Every Woman My Widowed Father Dated Vanished Without a Trace—So I Asked My Best Friend to Go on One Date With Him to Find Out Why

He looked puzzled.

“No. Why?”

“Did you argue with them?”

“Of course not.”

“Did you say anything that could have frightened them?”

His expression tightened.

“What kind of man do you think I am?”

“That is not what I meant.”

He turned away and began rinsing a clean mug in the sink.

I knew I had hurt him.

“I just want to understand,” I said.