Chapter 1 - The Door Ajar
Ten minutes before our wedding, I heard my fiancé tell his sister, “Don't worry about daycare anymore. Natalie will take care of all three kids starting Monday.”
Her children were all under six. I worked full-time, and I had never agreed to babysit them.
Then Seth laughed. “Once we're married, she won't have much choice.”
I stood in the hallway of the church, holding up the skirt of my wedding dress, wondering if I had somehow misunderstood the man I'd spent three years loving. Seventy guests were waiting for us inside. My mother had cried when she saw me in my dress that morning. My best friend, Paige, had spent twenty minutes fixing my hair. The church smelled like fresh flowers, and somewhere behind me, someone was practicing the first few notes of our processional music.
Everything was supposed to be perfect. Five minutes earlier, my biggest concern had been a loose hook at the back of my dress. I'd stepped out of the bridal room looking for Paige, who had gone to find a safety pin.
That was when I heard Seth's voice coming through the partly open door of the church's fellowship room.
At first, I hadn't meant to listen. Then I heard my name.
“Are you absolutely sure?” his sister Heather asked.
“Of course I'm sure.”
“Because it's a lot, Seth. All three of them, five days a week.”
“She loves the kids.”
“Loving them isn't the same as keeping them all day.”
For one brief second, I felt grateful to Heather. Then Seth said the thing about marriage leaving me no choice.
I moved closer to the doorway. Heather had three children. Maddie was five, Ben had just turned three, and little Owen was eighteen months old. I loved those kids. I'd taken them to the park, made pancakes with them, and watched all three on occasional Saturday mornings when Heather needed help. Last Christmas, Maddie had drawn me a picture with enormous purple flowers and written my name across the top. That picture was still on my refrigerator.
But babysitting for a few hours wasn't the same as becoming a full-time caregiver.
I was thirty-four years old. I'd spent almost seven years working at a dental practice outside Columbus, Ohio. Three days earlier, Dr. Bennett had offered me the office manager position. It was the opportunity I'd been working toward for years. And according to the conversation happening ten feet away, my future husband had apparently decided none of that mattered.
“What about her job?” Heather asked.
“She's leaving the dental office.”
My fingers tightened around the fabric of my dress.
“She told you that?”
“We've talked about it.”
No, we hadn't. Seth and I had talked about buying a house someday. We'd talked about having children of our own, although neither of us was in a hurry. We'd talked about vacations, retirement accounts, and whether we should replace his aging truck. We had never discussed me quitting my job to raise his sister's children.
Heather sighed. “I just don't want Natalie to feel like I'm taking advantage of her.”
“She won't.”
“Because I know how much she likes her job.”
Seth sounded irritated. “Heather, we've been over this. She's going to be my wife. We're going to make decisions based on what's best for the family.”
There was a short silence. Then Heather asked, “And she'll start Monday morning?”
“Seven-thirty. Same as we discussed.”
Monday morning. I had a staff meeting at eight. Dr. Bennett wanted to introduce me to the new billing software we'd be using next month. I was supposed to meet with her afterward to discuss the promotion. Seth knew that. I'd told him about the meeting over dinner. He'd smiled and said, “Sounds exciting, babe.”
Now he was promising my Monday morning to someone else.
I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. I told myself to walk away. To find Paige. To take a moment before confronting him. But Heather spoke again.
“I wish you'd let me thank her properly before today.”
“Don't make a big deal out of it. She's already nervous about the wedding.”
“I suppose.”
Another pause. Then Heather said something that made the floor seem to shift beneath me. “I hope this works out. Because I already canceled their daycare two weeks ago.”
Seth didn't sound surprised. “I know.”
“Their last day was yesterday. The director said those spots have already been filled.”
“Then it's a good thing we have Natalie.”
May you like
I stared at the door. This wasn't a misunderstanding about helping out for a day or two. Someone had rearranged three children's lives around a promise I'd never made. And the man who'd made that promise was waiting to marry me.
I pushed open the door.
