Years after suffering through my divorce, it was great to finally feel like I was on the right path again with my life, until my daughter went missing and left me a note that shattered everything I thought I knew about my daughter, my relationship with her, and even about myself.
After my marriage ended, I made a vow to never trust another man again. That may sound extreme, but after the way Donald treated me for 14 years, I feel I am justified in doing so. Donald was very good at making me believe he would do things for me until the moment he let me down. For years, I prepared myself for disappointment, and when he moved several states away and stopped calling as often, I had already made the decision to believe all men are untrustworthy.
After everything changed, my daughter and I were just a team. Ava is my 16-year-old daughter and I am 39, and we had a very close relationship with a very stable and predictable life, and we felt safe.
Then Ryan came into my life. He never pushed me to do things, nor did he pressure me at all. I just kept being there, seeing him.
Ryan and I met by accident when I was stuck in a grocery store parking lot during a thunderstorm and was left at the mercy of a dead car battery. Ryan parked directly next to me, got out of his car, pulled out jumper cables from the back of his car and asked if I needed help. If I had not been freezing cold, soaking wet and had a dead cell phone, I would have told him no before he even asked me, but since I had no way to contact anyone, I accepted his offer.
Ten minutes after Ryan jumped my car, I was back on my way home. As we left, Ryan suggested I get my battery checked or replaced before the storm hit.
That’s when it hit me…Not once did Ryan flirt with me or ask for my number.
A few days later I ran into Ryan again at a coffee shop, and we began to see each other regularly. I don’t think I realised it at the time, but Ryan became an important influence on my daily life.