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It was ten years ago, and Nicky had found out she was pregnant. She hadn’t had the chance to tell Eric because, as usual, he was away on a business trip, traveling with one of the many sports stars he represented as a sports management agent. At the time, he was working for All-Star Sport Management.
Nicole swallowed as the memories played through her mind like a movie, and she watched moments of her life play out. Eric had given her the go-ahead to choose the home they were going to start a family in. The only thing he’d helped her decide on was the neighborhood, Coconut Grove.
She snorted, realizing that she’d spent most of their marriage making the decisions and was the only one who was really present in them. Nicole had been the one to find their home, set up their joint bank account, and make sure they had separate attorneys, life insurance, and medical insurance. It was Nicole who planned and organized their holidays and their lives.
Nicky shook her head, opened her eyes, and remembered seeing this view for the first time. It had taken her breath away, and she knew this house was where she wanted to raise a family. She swallowed back the tears stinging her eyes and pursed her lips. This house was meant to be filled with love, laughter, and a warm family.
Like it had before. She’d bought it from a lovely couple retiring to Tampa to be near their grown children. Children that had grown up in this house. Her eyes fell on the big tree perched on the side of the neatly manicured lawn. Nicky had pictured it with a fort in it and a playground set around it where she and Eric’s children would play.
But that never happened for Nicky and Eric, and the house had always felt sad, empty, and lonely. It had been built with love by the couple who’d owned it and had been filled with a family of six. Nicky had hoped for a family of five, having grown up with five sisters in a large home filled with love and laughter.
Nicky had always felt the echoes of the family that had once lived in the house. After each tragic miscarriage, she’d come home to her house and felt it embrace her. She knew it sounded whacky, but one of the reasons Nicky managed to pick herself up after each loss was because of the energy she drew from her home—remnants of the warmth and joy that the house had absorbed from the happy family that had lived there before her.
It had broken her heart when she’d put it on the market, and she was surprised when it sold so quickly after it had been listed. Nicole had spent two weeks deciding between taking it off the market and accepting the offer. That was until she had the misfortune of running into Eric and Sophie. They were having dinner with a sports star at the same restaurant where she was having dinner with one of her authors.
Nicole had chosen to ignore them and concentrate on the author, who had just written their third international best seller. They were having dinner to celebrate and discuss his book tour. She knew it was petty, but when she saw the look on Eric’s face when he saw her with the handsome and enigmatic Drew Davenport, it gave her great satisfaction. It had been even more satisfying when Eric dragged Sophie to her table to say hello. Sophie was surprised when she found out who Drew was.
The best part of that evening was introducing Eric as her ex-husband and Drew taking her hand from across the table to raise it to his lips and tell her his loss was Drew’s gain. Eric had not been amused, and Sophie had gushed at how great Drew’s books were. And she couldn’t wait for his next novel, which had made Eric even more annoyed. Nicky smirked to herself as she remembered how Eric had stormed away after Sophie asked Drew to autograph his latest novel she had in her purse. It was also that moment that made Nicky realize it was time to go home and leave Miami behind.
“Are you ready, Nicky?” Hannah, Nicky’s second-youngest sister, asked from the sliding door.
Nicky turned to look at her. “After ten years, you still won’t come onto the balcony?”
“You know I don’t like balconies.” Hannah shuddered.
Nicky knew she was thinking about when Hannah worked for Doctors Without Borders after finishing medical school. Hannah was on a remote island that had been devastated by a tropical storm and was combing through the wreckage with the rescue crews. She found a young girl and her brother huddled on a balcony on top of a hill. The house had become unstable, and the rescue team was worried about stepping onto the balcony.
Hannah was the smallest of the crew and instantly volunteered. She managed to get to the children and got the little girl off when the balcony broke off from the main house. Hannah grabbed the little boy, shielding him as best she could as the structure slid down the hill. While the little boy had only suffered minor injuries as Hannah had protected him, she’d been trapped beneath the structure and sucked into the mud. Hannah had barely escaped the ordeal with her life and had sustained major injuries. It had been weeks of touch and go for her sister, a nightmare Nicky hoped never to relive.
Since then, Hannah didn’t go out on balconies and had to force herself to walk over a back-garden deck only a few feet off the ground.
“Wouldn’t you tell your patients they needed to take a few steps toward their fears and slowly walk through them?” Nicky asked.
“It depends how bad their fear is,” Hannah told her. “And I have taken my first few steps toward walking through my fear.” She grinned proudly and expanded her arms. “See, I’m standing in the doorway.”
“Only because I ignored the first five or six times you yelled for me from the living room.” Nicky laughed as Hannah’s eyes narrowed.
“So, you did hear me!” Hannah huffed.
“Yes, I was having a few moments with my house.” Nicky sighed and turned to take one last look at the bay. “I’m going to miss it.”
“You spent the past ten years of your life here, Nicky.” Hannah’s voice dropped to a soothing tone. “It’s always going to be a part of you now, just like your memories will echo through the halls for generations to come.”
“Okay!” Nicky shook her head at her sister, who was quoting her. “Let’s get going.”
“Good because we’re leaving two hours late, and I’ve already had four calls from Mom asking me when we’re leaving Miami.” Hannah rolled her eyes and stepped into the living room.
Nicky took one last look at the view and back garden, silently saying goodbye to her past. She turned and entered the living room, where Hannah and Belvedere were waiting for her. Hannah had come to help Nicky pack up her life in Miami, tape up the pieces of her shattered marriage, and journey to Marco Island with her into the new chapter of her life.
As they left Miami behind, Nicky felt herself relaxing, and a flicker of excitement sparked inside her. She was leaving all her heartache and stress behind her in the hustle and bustle of the big city. Nicky had thought throwing herself into her work and keeping her and Eric’s lives together would help her heal from the scars of her past. But she’d been wrong. All that did was cover the wounds still festering underneath the tender facade. Nicky had known that three years ago when she’d gone to Marco Island for her mother’s sixty-fifth birthday. As soon as she crossed the town border of Marco Island, Nicky felt herself start to heal.
The last few Christmases, she’d gone back to be with her family, and although they felt the loss of their father, something inside her felt like it was mending. For two months after Eric left her, Nicky wanted to get in her car and run home to Marco Island. After endless calls to her mother and sisters, Nicky finally decided it was time for a change. She’d been growing dissatisfied at work for two years, and her dream of owning a bookstore had grown stronger.
But she had to push it aside to finance Eric’s business venture, Rogers Sports Management.
“You were telling me about the final divorce settlement,” Hannah reminded her as she settled into the passenger seat.
Nicky glanced in the mirror to ensure Belvedere was okay in the back. He was sleeping, stretched out on the back seat.
