Just Good Friends (29 page)

“
I heard Amy Rudolph had
another girl,” Tiffany’s mom said after she took a picture of
Tyler’s mom and Eddie.

“
Yep,” Tyler replied. “She
was born in August. Nathan couldn’t be happier. He set up a daycare
for his children next to his office, so he can go in and see them
from time to time.”

“
There are benefits to being
the boss,” Tiffany commented.

Though she decided to be at home with
Eddie, it had been nice when Nathan offered to let her son be in
the daycare if she wanted to return to work.

“
He likes having them close
by,” Tyler said. “Considering how long he wanted children, I can’t
blame him.”

“
He’s a good dad,” Tiffany
agreed. “And you are, too, Tyler.”

The phone in the kitchen rang, and
Tiffany excused herself so they could keep talking. When she saw
the call was coming from Montana, she hesitated to answer it but
decided she might as well.

“
Hi, Tiffany,” her sister
said. “I hope it’s okay that I called.”

“
Sure.” Tiffany brushed her
hair over her shoulder and cleared her throat. “You can call here.
Did you want to talk to Mom or Dad?”

“
No, I wanted to talk to
you.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yeah. Um, I didn’t send you
a card last month, but I’m glad you had a healthy baby
boy.”

Picking up on the uncertainty in her
sister’s tone, Tiffany realized her sister was nervous. That was a
first. She couldn’t recall her sister ever being nervous around
her. “Zoe, are you okay?”

“
I’m fine. I’m doing good
actually. I just found out I’m expecting.”

“
You are? That’s
great.”

“
Please don’t tell Mom or
Dad. I want to surprise them when they get back.”

“
I won’t,” Tiffany promised,
twirling her hair around her fingers. Okay, so she was just as
nervous as Zoe. But that was to be expected since she hadn’t said
much of anything to her sister since the wedding. “They’ll be
thrilled.”

Zoe chuckled. “I bet. They were excited
when Eddie was born.” After a moment, she continued, “Look, I know
I haven’t been the best sister in the world, and I let my jealousy
get the best of me in the past. But when I found out I was
pregnant, I… I don’t know. I guess I thought it’d be nice if our
children could see each other. Maybe be friends, you
know?”

“
That would be nice.” And
then Tiffany wouldn’t have to feel awkward when she visited her
family.

“
I’m sorry for everything.
I’d say what but the list is pretty long.”

Relaxing, Tiffany laughed. “It’s okay.
I don’t want to rehash the past. I’d rather move
forward.”

“
Really?”

“
Really.”

Zoe released her breath. “I’m so glad
to hear that. I wouldn’t have blamed you for saying no and hanging
up on me.”

“
Well, it’s Christmas. Today
is the perfect day for starting over.”

“
Yeah, I suppose it is.” She
paused then added, “Mind if I email you sometime?”

“
No, I wouldn’t
mind.”

Tiffany told Zoe her email address, and
Tyler came into the kitchen just as she said good-bye and hung up.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“
No, everything’s alright.”
She stared at the phone for a couple seconds, still not believing
what happened. “Tyler, do you believe in miracles?”

“
I hadn’t thought about it.
Why?”

“
That was Zoe, and she
called to apologize.”

“
She did?”

“
Yeah. She was being
nice.”

With a smile, he wrapped his arms
around her and pulled her closer to him. “Then I would say miracles
can definitely happen.”

“
I think things will
actually work out between us,” she said.

“
Good. I’m glad.” He cupped
her face in his hands and kissed her. “Your dad wants to know if
you’d like to check out some Christmas lights around
town.”

“
That’d be nice.” It’d be a
perfect way to end the day, especially after getting the pleasant
call from her sister. “I love you, Tyler.”

“
I love you,
too.”

He gave her another kiss, and they
returned to the living room.

The End

Just
Good Friends is Book 3 in the

Omaha Contemporary
Romances Series

Here are the first two
books:

With This Ring I Thee
Dread:
Ryan Jackson and Elizabeth Valentine
can’t stand each other. And in order to keep their jobs, they will
have to get married and spend four months in a remote Alaskan
cabin. They accept the terms but are determined that their parents’
ruse will never work...until Ryan changes his mind.

What Nathan Wants:
Nathan Rudolph interviews all the single women in
his company. They think they might get a job promotion, but he
comes with a marriage license instead.

Across the Stars Series by Ruth Ann Nordin

(Contemporary Romances with a Hint of
Science Fiction or Fantasy)

Suddenly a Bride:
Rilo An grew up on a world with no women. One day,
he makes the decision to go to another planet to find a wife. He’ll
have to change his name and give up everything he’s ever known, but
for the sake of finding true love, he takes the risk. And his quest
sends him to Earth, specifically to Caitlyn Davis who will be
married before the night is done.

Runaway Bride:
Mark Tanner also comes from a world without women
on it, but he’s determined he’ll find his future bride on his own.
The problem? Once he meets Lexie (Caitlyn’s sister in Book 1), he
realizes she’s already engaged. But Lexie isn’t married yet, and
Mark will do whatever he can to convince her that he’s the better
choice.

His Abducted Bride:
Sandy Davis is just about to write the scene where
she finally kills the villain in her fantasy novel. But the villain
will do whatever it takes to stay alive...even if he has to trap
her into the story and marry her.

Chronological Order of All Romances by Ruth Ann
Nordin

Regencies

Marriage by Scandal
Series

The Earl’s Inconvenient
Wife

A Most Unsuitable Earl

His Reluctant Lady

The Earl’s Scandalous Wife

Marriage by Deceit
Series

The Earl’s Secret Bargain

Love Lessons With the Duke (coming
January 3, 2015)

Regency
Standalones

Her Counterfeit Husband

Historical Westerns

Nebraska Historical
Romances

Her Heart’s Desire

A Bride for Tom

A Husband for Margaret

Eye of the Beholder

The Wrong Husband

Shotgun Groom

To Have and To Hold

His Redeeming Bride

Isaac’s Decision

South Dakota Historical
Romances

Loving Eliza

Bid for a Bride

Bride of Second Chances

Montana
Collection

Mitch’s Win

Boaz’s Wager

Patty’s Gamble

Native American Romance
Series

Restoring Hope

Brave Beginnings

Bound by Honor, Bound by
Love

A Chance In Time (novella) – main
characters show up in Restoring Hope and Bound by Honor, Bound by
Love)

Virginia Brides
Series

An Unlikely Place for Love

The Cold Wife

An Inconvenient Marriage

Romancing Adrienne

Other Historical Western
Romances

Falling In Love With Her
Husband

Kent Ashton’s Backstory (Prequel to
Catching Kent)

Catching Kent

His Convenient Wife (coming November
16, 2014)

Meant To Be

Co-Written
Books

The Stagecoach Bride (with Stephannie
Beman)

Bride By Arrangement (with Janet Syas
Nitsick)

Contemporaries

Omaha Contemporary
Romances

With This Ring, I Thee
Dread

What Nathan Wants

Just Good Friends

Florida Contemporary
Romances

Substitute Bride

Across the
Stars

Suddenly a Bride

Runaway Bride

His Abducted Bride

Enchanted Galaxy
Series

A Royal Engagement

Royal Hearts (coming March 21,
2015)

To find
out more about Ruth Ann Nordin’s available books and her works in
progress, you can go to the following sites:

Her Author Blog:

http://ruthannnordinauthorblog.wordpress.com

Her Website:

www.ruthannnordin.com

You can also find her on
Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ruth.a.nordin