Aurora appeared as composed as ever at dinner, but I knew better. She had been crazily nervous that her parents would somehow guess that we were living together. I'd told her countless times that perhaps we should just bite the bullet and tell them, but her face had turned ashen with fear, and she'd told me that that was just not an option.

It amazes me that this brave, independent girl can be so very scared of what her parents think of her.

When we first met, she had wanted to ...