Life was built from our choices. Mine hadn’t always been good, but not all had been bad. And I couldn’t bring myself to regret a single one of them, especially not the one in my arms.

I kissed her deep and long, vowing to make every single one of those years worth everything that had happened to bring us here.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to my Heavenly Father for blessing me beyond all measure.

Thank you to my husband, Jason, for being my person. For always choosing us. You are the best choice I’ve ever made, and I love you beyond all measure. Thank you to my children, who roll with the deadlines, the signings, and the curveballs we’re tossed. To my sister, Kate, because we finally get to raise our kids together. To my mom for teaching me that a woman’s place is wherever she wants it to be. To my best friend, Emily Byer, for being my vault for the last twenty-plus years.

Thank you to my dad for inspiring so much of this book and my life. For your love and overwhelming grace caring for Grandpa as he slipped away into Alzheimer’s. For raising me as a military brat and then a miner’s daughter. For your incredible love of mining history and your willingness to share your library. For always keeping your office in my toy room and interjecting your own story lines when you thought my dolls might end up with the wrong guys. Thank you for raising a dreamer. You are the standard to which I hold all men.

Thank you to my team at Entangled and Macmillan. To Liz Pelletier not only for editing but urging me to write this book. I’m incredibly grateful for your overwhelming support. To Heather and Jessica for answering endless streams of emails. To my phenomenal agent, Louise Fury, for pretty much nodding when I tell her that I’d like to be a woodland fairy and then somehow making it happen. To Karen, for always picking up the phone.

Thank you to my wifeys, our unholy trinity, Gina Maxwell and Cindi Madsen, who hold my sanity in their capable hands and keep me at the keys. To Jay Crownover for being my safe place and the wolf to my rabbit. To Shelby and Mel for putting up with my unicorn brain. Thank you to Linda Russell for chasing the squirrels, bringing the bobby pins, and holding me together on days I’m ready to fall apart. To Jen Wolfel and Cassie Schlenk for reading this as I wrote it and cheering me on with enough enthusiasm to power a small city. To every blogger and reader who has taken a chance on me over the years. To my reader group, The Flygirls, for bringing me joy every day.