Abby stood at her office window, looking down on the courtyard, something she did nearly every day after lunch. She was hoping to have a Nic sighting. She no longer lied to herself about that. It had been over a month. Five weeks and two days, to be exact, and she still scanned the courtyard each day. She didn’t know what she’d do if she saw her. Would she go down to talk to her? Would she stay here and stare at her as she worked, afraid to go down?

Oh, god, she needed to get a life. She was in such a freakin’ rut, wasn’t she? With a sigh, she moved away from the window and back to her desk. She couldn’t seem to get into a groove. Even here at work, her enthusiasm was lacking. She’d been going through the motions, getting her job done and nothing else.

And personally? She stared at the far wall as her hand rested on the mouse. Her personal life consisted of two dates with Kate—the second of which she was certain would be the last—and dinner out with Marcos once. She didn’t think she liked Kate well enough to even be friends, much less become romantically involved with her. Besides, Kate was still very much hung up on her ex.

Other than that, she hadn’t even seen Beth and Jenna since the dinner date with Kate. They’d invited her over last weekend, but she’d wanted to wallow in her loneliness alone. On top of that, her mother had called on Sunday and inevitably she asked how Nic was. Nicole, she corrected. And they’d managed to get through the conversation without even once mentioning The Wedding.

She let out a deep breath, then shook the mouse, revealing the analytics report she’d been reviewing. It was tedious and mind-numbing, which was a good thing, she supposed. At least it kept her occupied. Before she dove back in, though, her office phone rang. It was her admin assistant.

“Yes, Julie.”

“Abby, there’s a Ms. Welch here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment, but she was hoping you could find time for her.”

Abby frowned. Welch? It didn’t ring a bell. “What account is it in regard to?”

“She says it’s personal.”

Personal? She had no clue what it could be about, but she nodded. “Okay. Send her in. Thank you.” She got up and went to the door, opening it just as a very pregnant woman was about to knock. “Ms. Welch?”

“Thank you for seeing me.”

She closed the door behind her. “Do I know you?” she asked bluntly.

“No. I’m Addison Welch. A friend of Nicky’s. Nic Bennett.”

Abby’s eyes widened. “Addison and Eric, yes.” Then she frowned. “Is something wrong? Is Nic okay?”

“Let’s just say Nicky would kill me if she knew I was here.”