Good Daughter (9781101619261)

Praise for the novels of Jane Porter

She’s Gone Country

“I’ve always been a big fan of Jane Porter’s. She understands the passion of grown-up love and the dark humor of mothering teenagers. What a smart, satisfying novel She’s Gone Country is.”

—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of the Virgin River novels

“A celebration of a woman’s indomitable spirit. Suddenly single, juggling motherhood and a journey home, Shey embodies every woman’s hopes and dreams. Once again, Jane Porter has written her way into this reader’s heart.”

—Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author

“Richly rewarding.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Strongly plotted, with a heroine who is vulnerable yet resilient…engaging.”

—The Seattle Times

Easy on the Eyes

“An irresistible mix of glamour and genuine heart…Easy on the Eyes sparkles!”

—Beth Kendrick, author of The Pre-nup

“A smart, sophisticated, fun read with characters you’ll fall in love with. Another winning novel by Jane Porter.”

—Mia King, national bestselling author of Good Things and Sweet Life

Mrs. Perfect

“With great warmth and wisdom, in Mrs. Perfect Jane Porter creates a richly emotional story about a realistically flawed and wonderfully human hero who only discovers what is important in life when she learns to let go of her quest for perfection.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Porter’s authentic character studies and meditations on what really matters make Mrs. Perfect a perfect summer novel.”

—USA Today

“The witty first-person narration keeps things lively in Porter’s latest. Taylor’s neurotic fussiness provides both vicarious thrills and laughs before Taylor moves on to self-awareness and a new kind of empowerment…a feel-good read.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Flirting with Forty

Basis for the Lifetime Original Movie

“A terrific read! A wonderful, life- and love-affirming story for women of all ages.”

—Jayne Ann Krentz, New York Times bestselling author

“Fits the bill as a calorie-free accompaniment for a poolside daiquiri.”

—Publishers Weekly

Odd Mom Out

“Jane Porter must know firsthand how it feels to not fit in. She nails it poignantly and perfectly in Odd Mom Out. This mommy-lit title is far from fluff…Sensitive characters and a protagonist who doesn’t cave to the in-crowd gives this novel its heft.”

—USA Today

“[Porter’s] musings on balancing work, life, and love ring true.”

—Entertainment Weekly

“The draining pace of Marta’s life comes across convincingly, and Porter’s got a knack for getting into the heads of the preteen set; Eva’s worries are right on the mark. A poignant critique of mommy cliques and the plight of single parents.”

—Kirkus Reviews

The
Good
Daughter

JANE PORTER

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa), Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin China, B7 Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

THE GOOD DAUGHTER

Copyright © 2013 by Jane Porter.

Excerpt from The Good Wife copyright © 2013 by Jane Porter.

Cover design by Rita Frangie.

Cover photo by Allan Jenkins / Trevillion Images.

Book design by Laura K. Corless.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / February 2013

ISBN: 978-1-101-61926-1

An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.

For my father, Tom Porter
I was fifteen when I lost you,
but you’d already given me the gift of words
the ability to dream
and the hunger to tell my stories.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to everyone at Penguin, with special thanks to my editor, the brilliant Cindy Hwang. I am so very grateful for the support.

And thank you to my family, my friends, and my readers, who have also become my family and friends. I would not be here, published and dreaming of new stories, if it weren’t for you.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Kit

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Part 2: Delilah

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

The Good Wife

Part 1

Kit

One

Make a wish.

And just like that, wishes sprang to mind. One, two, three.

But it wasn’t Kit Brennan who was supposed to be making wishes. It was Cass’s night. The Brennan family had gathered to celebrate Cass’s thirty-sixth birthday at Kit’s childhood home in San Francisco’s inner Sunset district.

There were ten at the table in the Edwardian-period dining room, with its high ceiling and elaborate wainscoting, the lights still out, the last of the happy birthday song dying away. Kit. Her parents. Her sister Meg and her family. Her brother, Tommy, and his wife, Cass, whose birthday they were celebrating.

“Make a wish, Cass,” Mom said from her seat at the head of the table.