Ryan, meanwhile, seems to have become an expert at healing. Since her breakup with Crowe, she and Quaid have settled into a friendly relationship. For Jack's birthday in April, the two were together in Montana, where Quaid has kept the 100-acre ranch he owned before marrying. And in May, Ryan had her arms around both her son and her ex on a Sunday stroll in Beverly Hills. "Dennis is a good guy," says Ryan's friend. "Meg talks sweetly about him. He is a good dad, and both he and Meg are absolutely hands-on parents." To protect Jack, says a source close to both of them, they have agreed not to let dates spend the night at their homes or become too involved in Jack's life for another year.

Not that there seems to be anyone on the horizon. Last winter Quaid was seen with (and kissing) Andie MacDowell, 43, his costar in the forthcoming drama Dinner with Friends, but MacDowell's rep denies any romance between the Montana neighbors. Like Crowe, Quaid has his own band -- the Sharks (named by Jack) -- who appeared regularly in Quaid's home state of Texas while he filmed The Rookie in Austin this spring. (Among their numbers: a cover of the Rolling Stones' chestnut "It's All Over Now.") He has also been spotted in clubs from Milan to Manhattan (where he did a bar-top boogie at the hot downtown bar Hogs & Heifers in January), happily hanging with any number of beautiful women.

So, for that matter, has Ryan. She attended a black-tie benefit for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria in March with Melissa Etheridge, danced until 3 a.m. at the gay singer's champagne-and-caviar birthday party at Santa Monica's Buffalo Club in May and sang backup on "Heal Me" on Etheridge's new album Skin. The relationship, however, has not gone beyond strictly platonic. Says her friend with a laugh: "Believe me, there's nothing intriguing there."

Though more complicated than she appeared to be a year ago, Ryan is still Ryan -- not the cute blonde innocent she has played so often onscreen but still the $20 million-per-picture superstar who, as producer Sam Goldwyn Jr. puts it, "I would get down on my knees" to work with. Over the next few months, she could choose to date or, as one friend says, "take a break and reflect." She could get funky and move to Manhattan's Greenwich Village (she recently put her $7.2 million Central Park co-op on the market and is looking at lofts downtown). But one thing is certain: She won't disappear. "If people in the Bible Belt think what she did was wrong," says leading casting agent Mike Fenton, "it may be hard to get really big (box office) numbers for a while. But it will soon be forgotten." Agrees producer Robert Cort (Runaway Bride), who is talking to Ryan about playing female boxing manager Jackie Kallen: "Meg Ryan is rock solid."

-- KAREN S. SCHNEIDER
-- BRUCE STOCKLER in New York City, MICHELLE CARUSO, VICKI SHEFF-CAHAN and JULIE JORDAN in Los Angeles, VICKIE BANE in Aspen, MATT BIRKBECK in Princeton, N.J., ANNE LANG in Austin, SIMON PERRY in London, DENNIS PASSA in Sydney and KAREN EMMONS in Thailand