The Babysitter Who Was Never Supposed to Be There

For several seconds, I couldn't make myself speak.

The words on Taylor's phone blurred together.

Once everything is in place, I can finally tell her about us.

I had read enough.

My husband had not simply continued paying a babysitter after we no longer needed one.

He had asked her to keep our daughter at his office.

He had instructed her not to contact me.

And he had promised that, eventually, he would tell me about whatever existed between them.

I raised my eyes toward Michael.

“How long?””

He stared at me.

“How long what?””

I almost admired the audacity.

Even now, with the evidence displayed in front of us, he was attempting to make me define the question.

“How long have you been involved with Taylor?””

His face tightened.

“I'm not involved with her.””

Taylor let out a bitter laugh.

Michael turned toward her.

“Don't.””

“Don't what?”” she demanded.

“Don't tell her what you promised me?””

“Taylor, you have no idea what you're talking about.””

“Really?””

She held up her phone.

“Because I have three months of messages that say otherwise.””

Diane stood abruptly.

“Michael, answer your wife.””

He looked at his mother with disbelief.

“Mom, stay out of this.””

“No. You brought this into our family when you decided to lie to everyone.””

His eyes flashed.

“I did not—”

“Then explain the messages!””

The room fell silent.

Harper sat very still beside Diane, clutching her stuffed rabbit against her chest.

I noticed the way she kept looking at Michael.

She was watching him with the careful attention of a child who had learned that adults could suddenly become unpredictable.

That hurt almost as much as the messages.

I crouched beside her.

“Sweetheart, why don't you and Grandma go into the kitchen for a little while?””

Harper looked at Taylor.

“Is Taylor in trouble?””

Taylor's face crumpled.

“No, honey.””

“Is Daddy in trouble?””

Nobody answered.

I took Harper's hand.

“Grandma will make you some toast, okay?””

Diane led her away, but not before giving Michael a look I had never seen her give her son.

It was not disappointment alone.

It was disgust.

When the kitchen door closed, I turned back to the living room.

“Now we can talk.””

Michael rubbed both hands over his face.

“This has gotten completely out of control.””

I stared at him.

“Your daughter has been taken to your office every Friday. Our money has been going to Taylor. You told her to lie to me. And you think the problem is that I've discovered it?””

“You don't understand the circumstances.””

“Then explain them.””

He looked toward Taylor.

She folded her arms.

“No more secrets, Michael.””

He laughed bitterly.

“That's rich, coming from you.””

Taylor went still.

“What is that supposed to mean?””

“You knew what you were getting into.””

Her face drained of color.

“You told me you and your wife were practically separated.””

My heart stopped.

Michael's eyes widened.

Taylor continued, her voice rising.

“You said you were sleeping in separate rooms. You said you were only staying because of Harper. You said the marriage was over except for the paperwork.””

I gripped the back of the couch.

We had been sleeping in the same bed.

We had gone on vacation together six months earlier.

We had celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary with dinner at the restaurant where Michael had proposed.

He had kissed me that night.

He had held my hand across the table.

He had told me he couldn't imagine building a life with anyone else.

And apparently, while doing all of that, he had been telling another woman that our marriage was already finished.

“Is that what he told you?”” I asked Taylor.

She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes.

“He said he wanted to leave, but he couldn't do it until he had a plan. He said he needed to protect Harper from the disruption.””

I felt sick.

“So he used Harper's schedule to arrange private meetings with you?””

Taylor shook her head quickly.

“I didn't think of it like that at first. He said he needed help with her because his father couldn't always stay. He said you were busy and that he didn't want to burden you with another change.””

“He said that to you?””

“Yes.””

She wiped her cheek.

“I thought I was helping.””

“Helping him do what?””

Taylor looked at Michael.

He stared at her with open hostility.

“Tell her,” she said.

He remained silent.

Taylor took a shaky breath.

“He said he was preparing to move out.””

I heard the words, but my mind refused to process them.

“Move out?””

“He said he had found somewhere to stay. He said he was waiting until he could arrange the finances and make sure Harper would be okay.””

I looked toward the laptop on the coffee table.

Two thousand one hundred sixty dollars.

The money we had saved for household expenses.

The money I had assumed was going toward our daughter's needs.

I turned back to Michael.

“Were you planning to leave us?””

“No.””

The answer came too quickly.

Taylor laughed through her tears.

“You told me you were.””

“I was trying to work out my options.””

“Your options?”” I repeated.

He looked at me.

“I didn't want to hurt you.””

The sentence was so absurd that I almost couldn't believe he had said it.

“You didn't want to hurt me?””

“I was trying to handle this carefully.””

“You lied to me every week.””

“I made mistakes.””

“You involved our daughter!””

His face hardened.

“I never put Harper in danger.””

I stepped toward him.

“That's not the point.””

“Then what is the point?””

“The point is that you taught our child to keep secrets from her mother so you could maintain a relationship you were too cowardly to admit existed.””

Michael's mouth opened.

Then closed.

For the first time, he looked genuinely ashamed.

But the feeling lasted only a moment.

He straightened his jacket.

“This is between you and me. Taylor has no reason to be here.””

Taylor stood.

“You invited me.””

“I did not.””

“You texted me this morning!””

Michael's face reddened.

“That was a mistake.””

She stared at him.

“A mistake?””

He turned to me.

“Look, I can explain the messages. They sound worse than they are.””

I felt something inside me break.

Not because of the affair itself.

Not even because of the money.

It was the realization that he still believed there was a version of events in which I would accept his explanation simply because he delivered it confidently.

I sat down slowly.

“Tell me one thing, Michael.””

He looked relieved, as though he believed I was finally willing to listen.

“What?””

“Why did you need Taylor to watch Harper at your office?””

His expression shifted.

He glanced toward the hallway.

Then toward Taylor.

Then back at me.

“I had meetings.””

“Every Friday?””

“Frequently.””

“For three months?””

“Yes.””

“And your father brought Harper to you?””

“Sometimes.””

“Then why couldn't she stay with you?””

“I was working.””

“So you paid Taylor to watch her.””

He nodded cautiously.

“That's all.””

I looked at Taylor.

“Is that all?””

She hesitated.

Michael's shoulders loosened slightly.

Then Taylor spoke.

“No.””

His expression collapsed.

She reached for her phone again.

“There was another reason I kept coming to his office.””

Michael lunged toward her.

She stepped backward.

“Don't touch me!””

I rose from the couch.

“Michael!””

He stopped.

Taylor's breathing had become ragged.

She looked at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.

“I didn't know the whole truth when I started,” she said.

“But after a few weeks, I realized something wasn't right.””

“What?””

She turned her phone toward me again.

This time, the message wasn't from Michael.

It was a photograph.

A printed document resting on his office desk.

At the top, I could read my own name.

Beneath it were several lines of financial information.

Our home address.

Our joint accounts.

And a figure that made my stomach twist.

I looked at Michael.

“What is this?””

He said nothing.

Taylor's voice trembled.

“He told me it was just paperwork he needed to prepare before leaving. But I saw the same document again last Friday, and I realized he hadn't told me everything.””

I stared at the photograph.

“What haven't you been told?””

Taylor swallowed.

Then she looked directly at Michael.

“Tell her why you needed access to the family accounts.””