After taking a sabbatical and suffering personal tragedy, Josie Bissett returns to her old Melrose digs

     Things couldn't have been more perfect early last year when Josie Bissett decided it was time to leave Fox's Melrose Place. After five seasons as the spineless Jane Mancini, change was in order, and more important, she and her husband, actor Rob Estes, were expecting their first child. "It was a great opportunity to leave the show for a great reason," Bissett says. Then she miscarried. "It hasn't been easy. But our philosophy is, whatever is meant to be is meant to be." She dove back into work, making two TV-movies (including ABC's upcoming thriller The Fire Above), and she will return to Melrose on August 17. "I had an opportunity to be on a good show with people I'm familiar with," including Estes, who was added to the cast after she left. "It would be foolish to pass it up."
     With the cast now whittled down to seven main characters, Bissett, 27, feels that the show will be more focused. She says her character will be "wiser, more grown up." And she'll get to spend more time with Estes, who shares a trailer with her on the set. But does the fact that his character is head over heels for Heather Locklear's Amanda cause trouble on the home front? "No, I love Heather," she says. "It's just a business. In the beginning of [Rob's and my] careers, it was difficult, but we've been together seven years now. You have to get used to it, otherwise it's too painful."
     Any baby plans? "I have been very fortunate in my life, but this is the one thing I have no control over. It's taught me patience and that I can't plan everything. When I do have a baby, I'm going to be so grateful for it. But it better happen soon, dammit!" -- Mark Schwed