My Sister's Baby Was My Husband's, So I Wed Beside Them novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: The Drawer

Marina finds divorce papers Dalton had dated three weeks ago, he threatens her shares, and Hailey arrives at dawn with the baby while Ivy runs to her.

I drove home with my hands locked on the wheel and did not cry once.

The neighbor was asleep on my couch with the TV on.

I thanked her, walked her to the door and locked it behind her.

Then I went straight to Dalton's study.

I had never snooped through his things in seven years.

I opened the top drawer of his desk and found a thick envelope with my name on it.

Inside was a divorce petition, already printed.

Every page was filled in, and a yellow tab marked the line where I was supposed to sign.

I looked at the date on the first page.

It was three weeks old.

Three weeks ago he had sat at our table and asked me to pass the salt.

He had kissed Ivy goodnight on the forehead and watched me load the dishwasher.

My phone was in my pocket.

I took it out and photographed every page, one at a time, and the date on each.

Then I opened the voice recorder and left it running on the desk.

I did not know yet what I would need it for.

I only knew I would never again stand in a room with these people without proof.

I was reading the property pages when the front door opened.

Dalton came in quietly, still in the bloody shirt, and stopped in the study doorway.

He looked at the open drawer.

He looked at my phone.

"You went through my desk," he said.

"You wrote my divorce three weeks ago," I said. "I'd call that even."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

He acted as if he were the one who had been wronged tonight.

"I was going to tell you, Marina. I was waiting for the baby. Hailey's been so scared."

"She's been scared," I repeated.

"Don't be like this. Let's be adults."

"Where did Hailey sleep the night Ivy had the stomach flu in March?" I asked. "You said you were at a site."

He didn't answer.

He took a step into the room and lowered his voice.

"Here is how this goes. The house is in my name. The company is in my name."

"Forty percent of that company is mine," I said. "My parents' farm paid for your first four houses."

"Your shares are collateral on the bank loan. The loan renews Monday." He smiled at me, gently. "If you make this ugly, I'll let it lapse. Pflueger Homes folds, and your forty percent is worth nothing."

"And Ivy's college fund goes with it."

"Everything goes. You'd be doing that to your own daughter."

I stared at him.

I had once thought this man's patience was kindness.

"Sign tonight," he said. "You keep the car, and I'll pay you eight thousand a month for a year. Ivy stays in her own house with Hailey and me. You can see her on Sundays."

"On Sundays."

"You're upset. You'll see it's the best thing for her."

"Say the part about Sundays again," I said. "Slowly."

He frowned.

Then he saw the little red light on my phone.

His face changed for the first time all night.

"Turn that off."

"No."

"Marina."

"Ivy stays with me," I said. "Wherever I go, she goes. I'll sign the papers when I've read them with my own lawyer."

He moved toward the desk.

Before he could reach it, a small voice came from the top of the stairs.

"Mommy?"

Ivy stood on the landing in her yellow nightgown with her rabbit dragging by one ear.

Her cheeks were still pink from the fever.

Dalton stopped where he stood.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said, bright and warm. "Go back to bed. Daddy and Mommy are just talking."

I put my phone in my pocket, still recording.

I climbed the stairs, lifted her onto my hip and felt her forehead with my lips.

She was cooler.

"Where's Aunt Hailey?" she asked into my neck. "Did she have the baby?"

"She did," I said.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy."

I carried her back to her room and sat on the bed with her until her eyes closed.

I heard Dalton downstairs, on the phone, speaking in a low and happy voice.

At seven the doorbell rang.

I came down the stairs with Ivy behind me, and Dalton was already opening the door.

Hailey stood on our porch in a pink coat, pale and perfectly dressed, with a car seat on her arm.

The hospital had discharged her four hours after she nearly died.

"I couldn't stay there without Dalton," she said softly. "I'm so sorry, Marina."

Ivy let go of my hand and ran across the hall.

"Auntie Hailey!" She threw her arms around Hailey's legs. "Daddy said you're going to live here now, and you'll be my new mommy!"

Hailey met my eyes over Ivy's head and smiled, so gently.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said. "I hope that's all right with your mommy."

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