Rachel rounded on him.
“Tell her.”
Tyler looked exhausted.
“Rachel, calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down! You said this would be easy.”
I felt a cold clarity settle over me.
There it was.
Not love.
Not concern for a baby.
Not a sincere desire to build a family.
An expectation.
Rachel had arrived believing the outcome was already guaranteed.
And Tyler had encouraged her to believe it.
I turned toward my husband.
“Tyler, is Rachel actually pregnant?”
The room fell silent.
Rachel’s hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
“Of course I am.”
“Then I hope you and the baby are healthy,” I said. “But I want to understand something. Did Tyler tell you he would provide a home for you, or did he specifically promise you this one?”
She stared at me.
“He said this house would be ours.”
I looked at Tyler.
He did not deny it.
