Ginette felt the lightness fill up her insides again. Because she was happy to hear that Pete loved her. Even though she already knew he did.

“And, now,” continued Pete, “you feel farther away from me—and closer to me—than you’ve ever felt. And you feel known—and unknown. And familiar—and unfamiliar. All at the same time.”

And Ginette nodded and said, “Yeah.” Because she knew what he meant. And felt the same way.

And it was scary.

But not.

And then Pete slid closer to Ginette.

Until he was right next to her.

And then he scooched down and rested his head on her shoulder.

And was as close to her as he could possibly be.

Which felt right.

Because Ginette and Pete had always been close.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The cover of this book says that I wrote it. And I did. But I couldn’t have—without the help of more people than I can list here.

But I would like to thank the following people with my whole heart for making this thing possible:

Ibi Janko, Andrew Polk, Anita Stewart, Gabriel Barre, Wendy Rich Stetson, Justin Hagan, Larry Nathanson, Jan and Dave Cronin, Jack Thomas and Bruce Payne, Finnerty Steeves, Miriam Shor, Todd Cerveris, and Dramatists Play Service for helping Almost, Maine, the play, find its way into the world. (Please see the acknowledgments page in Almost, Maine: Third Revised Edition for a more complete list.)

Will Schwalbe, for finding Almost, Maine, the play, and for thinking it would make an interesting book.

Jean Feiwel, for taking a chance on this first-time author. And for being patient and kind and encouraging—and for pushing me to deliver.

Richard Fisher, for encouraging me to give this a shot.

Steve Ross, my agent, for helping me understand the world of book publishing. And for being so supportive. And for talking about books and tennis.

Kat Brzozowski, my editor, for making me cut and cut and cut. And for helping think about forward motion. And for being patient—and always positive.

Linda Minton and Mandy Veloso, for the copyediting expertise. To the proofreaders and the sensitivity readers whose names I never got. You’re remarkable.

Barb Lloyd, for giving me good books to read.

Rachel Lloyd, for always making me feel like things are possible.

Kristie and Joe Lloyd, for always asking what I was up to and how it was all going.

Sam Lloyd, for telling me once that you thought I was a good playwright. And for having an imagination that inspires.

Katie and Dennis O’Brien, for always asking how the book was going. And for your new quintessentially Maine digs—which were inspiring.

Bailey O’Brien, for talking to me about storytelling and writing. And for making me feel like I was going to be able to do this.

Julie and Dave Walsh, for caring and always wondering how I was doing—and for the office where I wrote chapters six and ten. And for camp.

The entire Lloyd family, for making me a better Mainer—or, pseudo-Mainer.

Jack Cummings III, Donna Lynne Champlin, Kevin Isola, and Kelly McAndrew, for being excited about the second page I let anyone read—and thinking it was pretty good.