I’d never seen Heather look so scared.
She and her husband Colin separated about a year ago. They share custody, but Colin works rotating shifts at a distribution warehouse and his schedule changes every week.
Heather works full-time processing insurance claims. She can’t bring three little kids to her office.
“What about their daycare?” I said. “Can you get their spots back?”
Heather pressed her lips together.
“I asked about Maddie’s spot yesterday. Her teacher said she’d miss her. The director told me all three spots already went to families on the waiting list.”
Seth waved his hand.
“We’ll figure something out.”
Heather turned on him.
“You told me it was already figured out.”
His jaw tightened. He looked at me.
“Can we please stop making this into a crisis? It’s our wedding day.”
I almost laughed.
“Our wedding day?”
“Yes.”
“The day you planned to marry me before telling me I was giving up my career?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Which part isn’t fair?”
He lowered his voice.
“People are going to hear you.”
There it was.
He wasn’t worried that he’d betrayed me. He wasn’t worried that Heather might lose her job.
He was worried somebody might overhear.
I took a step closer to him.
“Did you honestly expect me to wake up Monday morning, find out I was babysitting three kids, and just not show up for work?”
He looked at Heather. Then at me.
“I thought we’d have a little time after the wedding to talk about it.”
“You told her I’d already agreed.”
“Because I knew we’d work it out.”
I turned to Heather.
“Did you ever think about asking me yourself?”
She hesitated.
“I wanted to.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Seth said you were uncomfortable talking about leaving your job. He said you didn’t want everybody making a big deal about it.”
I looked at Seth.
He didn’t say a word.
Somewhere outside, the church bell rang. Five minutes to two.
Seth checked his watch.
“Okay. We need to get ready.”
He reached for my arm. I pulled it away.
“No. You and I need to talk.”
Heather started to say something. I stopped her.
“Please. Give us a minute.”
She nodded and slipped out, gripping her phone.
Seth shut the door. Then he turned around with the tired look of a man dealing with a problem he didn’t think he caused.
“Look,” he said. “I know you’re upset.”
“You don’t know half of how upset I am.”
He straightened his jacket.
“Then tell me what you want me to say.”
I looked at him.
He was wearing the tie I picked out. In five minutes, he was supposed to become my husband.
And I couldn’t think of a single thing he could say that would make this right.
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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