They Went on a Holiday Cruise and Left Me With a Man They Called a “Problem”

beside me at the sink, rolled his shirt cuffs back with precise, careful folds, and reached for a dish towel.

“This is hardly necessary,” I said.

“On the contrary,” he replied. “A guest who doesn’t help is a burden. I have no intention of being one.”

It was our first real conversation, and it left me oddly unsettled. That night I lay awake listening to continue reading …