First comes love.
Then comes marriage.
Then comes a-
Unfortunately, life is not a checklist, and there's no white picket fences and baby carriages. After a failed long and stable relationship, Arryn Rivera tries her hand at online dating and gets mo...
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Two days before Christmas, Arryn eased out of bed and walked down the hall to the guest bath to dress and put on her makeup. After she'd saved Rhys' job, he'd been nicer that day, and she'd seen a change in him. He'd initiated the conversation. Shown an interest in her. Made some almost kind remarks, but then after the office party, he went back to Bitter Rhys. He spent at least one night a week at the condo, and Arryn figured that was to be with his girlfriend.
There was no need to confront him because if he asked her to move out, she had no place to go. Since they'd fallen into a distant relationship again, the living arrangements weren't all that bad. She accepted any act of kindness or affection he tossed her way was pretend or for the benefit of others.
His alarm wouldn't go off for another hour, and she didn't want to disturb him, because, on the nights he was home, he stayed up late working on some big deal.
Arryn stretched the sweater over her belly. No matter what she wore, it looked like she had a basketball under her shirt, but there wasn't a bounce in her step. The expectant mother waddle replaced it. She toddled into the kitchen.
The cheery room was beautiful in the early morning light. She'd miss this place. How the sunshine streamed through the windows and bounced off granite countertops. The unobstructed view of the trees and lake beyond. Guinivere lying peacefully on the back deck unaffected by the forced relationship of the couple inside.
Regardless of their situation, she and Ace had become friends, and tonight her family would come for dinner. Before starting on the meal, Arryn made Rhys' lunch, taking time to cut his two ham and cheese sandwiches into holly leaves. Then she used a melon baller on the tomatoes so they'd look like red berries and added a dessert.
Outside, the shadow of a white egret landing on the pond caused the light to flicker across the room. Arryn turned her attention to watch him walk in the water, his legs like stilts. It made her happy that the baby would be a part of all this. Rhys would build her a playhouse and teach her to fish. They'd go for walks in the woods, and she'd love it here. If he married again and had more children, she wanted their daughter to be close to them. As an only child, she'd always wished for a sibling. Hell, she had a few more years to have more kids before early menopause set in. Maybe she could find someone else and have another child to give her baby a sibling. Arryn shook the daydream away. She went to the coffee maker and filled the pot, then started it to brew. She could hear Rhys moving around down the hall, so she braced for his daily cold shoulder.
Wearing navy pants and a white button-down, he appeared in the doorway. His hair, still damp from his shower, highlighted the natural curl he was blessed with. God, she loved how he looked. He'd stopped shaving and now sported a lumberjack beard. Shoes in one hand, jacket and tie thrown over his forearm, he set his loafers on the floor. "Morning."
"I put some strawberry cake in your lunch."
"Thanks."
"Coffee's ready. You want me to fix you something for breakfast?"
