Chapter 1: The Secret They Kept From Me
My husband started taking my 12-year-old daughter on daily bike rides — I thought it was sweet until I heard him say, "Whatever happens, your mom can never know what we're really doing."
I had raised Sophie alone for nearly ten years.
So when I married Nathan a few months ago, I worried about whether my daughter would accept another man in our home.
To my relief, Sophie adored him almost immediately.
Then Nathan discovered how much Sophie loved bicycles.
"You mean your mother never taught you?" he teased one afternoon.
"Her last bike ride ended in a mailbox," Sophie announced before I could answer.
A week later, Nathan brought home a secondhand bike, and soon the two of them were riding together almost every evening.
I couldn't ride a bike myself, but I loved standing on the porch watching them.
My little girl finally seemed to have someone she could call Dad.
That was why I tried to ignore the small things at first.
Their conversations stopped whenever I stepped into the kitchen.
Sophie hid folded papers in her backpack, while Nathan locked his phone whenever I glanced his way.
"What exactly are you two plotting?" I asked one evening, half joking.
Nathan and Sophie exchanged a quick look.
"Just bike stuff," Sophie said.
A few nights later, I woke up with a terrible headache and went downstairs for medicine.
As I passed Sophie's bedroom, I noticed a light beneath her door and heard Nathan speaking softly inside.
His next words stopped me cold.
"Just remember, whatever happens, your mom can never know what we're really doing."
I pushed the door open so suddenly that both of them jumped.
"What exactly am I not supposed to know?"
For one second, Nathan looked completely caught off guard.
Then Sophie laughed.
"Mom!
It's my school project."
Only then did I notice the textbooks, markers, poster board, and papers scattered across her bed.
Nathan smiled and shook his head.
"She wanted it to be a surprise."
Everything in that room supported their explanation, and I felt ridiculous for even thinking otherwise.
But I still couldn't forget Nathan's exact words.
So the following Saturday, when Nathan and Sophie rode off together, I waited until they disappeared around the corner, grabbed my keys, and followed them in my car.
At first, I assumed they were heading toward their usual trail.
They weren't.
Then they turned onto a quiet road at the edge of town.
The moment I realized where they were heading, my hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"No...
Nathan, what are you doing?"
A few minutes later, they stopped their bikes near a gate.
Nathan said something to Sophie, then the two of them walked their bikes inside.
For several seconds, I just sat there staring.
Then I jumped out of the car and hurried after them, determined to stop whatever he might have been planning.
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What did this mother find on the other side of that gate?
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