I am deeply indebted to my agent, Laura Longrigg, for her guidance in the initial shaping of this book; to my editors, Lucy Gilmour and Laura Palmer, for insight into character development and polishing the final draft; and to the team at Aria for their commitment and attention to detail. This is a story about families, so many thanks are also due to the families I know best: Cross, Brovender, Carmody, Ryan and, of course, all the Feenys.