the lovely person I’d always imagined him to be, he invited me in, we got talking, and the rest is history.”
“Does he know that you used to stalk him?”
“Of course. We’ve been together fifteen years now. I didn’t tell him right off the bat … I waited until we were married and I was pregnant with Emmy-Lou.”
I bark out a laugh. “Wise move.”
