Page 119 of Wildfire
Everyone in the room laughs, and out of the corner of my eye I spot Mrs. Brown muttering something to John from one of the bowling stores. “Thank you to everyone who helped get the store ready. My wonderful father-in-law for spending all his time making sure things were perfect; my friends for helping get rid of that awful magnolia color, and for helping to make hundreds of tiny stars. Thanks to my mom for sending me carefully curated lists of books I should buy.
“God, this is turning into an Oscar speech. I’ll wrap it up. It’s no secret that I love books. I love stories about people I don’t know, and places I haven’t been to. I’ve lived a thousand lives between a thousand pages, but no story, no life, no page has ever made me as happy as you do, Russ Callaghan.” Everyone awws, and I feel the tips of my ears turn pink. “Before I met you, I hadn’t considered what my happy ending might look like. I wasn’t sure I’d get one. You’re myhappy ending, Russ. I fell in love with you in Meadow Springs, and watching you help build our life here has made me fall in love with you a million more times. Thank you for giving me a life that feels too good to be true. Thank you for letting me bring home animals even when you say no. Thank you for letting me live my dreams every day.”
I want to rush over there and kiss her until her lips turn pink, but this is her job now and I don’t want to embarrass her. Instead, I raise my glass in her direction. “To happy endings.”
She raises her glass. “And unlimited pets.”
“No,” I immediately respond, but it’s too late.
“To happy endings and unlimited pets,” the room echoes.
Acknowledgments
PEOPLE SAY “IT TAKES Avillage” about a lot of things, but boy does it apply to this book.
First of all, I need to say thank you to you, reader. Without your overwhelming enthusiasm forIcebreakerI wouldn’t be writing the Acknowledgments for my second book. To say I never saw it coming is the understatement of the century, but the aftermath of the incredible support you’ve shown me has changed my life. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you to my husband, for pretending to be an airport. Also, for not judging how much Starbucks I ordered while working on this book.
Erin, Ki, and Rebecca: For listening to me talk nonstop for the past year, for supporting me through the scary but wonderful transition into traditional publishing, and for tolerating seeing me on your FYP far more than you’d all like.
Lauren, for reading this book more times than I have and being supportive for every second of it. You deserve an award for keeping me sane, even when I start dying at three a.m. miles away from home. I’m so lucky to have you on my side.
Kimberly, for helping me navigate this weird new world and always being there when I need you, time zones be damned. You are truly wonderful, and I could not do any of this without you. I am so grateful for everything that you do for me.
Ellie, for your valiant attempts to keep me young and relevant. I’m so lucky you sawIcebreakerthat day, and I’m so happy we get to work together. I’m proud of how far you’ve come in the past twelve months, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings us.
Nicole, I’m not sure anybody loves Russ and Aurora as much as you do. Thank you for always being there to listen to my millions of ideas and for cheering me on every step of writing this book.
Allie and Kimmy, for taking the time to read my drafts and give me your honest feedback. Your positivity was what I needed and I’m so thankful that I can call you both friends.
Becs and Elena, for telling me I could write this book when it really, really felt like I couldn’t at times. I’m so thankful that ten-minute voice notes are the norm in our friendship group.
Becky, for just generally being my favorite bear and Henry’s girl.
And my biggest thank-you to the whole Simon & Schuster and Atria team: Molly, Sarah, Sabah, Pip, Kaitlin, Ife, Morgan, Zakiya, Megan, Anthea, Kate, and everyone else behind the scenes who works their butts off to make my books what they are. I could not be prouder to be part of this group and I’m so thankful to each of you who work tirelessly to support me in any way you can.
