For a long moment, the dining room was silent. Jesse stared at Lorraine, his eyes wide and unblinking. He was so shocked that the fork he was holding slipped from his fingers and landed with a soft thud on his plate. His mind seemed to stop working. His simple plan had been to introduce Lorraine to his parents so she’d have no choice but to play along… but now she had done the introducing herself? Did that mean he had to follow along too?

Then, his mother broke the silence. She clapped ...