His Vows Lie Buried in New Orleans

The night I found out I was pregnant, my seven-year-old son pointed at a little girl in a mommy vlogger's video on his iPad and said, softly:

"That's my sister."

I laughed and flicked his forehead.

The vlogger lived all the way down in New Orleans. He'd never even met them.

"She has a million followers, sweetie. Don't make stuff up."

"If you want a sister that badly, how about Mommy gives you one?"

I watched his face, nervous and hopeful, not wanting to miss a thing.

But his expression didn't change. He just scrolled back through her old posts.

"See that stuffed bunny? I gave it to her. Dad says she's the only sister I've got, so I have to take good care of her."

My smile froze.

"Mom... me and Dad are so tired of pretending."

He rested his hand on my stomach and looked at me, completely serious.

"I promised Dad I'd protect her. So you can't have another annoying baby."

"You always say you love me and Dad, right? So you'll be okay with it. Won't you?"

...

Chapter 1

It was the first time I'd ever seen that look on Caleb's face.

I pretended to be mad.

"Go do your homework! Keep making things up and I'll tell your father when he gets home."

Caleb gave me one look and went quietly to his room.

"You'll be sorry."

"Dad's going to take my side. You'll see."

The door slammed, and just like that, we were in two different worlds.

I sat frozen on the couch, my hands shaking.

Caleb didn't seem like he was lying. Did Julian really have a whole other family out there?

The vlogger's name was Serena Vale. Thirty, soft-spoken, the kind of pretty that looked gentle.

Her daughter was Lily. Just four months younger than Caleb.

I'd followed them for a year, and the kid's father had never once been on camera.

Looking now, Lily really did have Julian's eyes.

I scrolled like a madwoman.

Back in May, Serena had posted that the baby's dad gave Lily a cookie with peanuts in it by accident. Lily was allergic. Her lips swelled up and she broke out in hives all over, and Serena had begged her followers for advice in the fan group.

Caleb has a peanut allergy too, so I knew the drill. I'd jumped in right away with a long list of what to do and what to watch for.

Afterward, she sent me a private message.

"It's all her dad's fault, he's so careless. He hardly ever gets to come home, and when he does he wants to feed her everything. Thank you so much for today."

Attached was a photo of Lily asleep, a man's hand resting beside her.

That was when I saw it.

The ring on his finger was identical to Julian's.

I had spent two months designing that ring myself.

There wasn't another one like it in the world.

And I'd been so busy decorating Julian's new study that I never noticed.

A tear slid down my cheek.

When did he even have time to go to New Orleans? Long enough to build a whole family there?

At eight-twenty, the front door opened.

Julian cupped my face in his hands, surprised and worried.

"Claire, why are you crying?"

I looked at him and cried even harder. I couldn't get a single word out.

Julian turned, kicked open Caleb's door, and hauled him out to yell at him.

"Did you upset your mother again?"

Once upon a time that would have moved me. Proof that I was all Julian ever thought about. Now it just felt like a knife in my chest.

In the bag he'd set down was a new scented candle.

I'd never liked scented candles. I thought they smelled awful. But in Serena's videos, they were all over her house.

"Babe, did you pack for me and Caleb? For the ranch tomorrow?"

"I did it this morning," I said.

On the twentieth of every month, he flew two thousand miles to the family ranch in Montana to visit his grandmother.

Julian always said my back was too bad for long flights.

I used to think that was sweet.

Once Caleb got older, Julian started taking him along.

I never suspected a thing.

Now, hands shaking, I logged into his frequent flyer account.

New York to New Orleans.

Eight years of marriage. Two hundred and thirty-six tickets.

Not one of them to Montana.

It had all been a lie.

My phone buzzed. Serena had posted a new video.

"Lily's daddy is coming home tomorrow! Just grabbing some of their favorite things at the store."

As she passed the family planning aisle, she tossed two boxes of condoms into her cart.

Her followers went wild. I went cold all over.

I knew she'd filmed that one for me.

Julian chatted away at dinner, putting food on my plate.

"Don't stay up too late while we're gone. Caleb and I will be back before you know it..."

Under the table, I crushed the ultrasound report in my fist. My eyes blurred.

"So are you two going to Montana to see your grandmother? Or to New Orleans?"