The Bride She Should've Been

With Cyrus in one arm and Chloe in the other, I turned to close the car door and stopped cold.

Standing a few feet away was someone I never expected to run into again.

Eleanor. My ex-fiancee. The woman who ditched me at our own wedding three years ago and ran off with her true love.

Balancing both kids against my chest, I kept my voice polite. "Excuse me. I'm in a hurry."

Eleanor's expression darkened instantly.

Instead of stepping aside, she blocked my path, her voice sharp and accusing. "Who are these kids?"

I shut the door with a quick kick, not planning to engage.

But Chloe looped her arms around my neck and asked, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Daddy, why is this lady so mean?"

Eleanor's face tightened even more.

"Why is she calling you Daddy?" She sounded almost frantic. "I was only gone for three years. How could you already have children? Did you have kids with someone else the second I left?"

I kept my tone even. "What did you expect? That I'd stay loyal to you forever?"

Eleanor and I had grown up together.

Our families had arranged the engagement when we were kids.

And I'd always known she had feelings for someone else.

I'd tried to call off the engagement more than once, but she refused every time, swearing she loved me and wanted to marry me.

I chose to believe her—until the wedding day.

Her true love dropped to his knees in front of her, sobbing as if he'd break apart. She panicked, right there at the altar.

Then, she ditched the ceremony, still wearing her gown, and ran off with him.

The fallout was humiliating. My parents shared the shame. My mother even fell ill from the stress and ended up in the hospital.

People who'd always resented me suddenly had ammunition, whispering behind my back that I'd been a backup plan, a pathetic fool.

I'd hated Eleanor for a long time after that.

And I never thought I'd face her again three years later.

She clearly hadn't expected me, usually the polite, mild one, to cut her down so bluntly. For a moment, she just stared.

I shifted the twins and tried to walk past her, but she grabbed my arm. "Ethan, can we talk?"

I was about to refuse her when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"That's Mommy calling!" Cyrus fished it out and put it on speaker.

My wife's cool, steady voice filled the air. "Ethan, why aren't you here yet?"