Nobody orders coleslaw.
It comes on the side-never the meal, never the reason anyone came.
For forty-five years, Vanessa Coleman has accepted a place beside other people's happiness. Beautiful, funny, and fiercely devoted to her family, she has convinced herself that borrowed affection is enough-as long as she never asks for more.
Then a chance meeting with Maurice Miles awakens something dangerous: the belief that she deserves to be chosen. Maurice is kind, attentive, and married. As their connection deepens, Vanessa must decide whether feeling seen is worth becoming the woman she never meant to be.
When one impossible night shatters two families, Vanessa is left to face grief, consequences, and the painful truth that the life she built on crumbs has cost more than she ever imagined.
Heartbreaking, compassionate, and ultimately hopeful, Coleslaw is a powerful novel about loneliness, accountability, forgiveness, and the courage to believe you were never meant to be anyone's side dish.