Chapter 1
Series 1 Chapter 1
My husband had invited his ex-wife to spend Christmas in the cabin I bought—and I was the only member of the family who wasn’t going.
I found out when my ten-year-old stepson, Noah, looked up from his new ski goggles and said, “Mom gets the main bedroom. Dad said you won’t need it because you’re staying home.”
Across the living room, his thirteen-year-old sister, Lily, stopped folding sweaters into her suitcase.
“Noah,” she warned.
He frowned. “What? She already knows.”
Silver wrapping paper lay beneath my hands. I had been wrapping their Christmas presents while they packed for a family vacation no one had told me about.
“No,” I said. “I didn’t know.”
Lily’s face reddened. Noah lowered the goggles.
“Madison.”
I turned at the sound of my name. Ethan stood in the kitchen doorway carrying two coffees. My husband took one look at us and stopped.
“I was going to tell you,” he said.
“You’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
“It isn’t as bad as it sounds.”
“Then explain it.”
He sent the children upstairs. When their doors closed, I asked, “Who is spending Christmas at my cabin?”
Ethan set the coffees down. “Me, the kids, and Vanessa.”
Vanessa—his thirty-four-year-old ex-wife and the children’s mother.
“And me?”
“You have the product launch.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He sighed. “You said December would be insane.”
It was. I had spent six weeks managing a software launch while buying gifts, arranging the cabin’s winter service, and making sure the children had everything they needed.
But I had never said I didn’t want Christmas.
“When did you ask me if I wanted to go?”
His silence answered first.
“This is for the kids,” he said. “They haven’t had Christmas with both parents since the divorce. Vanessa would’ve been alone, and you’d be working most of the time.”
“So you invited your ex-wife to my cabin.”
“Our cabin.”
The down payment had come from eight years of my savings. My bonuses had paid for the roof, furniture, and heating system. Ethan had helped choose the barbecue.
“My name is the only one on the title.”
“Do we really have to make this about ownership?”
He picked up a checklist from the kitchen island and held it toward me.
“Did you confirm the grocery delivery?”
I stared at the paper.
“We’ll arrive late,” he continued. “And Vanessa can’t have dairy, so could you change the cream in the dinner kit?”
From where I stood, I could read his list.
Groceries. Fresh towels. Firewood. Ski rentals.
At the bottom: Christmas Eve dinner, six o’clock.
“You want me to prepare the cabin for a vacation I’m not invited to?”
“Don’t make it sound like that.”
“How should I make it sound?”
“It’s one Christmas, Madison. I thought you’d understand.”
Of course he had.
For three years, I had tried to be the reasonable second wife. I covered unexpected bills, remembered school deadlines, and never asked the children to choose between households.
Ethan hadn’t forgotten to invite me. He had counted on me being too reasonable to object.
His phone lit up on the island.
ALPINE HOLIDAY SERVICES
Final balance due: CAD $8,436.
A message from Vanessa appeared beneath it.
Did Madison transfer the money yet?
I looked at Ethan. “What money?”
His eyes shifted toward the phone.
“How are you paying the balance?” I asked.
He hesitated.
“Your bonus clears on Friday.”
The room went very still.
They hadn’t only planned a family Christmas without me.
They had planned to make me pay for it.