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Prologue
MONDAY MORNING
Cocoa Beach, Florida
Prologue
It was a Monday morning like so many others. Rachel and John Baker were both late getting out the door. Their eight-year-old son Thomas barely made it out in time for the school bus. The twins, Robert and Maria, were crying helplessly as they got them dressed and rushed them out the door, off to daycare. John and Rachel were fighting all the way there in the car, and they finally arrived at the daycare, flustered and exasperated.
"Can you take the diaper bag?" Rachel asked, grabbing Robert in her arms.
John sighed, annoyed, and grabbed the bag and Maria then slammed the car door.
"It's not like it's a lot to ask," Rachel said.
"Why can't you take the darn bag then?" he asked.
She sighed in annoyance, then grabbed the bag and pulled it from his hand. She walked with determined steps toward the entrance, wishing things were different between them.
It hadn’t always been like this. Once upon a time, they were the perfect couple, but now it felt like they were living in two different worlds. How had this happened to them?
They barely made it inside the preschool’s tall building before both twins started crying helplessly. Robert clung to his mother and wouldn't let go. Rachel wanted to scream herself. It was the same every morning, and she hated it so much.
"It's okay, honey. Mommy will pick you up this afternoon after your nap, okay?"
But Robert wouldn't calm down, and his sister cried along with him just as loudly. Many of the other parents looked at them, and Rachel felt embarrassed.
She was the one who had wanted them to go to daycare. She wanted to go back to work; she loved it, but John wanted her to stay at home.
“Shh, shh,” she said, caressing Robert's hair gently while rocking him, praying he would stop soon.
Suddenly, Maria started crying even louder, and Rachel realized she had forgotten the pacifier in the car. She handed Robert to John and rushed out to get it. When she came back, she saw him deep in conversation with a gorgeous woman who looked to be ten years younger than Rachel. And worst of all, he was paying no attention to his crying children, completely ignoring them.
What the heck?
The woman was giggling and playing with her hair. Rachel couldn't help but feel insecure as she noticed the way the woman was looking at John. She knew that look all too well—and especially the way he looked at her.
Oh, no, not again!
Rachel's heart pounded as she approached them, trying to maintain her composure.
"What's going on here?" she asked, trying to sound calm.
John turned to her, surprised. "Oh, hey, Rachel. This is Emily; we were just talking. She works at the art gallery across the street from my office."
Emily smiled at Rachel. It was friendly but guarded. "Hi, nice to meet you."
She knew the look John was giving Emily—the same look he used to give her when they first met. The same look he had given his old assistant when they had an affair, and Rachel had left him until he promised he would fire her and never see her again. She had seen it countless times before and knew exactly where this was heading.
Rachel forced a smile, but inside, she was seething. "Nice to meet you, too. John, can we go now? The twins are still crying."
John nodded, handing Robert back to Rachel. "Sure." He turned to Emily.
"Maybe we can continue this conversation later?"
"Sure, I'd like that," Emily said, batting her eyelashes.
Rachel felt a whiplash of jealousy. The audacity he had to flirt with this woman right in front of her. Who did he think he was? She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going on between them. But she didn't want to make a scene in front of the other parents, so she kept her cool. As they walked out of the daycare, Rachel couldn't help but feel helpless and lost. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to confront John about it because he would just deny anything was going on and tell her more lies like last time. But she couldn't just ignore it either.
