Chapter 2 - The Blue StickerNathan crouched in front of his son.
“What do you mean, they marked you?”
Eli looked past his father's shoulder.
Audrey was still standing beside the destroyed cake, scraping frosting from her face.
Celeste watched them with an expression that had changed from embarrassment to sharp concern.
Eli's fingers curled around the blue sticker.
“They said somebody would come get me.”
Nathan felt his stomach tighten.
“Who said that?”
Eli glanced toward Celeste again.
“The lady with the clipboard.”
Celeste immediately interrupted.
“That was probably a member of the childcare team. We arranged activities for the younger guests.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What childcare team?”
“The wedding childcare service,” Celeste replied smoothly. “You knew about that.”
“No. I didn't.”
A brief silence followed.
Then Celeste smiled.
“I'm sure Brooke mentioned it.”
Nathan's younger sister, Brooke Reed, had helped coordinate the wedding.
She had been responsible for vendors, seating arrangements, and transportation.
Nathan looked around the ballroom.
Brooke was nowhere to be seen.
Eli tugged his jacket.
“Daddy, I don't want to go with those people.”
Nathan lifted his son into his arms.
“You're not going anywhere without me.”
Eli buried his frosting-covered face against Nathan's shoulder.
For the first time that evening, he began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just small, exhausted sobs.
Nathan carried him toward a quiet service hallway.
Behind them, Audrey shouted, “You're seriously leaving me here?”
Nathan didn't turn around.
A hotel employee opened the door to a private dressing room.
Nathan thanked her and stepped inside.
He set Eli on a sofa and began searching for clean towels.
There was frosting everywhere.
In Eli's hair.
Inside his collar.
Even behind his ears.
Nathan knelt beside him with a damp washcloth.
“I'm sorry, buddy.”
Eli stared down.
“Because I made Audrey mad?”
“No.”
Nathan stopped wiping.
“Because I wasn't there when you needed me.”
Eli's eyes filled again.
“I tried to tell you.”
Nathan remembered something from three weeks earlier.
Eli had refused to attend a cake-tasting appointment.
Audrey claimed he'd thrown a tantrum because they weren't serving chocolate cake.
Nathan had scolded him for being difficult.
He remembered the way Eli had gone quiet afterward.
“Tell me what happened tonight,” Nathan said.
Eli hesitated.
“Can we go home first?”
“We can. But I need to know whether someone was trying to take you somewhere.”
The boy stared at the floor.
“They said I was going to a special place.”
“What special place?”
“A place for kids who don't like their new mommies.”
Nathan's hand froze.
“Who told you that?”
“Audrey.”
The word came so softly Nathan almost missed it.
“When?”
“Today. Before everybody came.”
Nathan's chest tightened.
Eli continued.
“She told me if I behaved, I could stay with you until the cake. But if I made trouble, the lady would take me early.”
Nathan swallowed.
“Early?”
Eli nodded.
“She said after you signed the grown-up papers, everything would be different.”
Nathan stared at his son.
“What papers?”
“I don't know.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Nathan rose immediately.
“Who is it?”
“Mr. Reed? I'm Daniel from guest services.”
Nathan opened the door only halfway.
A nervous young employee stood outside holding a clipboard.
“I'm sorry to bother you,” Daniel said. “The event coordinator asked me to confirm whether the child pickup is still scheduled.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“What child pickup?”
Daniel glanced at the clipboard.
“Eli Reed. Seven years old. The paperwork says he was supposed to be transferred to a supervised off-site childcare program after the reception.”
Nathan felt a cold sensation spread through his chest.
“Who authorized that?”
Daniel turned the clipboard toward him.
There was Eli's full name.
There was a scheduled pickup time.
And at the bottom was a typed authorization line.
Parent or Guardian: Nathan Reed.
Below it was an electronic signature bearing Nathan's name.
Nathan stared at the document.
“I never signed this.”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“Sir, the coordinator told us all authorizations had been verified.”
“Who gave you this?”
“A woman from the wedding planning team.”
“Which woman?”
Daniel checked a note.
“Brooke Reed.”
Nathan went completely still.
His own sister.
Eli appeared in the doorway behind him.
“Daddy?”
Nathan turned.
His son was watching the clipboard with unmistakable fear.
“That's the paper,” Eli whispered.
Then his eyes moved toward the signature.
May you like
And he said something Nathan would remember for the rest of his life.
“Aunt Brooke told me not to tell you about it.”
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