Beautiful Day

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Everyone loves a wedding!

Phyllis Frielich was unbelievable in her willingness to go over every possible detail of the Carmichael-Graham nuptials with me. She was filled with wonderful, creative ideas, and the bridal bouquet is her vision, along with many other details.

The Boston wedding planner Michelle Ciccarella and her cohorts Jackie Parker and Michelle Reid were the ones who got my gears moving, back in the fall of 2011. Thank you, ladies! Four Seasons forever!

Deborah Briggs Bennett, who is a friend so close she’s family, gave me the lowdown on the world of executive placement. I could never have written this book without her help. She also provided the inspiration for the section titled “The Registry, Part II: The Dining Room” and the answer to the timeless question “Does the twelfth Tiffany dessert fork matter?”

Renaissance man Andrew M. Porter, Esq., was my go-to guy on the profession of Douglas Carmichael and John Edgar Desvesnes III, as well as serving as my Civil War expert.

I will again crib the words of Anne Sexton to describe my editor at Little, Brown, Reagan Arthur: “Pure genius at work.” There’s really nothing else I can say. Reagan is always, always right-and I have seven books to prove it. The ways in which she made this book better are too numerous to name.

The other wizards and goddesses at Little, Brown who have made me the happiest author in America are: Michael Pietsch, Heather Fain, Terry Adams, Michelle Aielli, Marlena Bittner, Justin Levine, Sarah Murphy, and the most magnificent David Young.

My agenting team of Michael Carlisle and David Forrer at Inkwell Management are truly and forever my champions and my darlings.

Sarah Cutler, you were a dream; thank God I found you.

In memoriam to my first “biggest fan,” Nora Jaksic, mother of the gallant and divine Jimmy Jaksic. Nora will always live in my heart as the ultimate Blue Bistro fan.

As ever, I want to acknowledge my family, my friends, and my fellow football/basketball/baseball mothers. You all know who you are and how you make my life rich, interesting, and worthwhile. You tolerate me screaming from the sidelines and the bleachers-and for this I can’t thank you enough.

This novel is for my grandparents Clarence and Ruth Huling, who would have been married for seventy years on June 19, 2013. This book was meant to be published in honor of their anniversary. My grandfather Clarence W. Huling Jr. died before he could see this book published. And so, to my grandmother Ruth Francis Huling, I would like to say this: Thank you, Gramma, for showing me what love is supposed to look like. You allow me to believe.