I took the chain between the tips of my fingers, lifted it to the light. Each delicate link sparkled in the sun. It would have been lovely on anyone’s wrist. It would have been precious, with or without me. But it was everything I wanted, because I chose it to be mine.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Eleanor Lonardo of The Borrowed Garden and Mel and Kyle Forrest Burns of Nye Ranch for teaching me about growing flowers and welcoming me to their farms so I could witness the beauty they’ve cultivated.

Stephanie Perkins, thank you for sharing your vast true crime expertise with me. Those epic text chains and podcast binges were the perfect way to begin this project.

Thank you to my writing group—Laura Joyce Davis, Teresa Miller, and Carly Ann West—for your insights and support over all these many years.

Thank you to Amanda Krampf, Brandy Colbert, Jessica Jacobs, and Nicole Kronzer for your invaluable feedback on my drafts, and for your friendship, too.

This novel wouldn’t be what it is without Elana K. Arnold, who talked me through so many struggles and off so many ledges, and gave me the ideas for some of its best moments.

Thank you to Sara Crowe, my generous and steadfast agent and friend. I’m ever fortunate to have you in my corner. And thank you to all of Pippin Properties—what an incredible team you are.

Julie Strauss-Gabel, you pushed me hard on this one. I won’t say it was easy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for helping this book (and all the others) become the best versions of themselves, and for the care you put into every step of the process. Thank you, also, to my entire Penguin family, who I appreciate more than I can say. From making my novels look so beautiful inside and out to ensuring they reach as many readers as they can, I am so grateful.

This novel is coming out in the midst of a global pandemic—something many of us never imagined we’d live through. Thank you to my wife Kristyn, my anchor and my love. Thank you to my daughter Juliet for keeping me playing and laughing and snuggling and marveling.

As I’m writing these acknowledgments, it’s been months since I’ve seen the rest of my family and friends in person. I miss you terribly. I hope you know how much I love you. Thank you—my family of origin, my family through marriage, and my family of friends—for being mine to choose.

About the Author