Page 139 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

Chapter Twenty

Brighton

“It’s so strange being back here.” Nicole furrowed her brow as she looked around the apartment.

“I know,” I agreed.

“Maybe we could redecorate,” she said thoughtfully. “Get ready for the baby.”

“Sure.” I slumped further into the couch.

I didn’t know how we were going to do that since Ryland had moved all of my stuff down here. He’d set up my sewing room in the spare bedroom, erasing all parts of me from his own apartment. I couldn’t even go in there. I didn’t know how I was supposed to set up a nursery.

“Brighton?” Nicole placed her hand on my arm. “Are you okay? I hate seeing you like this.”

“I’m fine.” I smiled weakly.

“You’re not fine,” she protested. “Please don’t be sad. What can I do to cheer you up?”

“You could call Matt and make up with him,” I teased.

Her face soured, and she shook her head.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Will you look at us?” she snorted. “A couple of sad sacks moping around because of the bastard men in our lives. We need to get a grip.”

“Fair point.” I laughed.

“We should do something fun today. Let’s go shopping for the baby. This is supposed to be a happy time for you.”

“I don’t have any money,” I argued.

“That isn’t true,” she smirked. “You have Ryland’s card. And I do remember him telling you to use it. C’mon, you could shop for years and still not even put a dent in his bank balance. This is for the baby. We need to get prepared. Do you even know how much stuff babies need?”

I shrugged because I knew she was right. I still hadn’t bought anything yet. And it did sound kind of fun.

“Alright,” I relented. “But let’s not go too crazy.”

Nicole was right. Babies needed a lot of stuff.

It was hard to tell what was actually necessary, and what wasn’t. But Nicole had no problem throwing whatever she thought might be slightly useful into our shopping cart.

“Have you thought of a theme yet?” she asked, staring at some different wallpaper trims in bright colors.

“No.” I shook my head. “I wanted to wait and see what I’m having first.”

She pouted. “That isn’t until next week, maybe. If they can tell.”

Next week. God, that was surreal. I couldn’t believe how fast it had gone. I wondered if Ryland would want to know. We hadn’t even discussed it. We hadn’t discussed much of anything since I’d moved back two weeks ago.

Every day, he sent me exactly one text to check in with me and see how I was doing. He told me if I needed anything at all, I was to contact him right away. But I hadn’t thought of anything that sounded like a good enough reason to bother him.

It hurt because as much as I loved Nicole, I wanted Ryland to be the one to do these things with me. It was silly and unrealistic, but suddenly my shopping trip didn’t seem all that fun anymore.

“Maybe we could just do something yellow,” Nicole continued.

“I’m really tired,” I blurted. “I think I’m all shopped out for one day.”

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