On Second Thought(79)
He put his other hand against my cheek, and I turned my head and kissed it. "Yes," I said. "Let's go home."
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to my editor, Susan Swinwood, who never fails to make my books better and is so much fun to work with. The entire team at Harlequin gets a huge shout-out for their encouragement, support, enthusiasm and talent, not just for this book, but for all my books.
My agent, Maria Carvainis, gets a thousand thanks for so ably guiding my career, and thanks as well to Elizabeth Copps, Martha Guzman and Samantha Brody at Maria Carvainis Agency, Inc.
To Kim Castillo, Sarah Burningham and Mel Jolly, thank you for helping me in the thousand ways that we authors need to be helped or we would otherwise wander around in the hallways, bumping into things.
To Marie Curtis, an amazing photographer and, even better, an old friend, who advised me on Kate's profession, and who also has taken pictures of my family and me for the past few decades. Thank you, Marie!
To Jennifer Iszkiewicz, Huntley Fitzpatrick, Karen Pinco and Shaunee Cole for the friendship, laughter and all-around fabulosity that makes the very air shimmer when we're together. I love you guys so much.
To my mom, the funny, wonderful, generous woman who puts up with her middle child.
To my kids, who are simply everything, always-first in my heart and last on my mind.
To the love of my life, Terence Keenan, who makes life fun, reassures me when I'm worried and brings me coffee every morning.
And to you, readers. Thank you for picking up this book. It's an honor and a privilege, and I am so very, very grateful that you chose to spend some time with this book.
Questions for Discussion
Kate and Ainsley have a somewhat odd relationship thanks to their father's two marriages. Do you have firsthand experience with a blended family? What do you think makes them difficult, and what makes them work? Do you think Kate and Ainsley's relationship is typical of sisters, regardless of the circumstances?
Why do you think Ainsley loves Eric so fiercely? What in her childhood makes it logical for her to think he's the perfect man for her? Why doesn't she question their dynamic more? Do you think her father's personality makes her accept less than she deserves in a relationship?
On the other hand, Kate is surprised by falling in love at the age of 39. She's almost suspicious of Nathan for being as wonderful as he is. What's your take on that? Do you think it's true that after a certain age, all the "good ones" are taken?
Candy-Kate's mother and Ainsley's stepmother-is a family therapist. What did you think of her role? Could you blame her for being resentful? Do your feelings about her change throughout the book?
Daniel the Hot Firefighter is more than a pretty face. (The author's husband is a firefighter, too.) Kate never senses his attraction to her, but Daniel hints at it later on. Do you think Kate kept him stereotyped for a reason, or do you think Daniel did that to himself? Was there a moment in the book when you saw Kate's view of Daniel change, or was it more gradual?
Jonathan and Ainsley are clearly a case of opposites attract. Ainsley has a history with lying men-her dad, her former boss at NBC and now Eric-while Jonathan is unable to be anything except forthright and blunt. Do you know anyone like him? Do you like that person, or did it take a while to warm up to him or her?
Becoming a wife and then a widow strips away Kate's outer shell as a person who's in complete control of her life. As a newlywed, she's a little awkward. As a widow, she's completely lost. Have you ever been rocked by a life event and felt adrift in the same way? What helped you recover your equilibrium?
One of the most important relationships in the book is between Kate and Eloise. What did you think of Mrs. Coburn?
One theme in this book is being there for someone else. Kate and Ainsley, who've never been particularly close, find that they're truer sisters than either thought. Talk about a time when someone surprised you by coming through for you at a difficult time.
If you're anything like us, you can't get enough of Kristan Higgins's books!
Keep reading for an early preview of her next novel,
NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT,
coming September 2017.
"[An] emotionally compelling story [and] perceptive study of love, marriage, sisterhood, and loyalty. A powerful, emotionally textured winner."
-Kirkus Reviews on If You Only Knew
If you loved On Second Thought, then be sure to catch
Now That You Mention It
Simply unforgettable and thoroughly captivating, you won't want to miss this brand-new story by New York Times bestselling sensation Kristan Higgins
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"Higgins' tender, heartfelt If You Only Knew bridges the gap between romance and women's fiction."
-BookPage, a "Best Romance of the Year"
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Now That You Mention It
by Kristan Higgins
Scupper Island, Maine, was named for Captain Jedediah Scupper, a whaling captain who left Nantucket after he lost an election on the church council. He came here to settle his own island and give Nantucket a big middle finger. Nantucket didn't seem to mind. Captain Scupper brought a wife and five kids, and those five kids found spouses, and before you knew it, there was a legitimate community here.
Over the years, its residents lived the same way as those on most Maine islands did-suffered after the whaling industry died, then turned to fishing and lobstering.
Islanders prided themselves on survival and toughness, bonded together by hurricanes and nor'easters, drownings and hardship. When the Gilded Age hit summering in the country gave Scupper a new industry-service. Cleaning, gardening, catering, carpentry, plumbing, nannying, taking care of the rich folks and their property.
That never changed.
I grew up with the belief that while the rich people came in June-the summer nuisance, we called them-Scupper Island was for us, the tough Yankees. We'd deal with the summer people, those who owned big houses on the rocky cliffs and moored their wooden sailboats in our picturesque coves. The kids were attractive and polite, but never our real friends, not when they wore Vineyard Vines and Ralph Lauren and had European nannies. Not when they ate at the local restaurants where our parents worked.
But they were our bread and butter, and lots of them were genuinely nice people. They donated to our schools, paid the taxes that kept our roads patched and plowed, fed the local economy. Still, we were glad when they left every Labor Day. Being cheerful representatives of their summer getaway was a little wearing.
Scupper belonged to us. To my sister and me, to our dad and absolutely to our mom.
My mother, Sharon Potter Stuart (and believe me, her maiden name was the source of great joy to this Muggle), was a fourth-generation islander, born and raised here. She was a typical tough Maine woman-able to shoot a deer, butcher it and make venison chili in the same day. She cut and stacked her own wood, made her own food, viewed going to restaurants as wasteful. She knew how to do everything-fish, sail, fix a car, make biscuits from scratch, sew our dresses. Once, she even stitched up a cut when the one doctor on Scupper was attending a difficult birth.
Scupper is not just the name of our founder. It's also part of a ship-a drain, essentially, that allows excess water to flow out into the ocean, rather than puddle in the ship. It was ironic, then, that so many of Scupper Island's residents left, slipping away to bigger waters. If you didn't make your living off the sea or tourism, Scupper Island was a tough place to stay.
Mom never went to college, never took a vacation. Once, I made the mistake of asking if we could go to Disney World, like just about every other American family. "Why on earth would we go there? You think it's prettier than this here?" she said once, her thick Maine accent turning earth to uhth, here to heeah.
My earliest memories of my mother were all good. She was safe and reliable, as mothers should be. Our meals were nutritious if unimaginative. She braided my somewhat wild hair every day, patiently taming the snarls without ever pulling. She made sure we were clean. She drank black coffee all day long, the kind that she brewed in a pot on the stove.