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"You're...a friend of the family. Danielle knows you."
    "Well, I didn't really have time to stop, anyway." Dan dismissed the incident. Not for anything in the world would he admit that he often drove by the nursery school when the children were outside. Brittany would probably think he was losing his mind. And maybe he was. But it was a sort of bittersweet pleasure to see Danielle. For a moment, he could almost imagine what his life would have been like if things had gone the way they should have.
    "Michael misses you." Brittany interrupted his thoughts. "The two of you were best friends once."
    "That was a long time ago. It's nobody's fault that things went the way they did, Brittany. I don't blame Michael for what happened. In fact, I'm glad he was there for you and Danielle," he said, surprised to realize how much he meant it "But things have changed. We're not the same people we were."
    "I still think—"
    "Don't," he cut in, a smile taking the sting out of his words. "Don't think about it. I don't."
    It was a patent lie but he really didn't want to talk about the friendship he'd once had with Michael or think about the way his life might have gone. He was grateful for the waitress's arrival with their meals. Even more grateful that Brittany didn't insist on picking up the conversation when the waitress left.
    They ate in silence for a few minutes. A comfortable silence, Dan realized, a little surprised. He could sit across the table from Brittany and no longer be overwhelmed by a sense of what might have been. At some point they'd managed to make the shift from lovers to friends.
    "Are you dating anybody in particular?" Brittany asked, her elaborately casual tone completely failing to mask her curiosity.
    He wished he could have told her he was. But he couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a date, the last time he'd even met a woman he wanted to date.
    He had a sudden memory of big brown eyes and silky soft skin. The girl from New Year's Eve. Funny how she popped into his thoughts at odd times. But he couldn't even remember her name. And he wouldn't really say they'd had a date. An encounter maybe, an incident, one of the more confusing experiences of his life, but definitely not a date.
    "No, I'm not seeing anyone," he said at last, a slight frown creasing his forehead.
    "I could introduce you to a couple of women I know," Brittany offered casually.
    "I don't need a matchmaker," he snapped, stung that Brittany, of all people, should be offering to fix him up with a date.
    "Sorry." Her eyes reflected her startlement at this reaction. To his horror, he saw the shimmer of tears.
    "No, no. I'm the one who's sorry," he said hastily. "I shouldn't have snapped like that For God's sake, don't cry." He shoved a handful of napkins at her, his expression so panicked that Brittany laughed, a slightly watery sound but reassuring.
    "I'm not going to burst into tears." She dabbed at her eyes with the edge of a napkin, "Don't mind me. I'm just a little overemotional these days."
    "Is something wrong? You said everything was going all right. There's nothing wrong with Danielle, is there, or Michael? You're not sick."
    She laughed again at the rapid-fire questions, shaking her head. "Nothing's wrong. Nobody's sick." She hesitated, her cheeks flushing softly. "I'm just a little pregnant and it's got my emotions all topsy-turvy."
    In his concern, Dan had leaned across the table toward her and now he sat back with a thump. He felt her words as if they were a physical blow, knocking the wind from his lungs. Pregnant. He groped for something to say.
    "A little pregnant? Isn't that like being a little dead? I mean, there's no halfway with that sort of thing, is there?"
    "I guess not" She laughed a little, still flushed. "I'm just not quite used to the idea yet, I guess."
    Glowing. He'd heard the term used when people talked about pregnant women but he'd never actually noticed it himself. But Brittany was definitely glowing. When he'd