Leading Lines
Page 15
I think about that quote “Good things don’t end.” Things were good with Dylan. And then they weren’t. I think about Mom and David, how things ended so badly with them, but how that pushed Dad to tell Mom how he felt about her. And that turned into Dad being the only father I ever knew. If things hadn’t ended badly between Mom and David, how differently would my life have turned out? I don’t have the answer, but I know I don’t need it. Mom and David have made amends now, and everything’s out in the open.
I look in the living room and see Mom sitting next to David, the two of them laughing, clearly getting along, and I think maybe Dylan has it right, as mixed up as I feel about him. Maybe remembering the good times will get us through to the next stage in our relationship or friendship or whatever our not-strangers phase will be.
Dace hands my phone back to me. “Are you OK?” she asks, giving me a bear hug.
I squeeze her tight. “No, not yet. But I’ll get there.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’m so lucky to have the wonderful ECW Press as my publisher. Thanks in particular to: Jack David, David Caron, Laura Pastore, Troy Cunningham, Rachel Ironstone, Lynn Gammie, Erin Creasey, Jenna Illies and Susannah Ames, who have all put so much energy into making this third book in the Pippa series as special as the first; my all-star editor, Crissy Calhoun, who feels like Pippa’s real-life BFF and always gives me such valuable guidance, editing and advice; and Jen Knoch, whose comments in the margins never fail to make me laugh; first readers Marissa Stapley for the working pool days that remind me how fun it is to be a writer; Janis Leblanc, who was at the ready so often to help me answer What Would Pippa Do; Sarah Hartley, for her thoughtful notes; and my parents Michel and Susan Guertin and parents-in-law Myron and Nancy Shulgan for the hours and hours (okaaaay, days) of free babysitting so I can write, and all of my family and friends for simply being there. Most of all, to Chris, for all the roles he plays in my life: editor, supporter, love of my life, and number-one crush.
CHANTEL GUERTIN is the bestselling author of four novels—Stuck in Downward Dog, Love Struck, The Rule of Thirds and Depth of Field—and a beauty expert on The Marilyn Denis Show. When she’s not working on a new book, she likes writing in her diary, sending mis-autocorrected texts to her best friends and making to-do lists. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
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Copyright © Chantel Guertin, 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by ECW Press
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Guertin, Chantel, 1976–, author
Leading lines : a Pippa Greene novel / Chantel Guertin.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-77041-232-3 (pbk)
978-1-77090-757-7 (PDF)
978-1-77090-758-4 (ePub)
Editor for the press: Crissy Calhoun
Cover images: © Melina Souza
(www.melinasouza.com)
Author photo: Steven Khan
The publication of Leading Lines has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $157 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and by the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,793 individual artists and 1,076 organizations in 232 communities across Ontario, for a total of $52.1 million. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities, and the contribution of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.