The woman centered in the middle of the poster board isn’t on a lawn chair; she’s in a high-backed silver throne. Instead of a tablecloth, a paisley robe drapes her body, its swirls made up of every color in the tackle box of markers. She has the neck of a Modigliani, the face of a Watteau. Her eyes are fixed directly on the viewer and her mouth is curved at one corner, like the Mona Lisa’s. A narrow, golden crown rests on top of her head. Behind her, a valley rolls out, full of meadows and miniature trees and tiny animals: dogs, zebras, rhinoceroses, alligators—right out of the pastel pages of a children’s illustrated Bible. In the top right corner of the sky, so small that Teresa has to lean forward to distinguish its shape, is a saucerlike craft. Her ship, she thinks, either leaving or about to land. At the bottom of the poster board is the word Teresa.

Frankie’s head is tilted back. He’s staring straight up. She glances toward the street, visible in the gap between their house and the next, and sees a dump truck crawling past, then a crane, and finally the massive yellow hull of a bulldozer.

“It’s beautiful,” she says, looking back at the portrait, her eyes going damp. She reaches out and rests a hand on his shoulder.

Still staring at the sky, rising up onto his toes, Frankie wraps his narrow arm around her waist. “It’s you.”

Acknowledgments

The support and encouragement I’ve received from Michael Carroll over the last twenty years, along with his friendship, have profoundly and positively shaped my life, and I owe him a world of gratitude. My mother, Beverly Neel, kept the faith against all odds; for that and a thousand other reasons, she’s a woman to be celebrated.

Susan Kamil, my editor, is a dream come true: warm, wise, committed, and a source of constant reassurance at every turn. Lisa Bankoff, my agent, believed in this book from the beginning and worked wonders in the interest of finding a good home for it. My friend Andrew Miller devoted himself to plowing through the early drafts with a red pen and improved every page.

Special thanks to my family, and to the following people who have provided various and sometimes crucial forms of support recently and over the years: Denver Butson, Daniel Casey, Chet Childress, Noah Eaker, James P. Elder, Will Fabro, Craig Ferguson, Thomas Lee Jones, Rhonda Keyser, Jack Lynch, David Masello, Joe B. McCarthy, David McConnell, Lee Morrow, Duncan Osborne, Mark Pitman, Anna Schachner, Hannah Tinti, Don Weise, and Tina Wexler.

And if it weren’t for the amazing Fred Blair, none of it would have been possible.

About the Author