The next day, Chris asked me if I wanted to go shopping. He said he was heading into town, and he thought I might like a fun day out. Truthfully, I just wanted to spend time with him. If he’d asked me to tour the sewage treatment with him, I would have gratefully accepted. The first thing he suggested doing was having my hair done.

“What’s wrong with my hair?” I asked.

“Nothing, it’s beautiful,” he said, stroking my waist-length blonde hair. “But I thought you ...