Dad walked out the day I turned eighteen, saying we didn't need him around any more. Mom didn't look sorry to see him go. In fact, she practically started aging in reverse from that moment forward. Her formerly chunky body becoming sleek and silky at the new women-only health club she joined. I couldn't understand why, three years later, she still hadn't started to date.

"The answer's staring you right in the face, Tricia," said my best friend Jennifer, who was waiting with me for my Mom one afternoon outside the doors of the health club.

"Oh, she doesn't have anything going on with anyone in there," I told her confidently. "There are no men allowed, not even on the staff." Jennifer just gave me a sad little laugh.

"What's a best friend for if not to tell you the hard stuff? Tricia, your mother is a lesbian! She's been having an affair with her exercise trainer for at least six months!"

At that moment, my Mom emerged from the club, a pink glow pleasantly colouring her cheeks. I stole glances at the way that pink drifted down into the neck of her deep-cut leotard top, and I had to admit that it looked an awful lot like the way my skin flushed when I had an orgasm. As soon as I got Mom home alone, I confronted her with what Jennifer had said.

"How could you, Mother?" I asked her. "The whole town is talking."