Redemption by Karen Kingsbury

the cost.
    That’s where she and Kari were so different.
    Kari had spent six months in New York, but all she’d accomplished was some modeling and sightseeing. She hadn’t immersed herself in the culture there, hadn’t really lived in New York. Ashley sighed. It was one thing to be safe and conservative, to live a life based on your beliefs. Ashley could admire that, although it certainly wasn’t her—not the safe and conservative part, anyway. But it was another thing entirely to pine away your days waiting for a faithless husband to come to his senses.
    Especially with a hunk of a catch like Ryan Taylor back in town and wonderfully single.
    Ashley thought about Ryan for a moment, the way he and Kari had been when they were younger. Kari had obviously opted for Tim because he seemed to be a safer bet, the type women wouldn’t fawn over the way they fawned over Ryan.
    Ashley had tried to support Kari’s decision, but secretly she thought her sister had made the wrong choice. Ryan Taylor was fun and involved in their family. He loved all the same things Kari loved, and though they’d known each other since they were young teens, their relationship always had an air of electricity about it, something Ashley saw in few couples.
    She smiled at the memory of Ryan. When she was a little kid, Ryan had always found a way to make Ashley feel important.
    Maybe that’s what she liked about him—he was the big brother she’d never had.
    Most jocks had egos in direct proportion to their biceps, but not Ryan. Ashley had grown up hoping he would propose to Kari one day and be part of the Baxter family forever. When they broke up, Ashley had been nearly as upset as her sister.
    That day had become something of a turning point in Ashley’s life. After that, happy endings were no longer a guarantee. It was the same day Ashley determined she wouldn’t allow herself to get involved with a man the way Kari had. The ending was simply too painful, too predictable. There were exceptions, of course. People like her parents. But by Ashley’s assessment, exceptions like that were rare.
    Anyway, regardless of Kari and Ryan’s breakup, Ashley was sure of this: No one would ever love Kari the way Ryan Taylor had. The way he still did, as far as Ashley was concerned. Any doubts she’d had about that faded two months earlier, when she ran into him out by the high school football field.
    Ashley had been jogging that afternoon, and as she rounded the track, she noticed one of the coaches watching her. He was tall and had the rough build of Ryan Taylor.
    Then she remembered.
    He was back in town. Something about his being finished with professional football and getting a job at the high school. Ashley slowed her pace, and on the next lap she watched the tall coach excuse himself from the others and jog purposefully in her direction. They met up at the end of the track nearest the football field.
    “Ashley Baxter, I can’t believe my eyes.” They were both out of breath as they hugged and took a step back to study each other. “You were seventeen last time I saw you, and now you’re all grown-up and gorgeous.”
    Ashley rarely blushed in the presence of complimentary men, and this was no exception. Still, she could feel the smile tugging on her cheekbones. “That’s me. All grown-up.” She met his gaze straight on. “So you came back to finish life in obscurity, huh?”
    Ryan laughed. “I guess.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his nylon sweats and cocked his head. “What do you hear from Kari?”
    Ashley shrugged. It was strange talking to Ryan now that she was a woman. Back when she was growing up, she had been Kari’s kid sister. Now she was twenty-five and he was thirty. If he hadn’t been in love with Kari . . .
    She looked into his pale green eyes and saw not even a flicker of romantic interest. “She lives over at University Park. Her husband’s a professor at the university. No kids.”
    Ryan inhaled slowly