The hallmark of my books is the relationships that define women's lives.

Their friendship was more important than any relationship. Guys would come and go; girlfriends were forever.

We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we...bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do.

It was true; always had been. Friendships were like marriages in that way. Routines and patterns were poured early and hardened like cement.

I am such a Pacific Northwest girl.

The at-home mother's life: it was a race with no finish line.

She had been ready to love this man from the moment she first saw him. In all these years, that had never changed. They'd hurt each other, let each other down, and yet, here they were after everything, together. She needed him now, needed him to remind her that she was live, that she wasn't alone, that she hadn't lost everything.