Blueprints: A Novel (54 page)
Read Blueprints: A Novel Online
Authors: Barbara Delinsky
‘I’m not,” Jamie said and realized that she meant it. “I’m really not. Not that
Gut It!
doesn’t matter. I mean, I love that we’re still doing the show, and the new coffee table book is going to be amazing. But it isn’t the only thing in my life.”
“That’s an understatement,” her mother drawled and asked, “I take it you’re happy with the latest new architect?” Jamie had actually been through two before finding a woman who could execute a similar architectural vision. Moreover, she had kids of her own, which meant that she was comfortable, in essence, job sharing with Jamie.
“Like her a lot,” Jamie declared, more concerned about dinner on the deck. Wanting to make sure everything was where it should be, she linked her arm through Caroline’s. They had no sooner left the kitchen, though, when her attention caught on her grandmother’s Victorian lace, which now hung on her own dining room wall.
“I feel guilty having this here, Mom.”
“Oh, no no no. Do not. This is where it’s supposed to be, one generation to the next.” They stood together before it. “What do you see?”
“Maybe it’s laughing at me and my cole slaw, because I see a bunch of big wide grins.”
“Those are happy grins. Satisfied grins.
Fulfilled
grins. I see them, too. What do you think that means?”
Jamie didn’t answer. Her throat was suddenly tight. She had her mother back with an even greater appreciation of their relationship, but that was just the beginning. Looking past the dining room, through the great room and out the French doors to a colorfully food-filled deck, where her husband was standing with Caroline’s would-be husband, flipping burgers on a huge gas grill, while the boys wandered from adult to adult eating hot dogs and chips, she was overwhelmed.
Then Theo looked their way. His wrinkled face broke into a grin, seconds before an arthritic hand gestured them out.
Neither was about to refuse.
Do I seriously have to write about things I don’t know? How easy it would be to stick with the tried and true! Unfortunately, it would also be boring. I’ve always prided myself on making every one of my books different, so I naturally gravitate to the new. Or maybe I simply like new things, and if I do, I feel my readers will, too. Writing about new things is slightly scary at times. Trust me, there was plenty of insomnia where
Blueprints
was concerned.
My medicine for that? Good people, willing to share their expertise with me. I start by thanking Susan Wornick, television personality extraordinaire, who gave me enough information on how the real thing works to make
Gut It!
credible. I also knew nothing about architecture until Jenne Whitelaw and Peter Darlow filled me in enough so that I could picture a real architect’s life. My thanks to them. In the field of construction, huge thanks to Bob Gavill and to Ed Foran, for answering my questions. And Ed’s crew, which unwittingly made my book real. They were here in my house doing renovation work while I watched and asked questions. And they thought my curiosity was idle. Hah! My apologies for any deception, along with admiration and thanks.
Writing about these fields, I’ve taken liberties in the name of fiction. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.
My thanks, as always, to my agent, Amy Berkower, and to my editor, Hilary Rubin Teeman, and her talented and dedicated team at St. Martin’s Press. Thanks to my assistant, Lucy Davis, whose work exceeds assisting, to Linda Kay, for references and a ready ear, and to Eric MacLeish, for sharing child custody info in answer to every last question I posed. And to my family, truly the footprint on which my own personal blueprints are drawn. Much thanks and love forever.
Finally, my readers continue to be my greatest professional pleasure. With the landscape of the book world constantly changing, they continue to read my books. I never forget that.
BARBARA DELINSKY
is a
New York Times
bestselling author with more than thirty million copies of her books in print. She has been published in twenty-eight languages worldwide. A lifelong New Englander, Delinsky earned a B.A. in psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in sociology at Boston College. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, more books than she’ll ever be able to read, two tennis racquets, and enough electronic devices to keep in close touch with her children and their families.
Visit her at
wwww.BarbaraDelinsky.com
or
www.facebook.com/bdelinsky
. Or sign up for email updates
here
.
ALSO BY
BARBARA DELINSKY
Heat Wave
Sweet Serenity
A Special Something
Up All Night
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click
here
.
Contents
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLUEPRINTS.
Copyright © 2015 by Barbara Delinsky. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs: ladder leaning against wall © Ojo Images/Getty Images; blueprints © Comstock/Getty Images
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to ankoress 2015 [email protected].
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-00704-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7885-3 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466878853
First Edition: June 2015