The Replacement Wife (61 page)

“Either that or it was meant to be.” Kat gazed adoringly at Stephen.

“First, I needed to get my head shrunk,” he said. “It took a while, but I finally figured out why I couldn’t let go of my ex: I’d never walked away from a deal. My ego was all wrapped up in it. Once I realized that, I was able to get a grip and move on. That was when I bumped into Kat.”

Kat squeezed his hand. “My lucky day.”

Over lunch, Camille heard about their future plans. They were looking at apartments, with an eye toward moving in together. They’d talked about getting married but weren’t ready to get engaged, they said, though it was clear the only thing holding them back was the strong desire on both their parts not to screw this up by acting in haste. They wanted to do it right, which meant taking it slow.

Afterward, they all rode down in the elevator together before parting ways, Kat and Stephen to head to the Town Car that idled at the curb, Camille to head back to her office. She walked with a light step, smiling to herself at the thought of how fate had led Kat and Stephen full circle. What would her own fate be? she wondered. Was she destined to find love again . . . or would she live alone once the children were grown and on their own?

Turning the corner onto Columbus Circle, she became caught up in the usual swirl of pedestrians. As she made her way past the Time Warner Center, her gaze was drawn upward and she paused to admire the monument at the center of the roundabout, one she’d passed by a thousand times without paying much attention to it. Perched atop the monument was a statue of Christopher Columbus. Contemplating it, Camille thought she knew how Columbus must have felt setting sail for the Americas. He had to have known there was a far greater likelihood he’d sail to his death than to new territories. It was the same for her on a smaller scale. Each morning, when she woke to find the pillow on Edward’s side of the bed as plump and smooth as when she’d turned down the covers the night before, she was reminded that she was on her own, adrift on the open sea of her new existence. She’d weathered her share of storms, and there were storms yet to come. But she was on the path to discovery, which was exciting. Not in search of new territories or even a new relationship at this point, but of the person who was slowly emerging from the wreckage of this last storm, a person with whom she very much wished to become reacquainted.

When she reached the intersection at Eighth Avenue and Fifty-Ninth Street, she stepped onto the crosswalk, walking with a quick, sure stride. A cool, westerly breeze was blowing, a reminder that winter wasn’t far off, but the sun was shining, and when she got to the curb on the other side she paused, heedless of the other pedestrians eddying past in a hurry to get wherever they were going, to tip her head back and savor its warmth.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s been a long road bringing this book home, so first I have to thank my readers, who’ve patiently awaited its publication. The many emails I received inspired me to finish sooner than I might have otherwise.

Many thanks, also, to the following professionals: Janice Spindell, the
ne plus ultra
of matchmakers, who gave me a peek into the high-stakes world of matchmaking. Her success rate is nothing short of astonishing (given my own track record in fixing up friends on blind dates, which so far has netted zero) and proof, in my mind, that matchmaking is best left to the professionals. I owe a debt of gratitude, too, to the wonderful (as well as tall, dark, and handsome) Dr. Jonathan Aviv, for sharing his medical expertise and allowing me to sit in while he examined patients, and then taking time to answer all my questions.

The Replacement Wife
would not have come into being without two special people in my life whose unflagging support kept me going during some dark times: my dear husband, Sandy Kenyon, and my agent and friend, Susan Ginsburg. Their belief in me, and in this book, made all the difference.

It’s also been a joy working with and getting to know my editor, Marjorie Braman, and the dream team at Open Road Integrated Media. Finally, none of it would have been possible without Jane Friedman, who had the vision to see the future of publishing and then had the courage to act on it.

A BIOGRAPHY OF EILEEN GOUDGE

Eileen Goudge (b. 1950) is one of the nation’s most successful authors of women’s fiction, beginning with the acclaimed six-million-copy bestseller
Garden of Lies
.

Goudge is one of six children, and the joys and strife that come with a large family have informed her fiction, much of which centers on issues of sisterhood and family. At eighteen she quit college to get married, a whirlwind experience that two years later left her divorced, broke, and responsible for her first child. It was then that she started writing in earnest.

On a typewriter borrowed from a neighbor, Goudge began turning out short stories and articles. For years she had limited success—selling work to
McCall’s
,
Reader’s Digest
, and the
San Francisco Chronicle
—but in the early eighties she took a job writing for a new young adult series that would become the phenomenally successful
Sweet Valley High
.

Goudge moved her family from California to New York City, where she spent several years writing young-adult fiction, creating series such as
Seniors
,
Swept Away
, and
Who Killed Peggy Sue?
In 1986 she published her first novel of adult fiction,
Garden of Lies
, inspired by a childhood anxiety that, because she did not resemble her brothers and sisters, she had been secretly adopted—a suspicion so strong that, at twelve, Goudge broke into her father’s lockbox expecting to find adoption papers. (She did not.) The tale of children swapped at birth was a national sensation, spent sixteen weeks on the
New York Times
bestseller list, and eventually yielded a sequel,
Thorns of Truth
(1998), which Goudge wrote in response to a decade of fan mail demanding she resolve the story.

Since then, Goudge has continued writing women’s fiction, producing a total of thirteen novels to date. Her most popular works include the three-book saga of Carson Springs—
Stranger in Paradise
(2001),
Taste of Honey
(2002), and
Wish Come True
(2003)—a small, secret-ridden town that Goudge based on scenic Ojai, California. She has also published a cookbook,
Something Warm from the Oven
, which contains recipes that Goudge developed as a reprieve from the stresses of writing novels.

Goudge met her current husband while conducting an interview over the telephone. Entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon was so taken with the author that he asked if he could call her back when the interview was done, and after weeks of late-night conversations they met in person and were married in 1996.

Goudge lives with Kenyon in New York City.

  Goudge at age two, sitting on her father’s shoulders at the San Francisco Zoo. Goudge’s father was a talented painter. In the 1940s he painted caricatures at county fairs though once his family grew he focused on his insurance agency and self-taught skill at architecture.

  Goudge, age three, and her sister, Laura, in a playhouse built by their father. In addition to being a painter and insurance agent, Goudge’s father also designed and built houses.

  Goudge at seven years old, before her First Communion. The photograph was taken in the backyard of her parent’s first house in San Mateo, California. One of six children, Goudge loved being singled out from her brothers and sisters.

  Goudge, second from right, smiling with her three sisters in matching dresses. Goudge’s mother used to make clothes for her children. By the time Goudge entered high school, she had picked up sewing from her mother and begun to make all of her own clothes.

  Goudge with her younger sister, Patty, at a book signing for
Garden of Lies
in 1986. For Goudge, one of the most exciting aspects of the book’s release was being able to share with her friends and family a project she’d been working on for so long.