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Her gaze dropped to her left hand, where the wedding ring caught in the pale sunlight. She twisted it absentmindedly, something she’d done a thousand times before. Most people assumed she still wore it because she wasn’t ready to date or because she was still mourning for her husband.

The truth was more complicated than that. She wasn’t wearing it to tell the world she still belonged to Phil. She wore it because taking it off felt…

Final.

As long as the ring remained, some irrational part of her could pretend their story hadn’t ended. Removing it felt like closing a book she never wanted to finish. Like there were no more chapters.

Her vision blurred with tears. “Phil,” she whispered, his name cracking something open inside her. “I miss you. I miss you every single day.”

She closed her eyes, swiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks, images of her daughter flashing through her mind. Pip on her bicycle, so proud and fearless. She was so much like her father sometimes, it took Vivian’s breath away.

“I wish you could have known her, could have been the one to teach her how to ride that bike.”

Instead, it had been Dean, and he’d been a wonderful teacher…just like Phil would have been.

She dismissed that thought, purposely putting away comparisons of Dean and Phil. Dean wasn’t replacing him. No one ever could. They weren’t the same men, and there was nothing wrong with that.

She loved Phil. She always would.

But she was beginning to suspect…she could fall in love with someone else, as well.

Maybe even Dean.

That realization no longer scared her as much as she expected. Her heart had healed. And while that felt incredible, it also felt like only one hurdle had been cleared. There were other roadblocks in her path, and some felt insurmountable. The main one being Pip’s happiness. Vivian was terrified of doing anything that might hurt her daughter.

Vivian shut that fear down, allowing herself to enjoy today’s win.

“One day at a time,” she murmured under her breath. Those words had been her mantra for years, but she probably hadn’t said them to herself in over nine months.

For so long, she’d believed loving someone else meant loving Phil less. Now, standing in this quiet bathroom alone, she finally understood that wasn’t how love worked. It wasn’t pie. Giving a piece to someone new didn’t make the pieces she gave to her husband disappear.

Her thumb slid beneath the edge of the wedding ring. She thought about Phil who used to tease her for alphabetizing the spice rack, who danced with her in the kitchen while their pancakes burned, who kissed her forehead every morning before work.

Phil had never asked her to stop living. In fact, he’d begged her to do the opposite. To get out there, to open her heart, to love again.

She looked at her reflection, watching as the last of her tears evaporated. Determination replaced guilt, and hope took over, kicking confusion and anxiety to the curb.

“I’m ready,” she said to herself, letting the words bolster her.

With steady fingers, she eased the ring over her knuckle. It caught for just a second before slipping free.

Her hand looked different, felt lighter. She stared at the gold band in her palm, then set the ring in the small dish by the sink. She drew in a long, steady breath, then opened the bathroom door, stepping back into the bedroom.

Dean was still asleep. The sight of him made her smile, and this time, she let herself walk back to him, crawling under the covers. Either her movement or her now-chilly skin roused him.

“Okay?” he asked, his voice husky from sleep.

Vivian snuggled beneath the comforter, sighing happily as he pulled her into his arms. “Yeah.”

His eyes remained half closed. “You were gone.”

“Bathroom.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, settling his chin on top of her head. “I missed you. You have a busy day today?”

“I have to be at work at eight,” she replied regretfully. “I like to spend an hour going over lab reports and checking emails before I start seeing patients. I have a new patient coming in at ten who’s starting in our cancer clinic, and from there…well, I’m hopping between meetings and patients all day. Never a dull moment. How about you?”

Dean grunted. “Gotta be on the bus with the team by ten. We’re heading to Pittsburg for a game tonight. Following that, we’re climbing back on the bus and continuing to Boston. On the road for four days.”