“I need to fly back to D.C. this afternoon, but I’ll be back next week.” Bob, the man Martin had set up the meeting with, stood and buttoned his sports jacket. “I look forward to working with the both of you.”

He and Tina stood, each shaking Bob’s hand in turn before they walked toward the front of the empty restaurant. The lunch crowd had long since come and gone, and other than a few stragglers and the wait staff, the place was empty.

Bob, paused at the front door with his phone in hand. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot to ask about Martin and Sylvie.”

Brecken looked from Martin to Tina, unsure what Bob was referring to.

“The emergency. I assumed it had something to do with Sylvie going into labor this morning.”

His face must have said it all because Bob chuckled, holding the door open for them. “Martin and I were playing racquetball at the YMCA when he got the call.”

“It’s early, isn’t it?” Brecken asked. “I thought Sylvie wasn’t due for a few more weeks.”

Bob nodded. “Not unusual for a first-time mom. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

A sinking feeling dropped in his stomach, but he nodded and pasted a smile on his face. “I’m sure you’re right.”

With that, Bob cut left toward the hotel and Brecken turned to Tina. “I’m heading to the hospital. I’ll be back to the office this evening. Can you pass on a list for Nadia? I need her to do a few things this afternoon.”

“Sure. What do you need?” Tina asked.

“I need paperwork started to transfer the ranch—land and home to Henry Dulce. Martin will probably be out for a few weeks, but his firm should have someone that can take care of it while he’s gone. Also, we need to make sure Bob’s office is set up with all the usual—hard drive, monitors, phones—Nadia has the list of standard items. And can you ask her to contact Dan from D&R and set up a meeting for next week?”

“Wow, someone’s jumping right back in,” she said with a laugh. “Do you really think Dan will go for it? Buying his company is a big step, you ready for it?”

“I wouldn’t do it if I weren’t. I’ll check in later,” Brecken said before sliding into his car and pulling into traffic.

It took him less than ten minutes to get to the hospital, and after a quick chat with someone at the front desk, he was on his way up to labor and delivery.

The elevator stopped on the third floor, and he rushed through the empty waiting room. “Martin and Sylvie Wellington?” he asked a nurse behind the desk.

“Room 302.” She pointed the way he’d been going, and he started down the hallway. He came up short when he came to the nursery. His eyes fell to the little clear cribs lined against the window in two long rows. Babies of all colors and sizes were wrapped up like little baby dolls complete with hats and pacifiers. He stood frozen, looking down at their little perfect faces. Admittedly, babies had always looked a little bit like aliens or pugs to him, but he knew, objectively, that this was the closest to perfection one got.

His heartbeat slowed and time stopped as he stood and stared. Moments or minutes later, his eyes followed movement in the corner of the room and his heart jump-started. Her hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head, her face glowed, and she smiled down at the baby in her arms. January stood just outside of the nursery door, cradling a tiny little bundle wrapped up in a blue blanket. Her lips moved slowly as if she were holding a conversation with the baby. She handed the baby to a nurse, who carried him to a crib and placed him safely inside. January crossed her arms low against her stomach and looked out over the nursery with the same expression on her face that he expected he’d had on his only a moment earlier.

When she caught sight of him, he lifted a hand in a small wave of greeting.

“Hi.” Her voice was a welcome sound as she came around the corridor separating them, and he let it hang in the air a moment before responding.

“Hey. I didn’t expect you to be here.” He mentally kicked himself, wishing he’d spent the last thirty seconds figuring out what he was going to say instead of letting the fact she was there turn him into a gawking idiot.

“I was with Sylvie when she went into labor.” She turned and motioned with her head to the nursery. “She had a beautiful, healthy baby boy.”

He smiled. “A boy. I bet Martin is excited about that.”

“Mm-hmm. He’s back there right now, trying to convince Sylvie to name him Martin Junior.”

Chuckling, he watched the way January’s face lit up and then fell as if she’d remembered whom she was talking to. His laugh died off. They stood so close he could have reached out and touched her, staring at one another in silence.

“I should go.”

He nodded, unsure of how she would react if he asked her to stay.

“Goodbye, Brecken,” she said, walking away.

The way she said his name made him want to scream. She said it so formally. None of the playfulness was left.

“Wait,” he called out, running after her into the waiting room. She pressed a button to call the elevator, and he stepped between her and the metal doors to block her departure. “I’m sorry.” The elevator dinged behind him, and she stepped forward as if she were going to get on it and disappear. “Fuck. I don’t know what to say or do. I just don’t want you to leave. I miss you.”

She sighed. “I’m not interested in your apologies. Not today. Not here.”

“Have dinner with me?”

She shook her head and pushed past him into the elevator. He held his hand on the doorframe, keeping it from shutting.

“And then what? You walk out on me again? Call me a whore? I don’t think so.”

“I’m sorry. Fuck. I was an asshole to you, and you didn’t deserve that. You were always more than sex to me. Always. I love you.”

“So what?” She shrugged. Indifferent. “Don’t you get it? I want all of this,” she pointed toward the nursery window, “and you’re about to have it with someone else.”

The elevator alarm buzzed, and he moved his hands unconsciously to stop the ringing. He watched her face as the doors closed, looking for any hint that he still had a chance. When he didn’t find what he desperately wanted to see, he cursed himself for the billionth time for fucking up the best thing that had ever happened to him.