Whenever Emma was with Darren and Sarah, I wanted to believe she was safe, comfortable, and loved.
Sarah gave me every reason to believe that she was.
Still, something about her attention made me uneasy.
It was not one particular thing.
It was the intensity of it.
Sarah did not simply care for Emma. She seemed determined to know everything about her.
At the time, I felt ashamed for noticing.
What kind of person becomes suspicious because another woman is kind to her child?
So I pushed the discomfort aside.
I told myself it was jealousy.
I told myself I was struggling because Darren had moved on.
I told myself that a secure, mature mother would be grateful.
But the uneasiness never completely disappeared.
The Small Comparisons Began
At first, the changes were easy to dismiss.
Emma would return from Darren’s house and casually mention how different the rules were there.
