Page 46 of Keeping Happily Ever After

Stephanie wasin her element when it came to being back at work. When she was running lines, acting on set or even in wardrobe, she was at her best. What was totally out of her wheelhouse was attempting to sing for theBombshellsoundtrack. Lewis had lined up voice coaches and extra training for Steph, and it had definitely helped, but when she watched Bella in the studio, she was completely in awe. Her friend made it look so easy.

There was a reason Bella was going to be a star.

And fortunately, Steph’s singing contribution to the soundtrack was very limited, and she wasn’t expected to actually sing at the showcase. A small mercy she was grateful for.

She watched Bella from the sound booth for a few minutes, amazed as she always was at her new friend’s effortless professionalism. They’d been back in the city and thrown straight into the studio for almost three days. Steph knew Bella was hurting over what had happened with Jeremy and how they’d left things, but she was doing a damn good job at hiding it.

She didn’t want to push her friend to talk, and Bella wasn’t offering any details, so Steph didn’t actually know how Bella and Jeremy had left things. But she knew it wasn’t good because no matter how good a job Bella was doing hiding her feelings, she couldn’t totally fool Steph.

When the song was over, Steph caught her eye and waved a little good-bye.

Bella still had hours of work left, but she was done for the day and she finally had the afternoon free. It was time to pay a much overdue visit to another friend who hadn’t been all that forthcoming with answers about what was going on.

Twenty minutes later, Steph was knocking on the door to Nick Newton’s condo downtown. He lived on the top floor in the penthouse suite, with 360-degree views of the city skyline and the mountains in the distance. Everything was stainless steel, and gleaming white marble countertops, leather couches and white rugs.

It was trendy, if not a little sterile with every surface completely clean and no clutter in sight. The perfect bachelor pad. At least it had been the last time Steph had visited.

Things had changed.

Nick answered the door in sweatpants and an inside-out T-shirt that had a suspicious stain down the front. His normally perfectly combed hair stood up wildly on his head and he sported a scruffy beard. If it wasn’t for his familiar black-framed glasses, that were admittedly smudged and covered in fingerprints, Steph wasn’t sure she would have recognized him at all.

“Steph.” He held the door open. “This is a surprise. I didn’t know you were coming.”

She leaned in to give him a half hug. “I did tell you I was in town and was going to stop by.”

“You did?” He pulled his glasses off and scrubbed at his face. “I’ll take your word for it. I’m a little forgetful these days. Come in.”

Forgetful was an understatement. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks. Possibly months. How long had it been since she’d seen him? Faith and Logan got married at the end of the summer and he’d disappeared with the baby shortly after that.

Steph followed him into the apartment and stopped short.

Gone were the gleaming white surfaces and the pristine bachelor pad she remembered. She didn’t want to draw attention to the mess, but also, there was no way she could ignore it completely.

“Nick?” Steph turned in a wide circle before landing on him. “Are you—”

They were interrupted by the cry of a baby.Thebaby.

Nick’s face fell and he dropped his head in defeat. “I just got her…”

“Can I?”

His head shot up, his eyes wide beneath his smudged glasses. “Would you?”

Steph couldn’t help but laugh. She wasn’t one of those women who instinctively loved babies, but she also wasn’t afraid of them. And her friend definitely looked as though he could use a hand. “Show me her room. She’s what…four months old now?” The baby had been about a month old when the woman had showed up at Faith and Logan’s wedding and dropped the baby in Nick’s arms. Claiming it washis.

“Five,” Nick said. “And she still doesn’t like to sleep much.”

Steph smiled supportively. She couldn’t even imagine being handed a baby out of the blue, completely unprepared for the responsibility of raising a child. From the few phone calls they’d had, she’d assumed Nick was doing okay with it all. He certainly hadn’t let on that he was struggling. She felt bad. They didn’t know each other well, but she should have tried harder to reach out, because clearly Nickhadbeen struggling.

He led the way across his expansive living room. He opened the door to what she assumed was, not long ago, his guest room and was surprised to see a beautiful nursery. A white wooden dresser sat along the far wall. Teddy bears and other various stuffed animals decorated the surface. Across from that was a changing table with piles of diapers and a box of wipes, ready to go. The walls were painted a soft pink, with framed prints of baby animals giving the room a comfortable and very girly feel. On the far wall was the white crib, with a very awake and currently very unhappy baby making it known that she was ready for attention.

Instincts Steph didn’t even know she had kicked in as she crossed the room to baby Amelia. It was the first time she’d met the little girl, but Steph was instantly smitten with her.

She bent over the crib and kept her voice low as she tried to calm her. “Ssh, it’s okay.” Steph reached in and scooped her up. She pressed her gently to her chest and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, little one. You just want to say hi, don’t you?”

Steph bounced and rocked, and it didn’t take long for Amelia to settle. “Well, hello there.” She held her away from her a little so she could look at the baby’s face. “Aren’t you absolutely gorgeous?” And she was. She had a full head of soft, dark hair, a tiny little nose, and Cupid’s bow lips. Her blue eyes were electric, and Steph found she could barely look away from the beautiful baby.

“Oh, Nick,” she said. “She’s perfect.”

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