Pausing in the hallway, she thought about messaging him to let him know it was late. Then again, he said he would be home around midday, so was there any point? He’d be here soon enough, plus he couldn’t take care of it until he’d finished work anyway. She’d just wait and see if it turned up before he got home.
Home.
She liked the way that sounded.
“I can’t wait for Ry to come home.” She placed a hand over the dog tags under her T-shirt. “Everything will be okay,” she murmured with a smile.
Starting down the stairs, she took a deep breath. The house smelled fantastic thanks to the beef stew she had in the crockpot she’d brought over from her place.
She’d had the ingredients ready to go for when she got home this morning, and it seemed silly to put it on at her house then come to Rylan’s for the day. And if he insisted on going out or ordering in, she could put it in his freezer for later.
She liked the idea of later. The more their situation settled in her mind, the more she thought they stood a good chance of making things work between them. Baby aside, she believed they had a connection that could only grow stronger, and with them both determined to forge a future, that chance seemed better than most.
Passing the front door, she peeked out through the side glass and saw a car in the driveway. It wasn’t hers. She’d parked on the street to leave the driveway free for the delivery truck. And it couldn’t be the delivery. It was a sporty two-door thing. No way would furniture be delivered in that.
Her hand was on the deadbolt when the doorbell rang.
Mazey wasn’t sure who she expected to find on Rylan’s front step, but it wasn’t the perfectly made-up woman in designer clothes with a toddler sleeping in a stroller beside her. “Um, can I help you?”
“You’re not Rylan,” the woman accused, a frown doing nothing to mar her perfect face.
“No. He’s not here.”
“Not here? But he should be home by now. He’s not working today. His shift finished at seven this morning.”
“Um, yes, he—”
“Oh! You must be the housekeeper? He told me he was hiring one so I wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of the house. Rylan wants me to spend all my time with Maddox. He is always so thoughtful like that, and Mad has reached the terrible twos early, so he’s a lot to manage. He’s an overachiever like his father,” she said, flashing blinding white teeth.
“His father?” Mazey tried to wrap her head around what the woman was saying. But there was a buzzing in her ears. A high-pitched screeching that made it hard to think, her throat tighten, and her eyes sting. “I’m sorry? Who are you?”
“Sorry, didn’t I say?” she asked with another white flash that made Mazey think of sharks. “I’m Renee Conners. Rylan’s wife. I left the car unlocked. You can bring my bags in and put them in the master suite. I need to put Maddox down for his midday nap before he wakes up fully, and we have a meltdown.”
Mazey heard the words, but she couldn’t focus. She flashed back to a different woman. A woman covered in blood and screaming for her children. Her husband.
Husband.
Rylan’s wife.
Ry was married?
With a child?
Her stomach rolled, the tub of yogurt she’d eaten a half an hour ago threatening to come back up. “I’m not . . .” she choked out. “I’m not the housekeeper. I work with Ry, not for him. I was—”
The woman pushed the stroller forward, cutting Mazey off and making her jump out of the way. “Give me a minute to deal with Maddox,” Rylan’s wife snapped with those stark white teeth.
Before Mazey could stop her, the woman—Rylan’s wife—entered the house and scooped the dark-haired child from the stroller. She didn’t spare Mazey as look, she shushed the child in a loud hiss, and headed up the stairs like she knew exactly where she was going.
Of course she knew where she was going.
She was Rylan’s wife. It was her house. They would have picked it together.
Bile rose into her throat, and the hand Mazey had subconsciously pressed against her stomach came up to cover her mouth. “Oh god.”
Rylan had a wife and child.
It was like déjà vu. Except this was really happening.
