to check it out for herself. The master bedroom was off the landing at the top. She peeked inside at the four-poster bed, matching oak dresser and armoire. A pair of running shoes beside the walk-in closet and a towel carelessly tossed on a corner chair indicated he still slept in here.
Ryleigh moved past the doorway and peeked into the room beside it. âThis would make a great nursery.â
âThatâs what you said the first time you saw the house.â His voice was husky.
That wasnât something she would have expected him to remember, and the sweetness of it made her chest tight. âItâs a good-size room, close to the master. If the baby cried, one of us would have heard.â
âSo you said.â
But it was still empty, a reflection of what her marriage had become. Not at all like her romanticized vision before sheâd realized that being in love by herself wasnât working for her.
She quickly checked out the other three bedrooms andrealized he was right about not having choices. The room farthest away from Nickâs was the only one furnished. Sheâd wanted a comfortable guest room, just in case they needed it and had started decorating there. In her plan, the others could wait for the babies they were going to have. But plans changed and the family never happened.
âIâll take this one,â she finally said.
âI figured.â
He went back downstairs for her things and she was glad to be alone. How ironic was that? Sheâd never felt like that when this was her home. So now she was over the first hurdle, the one sheâd dreaded most. Facing down the past. Part of her had wanted to turn down Nickâs offer to stay here, but that would have given it importance, adding complication and breaking their cardinal rule.
Now sheâd walked down memory lane and somehow felt more whole. Stronger. Unlike the immature girl whoâd lived here before, she was a woman going after what she wanted. Until zero hour, sheâd be sleeping as far from Nick as she could get. With luck it was far enough to keep any more memories from following.
On the up sideâshe and Nick never had sex in the guest room.
Â
The night after moving into Nickâs place, Ryleigh juggled a pizza box in her hands, then rang the doorbell of her friendâs condo. Almost immediately it was opened and Avery OâNeill stood there in jeans and a royal-blue sweater. She had blue eyes, a blond pixie haircut that was incredibly flattering and she barely weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet. At just over five feet, she was shorter than Ryleigh. Almost no one was shorter than her. This woman was too cute for words, but Ryleigh didnât hold that against her. They were best friends.
âHey, you.â
âHey you back.â
âGet in here.â Avery pulled the door open wider and took the pizza. She walked the length of the extensive tiled entryway and into the kitchen. The white cupboards topped with black granite were a big, bold look for her pretty petite friend. After setting down the box, she opened her arms. âNow for a proper welcome-home hug.â
Ryleigh squeezed her hard, then held her at armâs length and studied the new look. âLove the hair.â
âThanks.â
âIt makes you look like a fairy, like you belong in a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings book.â
âSpencer Stone calls me Tinker Bell.â
The doctor was the finest cardiologist at Mercy Medical Center and Nickâs best friend. Ryleigh still remembered the look on his face when he thought she planned to approach the guy to father her baby. It could have been jealousy. A girl could hope anyway. But probably it was just shock.
Her friend was the hospital controller and handled the day-to-day hospital money issues. Theyâd met when Ryleigh was executive assistant to the administrator. âIs Doctor Drop-Dead-Gorgeous still giving you a hard time