In Your Room (21 page)

“Meow.”

They looked down at the exact same moment and burst into laughter. Cheese was underfoot, doing figure eights between them.

“Hey, Cheesy,” Molly said, scooping him up. “Look who came back.”

Charlie reached out to pet him. “I love you, Molly Hill.”

She looked up, caught off guard. “What?”

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “I love you,” he said again.

Whether it was his touch or hearing those words or seeing him right
there, in the flesh, she didn’t know, but something broke inside her.
This
was her chance. She was getting her second chance.

Her instincts were telling her to go for it, that everything was going to be all right; they were yelling for her to let go and to open her heart the way Charlie was laying his open for her.

For the first time in her life, Molly realized, she was going to listen.

I would like to thank my editor, Kristen Pettit, for her keen insight and guidance, and for seeing the potential of this book before it was all on the page.

I’m indebted to Kate Lee for making it all possible, for her continued belief in my work, and for going beyond the expectations of any agent.

And thank you to Laura Schechter, for bringing it all home.

I would also like to thank my loyal readers, especially my mother, Dorothy Fieldman. Her artistic example set the mold. Many thanks also to Jen Ringel and Tom Vance for their astute comments.

Thanks also to Dave Rosner for his invaluable Boulder research.

A warm thank-you to Deborah Stern for helping me pave the way for this path, and to Aliza Pollack for her tireless support.

And finally, to my husband, Alex LeVine, for being such an avid listener with an open heart.