Chapter 1:<\/p>\n
The Man with the Silver Hair
\nThe late afternoon sun stretched across the living room floor, painting everything in a golden hue. I sat on the edge of the couch,<\/p>\n
absentmindedly flipping through the mail \u2014 utility bills, pizza coupons, and a postcard from a car dealership offering a free oil change. Nothing that demanded urgency.<\/p>\n
Then the doorbell rang.<\/p>\n
I checked the clock. Serena always came around this time on Saturdays, part of our father-daughter ritual ever since she moved out after turning eighteen.<\/p>\n
I knew her knock, her bubbly voice echoing down the hallway, the way she kicked off her shoes and talked a mile a minute about her week.<\/p>\n
But today, her voice sounded different.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Dad!\u201d she said brightly as I opened the door. She swept in wearing a turquoise sundress that shimmered like summer water. She hugged me quickly, then pulled back with sparkling eyes. \u201cYou won\u2019t believe what just happened!\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled, but something in her tone made me pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked. \u201cDid you finally tell your roommate about your horror-movie-level fear of spiders?\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed. \u201cNo, nothing like that. It\u2019s\u2026 actually serious.\u201d She perched on the edge of the couch, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. \u201cThere\u2019s someone I want you to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I raised an eyebrow. \u201cA boyfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her cheeks flushed. \u201cFianc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m engaged,\u201d she said, holding up her left hand, a modest silver ring catching the sunlight. \u201cHis name is Edison. We\u2019re getting married.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat back in stunned silence. Serena had never mentioned a serious boyfriend, let alone a fianc\u00e9. But what hit harder was what came next.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s sixty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That number punched the breath out of me. Sixty? I tried to calculate how many years older that made him. She was just eighteen \u2014 practically still a kid, still full of untapped dreams and youthful innocence. Edison was forty-two years older. He was closer to my age than hers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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