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To my mother, Phyllis S. Kantra, with thanks for everything you taught me.

And in loving memory of Robert A. Kantra. I miss you, Dad.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First off, I owe an enormous debt to Louisa May Alcott, whose Little Women has inspired me in so many ways.

Huge thanks to my editor, Cindy Hwang. I’m so glad we got to do this together. It is a joy, always, to work with you. And thank you to Danielle Keir, Angela Kim, Jessica Plummer, Colleen Reinhart, and all the wonderful team at Berkley!

At Writers House, I’m so grateful to my agent, Robin Rue, who believed in this story from the beginning. Thank you and Beth Miller for reading it (over and over) and making it a better book.

To my sister, Pam Archbold. Because whatever happens, we have each other.

To my sisters-in-law, Mary Keefer and Ginny Grisez, for letting me be part of the Rockettes chorus line.

To my sisters of the heart, Carolyn Martin Buscarino, Kristen Dill, and Brenda Harlen, who persist in thinking I can do things.

Thanks to Mary-Theresa Hussey, for your insights and for sharing the story of your mother, Sheila Hussey, with me. To Kathy Hamilton and Lisa Jackson, for being at the bottom of the driveway when I had a question about soccer or needed a sympathetic ear. To Kristan Higgins, who told me to shut up and write the book (but much more nicely than that, because she is the nicest person) and Eileen Rendahl; to my Fiction From the Heart pals—Jamie Beck, Tracy Brogan, Sonali Dev, Kwana Jackson, Donna Kauffman, Sally Kilpatrick, Falguni Kothari, Priscilla Oliveras, Barbara O’Neal, Hope Ramsay, and Liz Talley—for your fellowship; and to Suzanne Brockmann and Ed Gaffney, for taking me to Orchard House.

Thank you Jean, Andrew and Celia, and Mark and Katie, for the privilege of watching you become the people you were meant to be. And to Katerina Abigail, who I hope will one day take this book from the shelf and see her name.

To Michael. Tell your story, you said. You are my hero. There are no stories without you.

And finally, thanks to you, dear readers, for sharing your time with me. You are the best.

CONTENTS

Praise for Virginia Kantra and Her Novels

Berkley Titles by Virginia Kantra

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Readers Guide

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt from Beth & Amy

About the Author

PROLOGUE

Christmas Eve, Then

Bunyan, North Carolina

Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

White Christmas was playing on the TV, but this year the scenes of soldiers far from home made her throat ache. It felt weird to be watching the movie without Dad. Everything felt wrong this year.