The Marriage Recipe by Michele Dunaway

her lips, noticing their swollen tenderness. Colin had kissed her. Closure. A final kiss to put the past and their silly school crushes behind them. From here on out, they would be nothing more than businesslike.
    A tiny sense of melancholy settled over her as she closed her eyes. Somehow, after a kiss that had rocked her world, the aftermath seemed a waste.
    Â 
    C OLIN DROVE HOME , mindful to keep his speed at the posted limit. After kissing Rachel, he wanted nothing more than to floor the gas pedal and drive all-out.
    He’d wanted to kiss her and prove to himself that nothing passionate existed. That it would be like kissing a sister. Chaste. Platonic.
    He’d been wrong.
    Kissing Rachel had been hot and heavy. To use one of her quotations: like the earth moved. He hadn’t had sex in a car since college, but he’d have had no problem taking Rachel right then and there. Darn, he was going to be lousy for his meeting, and not from lack of sleep.
    The whole situation could be summed up in one word— frustrating. She wanted New York; he wouldn’t leave Morrisville. Nothing between them could work.
    He wasn’t the kind of guy to settle for less than everything, and he’d always wanted that everything with Rachel. He’d envied Bruce for years, thinking how lucky his best friend would be when he woke up and realized Rachel was his dream woman.
    Well, Colin had gotten that completely wrong. Christina was Bruce’s other half.
    Which left Rachel…
    In New York.

Chapter Six
    â€œI can’t believe you kissed Colin Morris again.”
    Rachel furtively glanced around her friend Heather’s kitchen. Busy changing a diaper while watching a basketball game on TV in the adjoining family room, Heather’s husband, Keith, wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to the two women, who were just on the other side of the half wall dividing the rooms.
    â€œI never should have told you,” Rachel said, holding her red-wine glass aloft as Heather wiped down the kitchen table in front of Rachel.
    â€œOf course you should have,” Heather said, expertly arcing the dishcloth and landing it in the sink. “I was there from the beginning, remember? Who else had listened to your mooning over the man since eighth grade?”
    â€œYeah, you have,” Rachel said, nostalgia sweeping through her. The same age, she and Heather had been pals ever since the third grade when Heather’s family had relocated from Saint Louis.
    Rachel had even been one of Heather’s bridesmaids three years ago, standing next to Heather’s sister, who had served as matron of honor. Rachel had made a weekend jaunt home for the wedding, but she hadn’t contacted Bruce or Colin. Maybe she should have. Colin had been offended that she’d simply “ditched him.” Of course, that was what she’d been trying to do all these years.
    Finished diapering, Keith held his ten-month-old daughter aloft. The basketball game was on halftime break and the TV showed a bunch of announcers conversing. “It’s Erin’s bedtime. I’ll put her down so you two can catch up,” Keith announced.
    â€œMama wants a kiss,” Heather told her daughter, and after giving her child a peck on the cheek, Keith made an airplane noise and flew baby Erin away.
    Now that Keith was out of earshot, Heather sat down and reached for the bottle of red wine Rachel had brought. “You sure haven’t had a lot of this,” she said as she topped off both glasses.
    â€œI’m good,” Rachel said as Heather returned the bottle to the center of the table. “Keith seems like a great dad. You’ve found a gem.”
    â€œI have. He’s the best husband and he’s wonderful with Erin,” Heather said, lifting her glass. She thought a moment. “Let’s toast. Cheers.”
    Rachel raised her wineglass and tilted her head. “Yes, but to what?”
    Heather