Ali Fife. This is where I should thank you for dropping everything to spend seventy-two hours on an Irish road listening to me attempt to swear, but I’m going to skip that and talk about another day. It was also in the 2016/2017 haze. Life had been uphill for such a tremendously long time, and I was worn out in every possible way a person could be worn out. I found myself literally lying on the floor, with no idea how I was going to get up off it. And who walked through my door? You. I didn’t even have to call. You just showed up, surveyed the mess my life was in, and stayed. For several days. Who does that? You. Thank you for doing that for me.
The women in my postpartum depression support group at the Healing Group. Even if I never run into any of you again, I will never, ever forget that rock-bottom morning when you surrounded me and gave me the strength I needed to walk out of the room and face being a mother for one more day. Thank you.
Mary Stanley. For providing wisdom and irreverence and large boxes of tissues. Also, for being the first person to whom I ever said the words “I am an artist.”
The Children’s Center. For giving me hope when mine had run out.
Preschool Moms Gone Wild. The friends I didn’t know I needed until we crash-landed at the same picnic table. Thanks for making Motherhood 2.0 less lonely, and for making me laugh harder than just about anyone. I think you are all divine. (When are we getting our tattoos?)
Andrew Herbst. For knowing things about cars and patiently coming up with ways for me to ruin them. (Hey, we’ve been friends for a long time now!)
Eli Zeger. The inspiration for Indie Ian and his articles. Thanks for the phone call. You are such a good writer—I can’t wait to see where your talent takes you. Everyone, look him up on Twitter, @elizeger.
Roisin & Ross. I think the flight attendant who switched our seats was acting under divine influence. Thank you for teaching me the ways of Irish teens and for being so eager to help! Also . . . congratuations on your engagement!
The Army of Nannies. Dana Snell, Hannah Williams, Sarah Adamson, and Malia Helbling. Thank you for carrying my babies when my arms weren’t enough.
My family. Rick, Keri, Ally, Abi, Brit, McKenna, Michael. Thank you all for showing up in your own ways. I am so blessed.
DAVID. My love, my peace, my strength. For a year and a half, we had an ongoing conversation that consisted of me saying, “I can’t—this is too much,” and you responding with, “You can—this is what you’re here for.” You are far more than I deserve, and I’m hanging on tightly to you anyway.
And this last one’s just for me, but it needs to be here. Thank you to the little girl on the raft. New deal: you lead, I follow. I can’t wait to see where we go next.
About the Author
JENNA EVANS WELCH was the kind of insatiable child reader who had no choice but to grow up to become a writer. Her first novel, Love & Gelato, was a New York Times bestseller, a 2017 YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten title, a 2016 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Young Adult Fiction, and a selection for the 2017 Texas Lone Star Reading List. It is currently being published in more than eighteen countries. When she isn’t writing girl-abroad stories, Jenna can be found chasing her babies or making elaborate messes in the kitchen. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and two children.
Find her online at www.jennaevanswelch.com.
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SIMON PULSE
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ALSO BY JENNA EVANS WELCH
Love & Gelato
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Simon Pulse hardcover edition May 2018
Text copyright © 2018 by Jenna Evans Welch
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ISBN 978-1-5344-0100-6 (hc)
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