I. Title.

PS3616.O78G66 2013

813'.6—dc23

201301520

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / September 2013

Cover design by Rita Frangie

Cover photo © Andreas Gradin / Shutterstock

Book design by Laura K. Corless

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.

Contents

Praise for the novels of Jane Porter

The Good Wife

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

For Megan Crane

You are a wise woman

Safety net

And glue.

I love you!

Acknowledgments

Books are work. This book was especially demanding. I tore the story apart over and over to make it into what I wanted it to be. The process was hard and scary but ultimately I wrote the story I wanted. But I didn’t get this story without help.

So, first and foremost, thank you to my amazing editor, Cindy Hwang. You give me such freedom to find my stories and push the boundaries of what I know, I believe, and what I can do.

Thank you to Megan Crane for discussing this story endlessly. Your friendship has changed me, and given me strength to live, love, and create even in the middle of messy.

Thank you to Lilian Darcy for being willing to read this story in various drafts, and give me your insights so I could make it even better. Your input made such a difference. You are a truly gifted writer, a dear friend, and I value you immensely.

Thank you to Lee Hyat. You work so hard for me, and have for years. I’m deeply grateful. You’ve made a significant difference in my life, and career.

Thank you to Kari Andersen, Kimberly Field, and Marlene Engel for being Beta readers. You girls rock! Thank you also to my awesome Street Team. You know who you are. Thank you for being part of my world and making each book launch fun!

Thank you to Shevawn Maida for all your care, compassion, friendship, and love. We are so lucky you agreed to become part of our family.

And last, but not least, thank you to my husband, Ty Gurney. You always have my back, and you make me feel like I can do anything. Thank you for being my guy. I love being your girl.

One

All you have to do is get through this, Sarah told herself, gulping down wine from her mom’s Waterford Lismore goblet.

She didn’t have to like it. Didn’t have to be at the door, greeting every single person as he or she arrived. Didn’t have to know the right thing to say, or the right thing to do, because that was Mom’s job. Dad might be the rock in the family, but Mom was the glue.

Mom.

Jesus.

Sarah drank more wine, blinking back tears as she dodged yet another well-meaning guest, trying to avoid her family at the same time, which was even more challenging as the Brennans were a large family, and she the youngest of five, with aunts and uncles and cousins in every corner of the house.

Normally she loved her close, opinionated family, but right now she didn’t want to talk to any of them, unable to deal with them. They’d spent the past few days monitoring her eating, her drinking, her parenting skills, and then bombarding her with unsolicited suggestions and advice, forgetting that at thirty-five, she was an adult, a woman, not little Sarah, the charming, good-natured baby of the family.

It’d been years since she had thought of herself as charming or good-natured. Sarah was also certain that Boone, her husband of thirteen years, wouldn’t call her good-natured either. No, he’d probably describe her as intense, emotional, demanding. Maybe even a little unstable, but honestly, what professional athlete’s wife wasn’t?

Once upon a time, a long time ago, she’d been the athlete, playing soccer, basketball, and softball in elementary school, and then volleyball, basketball, and softball in high school before going on to play volleyball at UCLA.