He sits down on the rattan love seat and pulls me onto his lap.
“You might not be able to do that much longer,” I say, kissing his neck, which I do for two reasons: T.J. likes it, and it’s how I check for lumps. Thank God I’ve never found one.
“Sure I will,” he says, smiling and rubbing my belly.
We decided to try for one more child. It happened the first month, surprising us both. There’s only one baby this time and we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. We don’t care, as long as it’s healthy. I’m due in four months so the twins will only be fifteen months old when I give birth, but that just means that sometimes we get what we wish for.
I often think about the island. When the kids are older, we’ll have quite a story to tell them.
We’ll edit, of course.
We’ll also tell them that this house, and the property that surrounds it, is our island.
And that T.J. and I are finally home.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without the contributions, assistance, and support of the following individuals, On the Island would still be a file taking up space on my hard drive. Words cannot express how truly thankful I am to have such wonderful and enthusiastic people in my life.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to author Meira Pentermann. Meira believed in me long before I did and her valuable guidance helped make On the Island the book it is today. She is the ultimate critique partner, beta reader, and cyber-sister.
My twin sister Trish who will always be the first person I show my words to.
My husband David because his encouragement means more to me than he’ll ever know.
My children Matthew and Lauren. Thank you for being patient while mom spent all that time with her laptop. I love you both.
Elisa Abner-Taschwer, for being the best de facto publicist and all-around cheerleader a writer could ever hope for.
I’d like to give special thanks to my beta readers and those who received advance reader copies of On the Island. You made me smile with your kind words, and you built my confidence more than you’ll ever know. Penne Heede Pojar, Beth Knipper, Elisa Abner-Taschwer, Lisa Green, Brooke Achenbach, Julie Gieseman, Trish Garvis, Trish Kallemeier, Noelle Zmolek, Stacy Alvarez, Stefani Blubaugh, Mindy Farrington, Taylor Kalander, David Green, Tami Cavanaugh, Amy Gulbranson, Stefanie Martin, Shellie Mollenhauer, Christy Cornwell, Missy Pomerantz, and Jill LaBarre.
I was also fortunate to work with the following talented people who were instrumental in making sure On the Island was the book I hoped it would be. I look forward to partnering with them again.
Developmental editing by Alison Dasho.
Copyediting by Anne Victory at Victory Editing.
Digital formatting by Guido Henkel.
Cover image by Getty Images.
Cover design by Penne Heede-Pojar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tracey Garvis-Graves lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa with her husband, two children, and hyper dog Chloe. This is her first novel. She blogs at www.traceygarvisgraves.com using colorful language and a snarky sense of humor to write about pop culture, silly television shows, and her suburban neighborhood. She is hard at work on her next book. You can e-mail her at [email protected]. She’d love to hear from you.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Anna
Chapter 2 – T.J.
Chapter 3 – Anna
Chapter 4 – T.J.
Chapter 5 – Anna
Chapter 6 – T.J.
Chapter 7 – Anna
Chapter 8 – T.J.
Chapter 9 – Anna
Chapter 10 – T.J.
Chapter 11 – Anna
Chapter 12 – T.J.
Chapter 13 – Anna
Chapter 14 – T.J.
Chapter 15 – Anna
Chapter 16 – T.J.
Chapter 17 – Anna
Chapter 18 – T.J.
Chapter 19 – Anna
Chapter 20 – T.J.
Chapter 21 – Anna
Chapter 22 – T.J.
Chapter 23 – Anna
Chapter 24 – T.J.
Chapter 25 – Anna
Chapter 26 – T.J.
Chapter 27 – Anna
Chapter 28 – T.J.
Chapter 29 – Anna
Chapter 30 – T.J
Chapter 31 – Anna
Chapter 32 – T.J.
Chapter 33 – Anna
Chapter 34 – T.J.
Chapter 35 – Anna
Chapter 36 - T.J.
Chapter 37 – Anna
Chapter 38 – T.J.
Chapter 39 – Anna
Chapter 40 – T.J.
Chapter 41 – Anna
Chapter 42 – T.J.
Chapter 43 – Anna
Chapter 44 – T.J.
Chapter 45 – Anna
Chapter 46 – T.J.
Chapter 47 – Anna
Chapter 48 – T.J.
Chapter 49 – Anna
Chapter 50 – T.J.
Chapter 51 – Anna
Chapter 52 – T.J.
Chapter 53 – Anna
Chapter 54 – T.J.
Chapter 55 – Anna
Chapter 56 – T.J.
Chapter 57 – Anna
Chapter 58 – T.J.
Chapter 59 – Anna
Chapter 60 – T.J.
Chapter 61 – Anna
Chapter 62 – T.J.
Chapter 63 – Anna
Chapter 64 – T.J.
Chapter 65 – Anna
Chapter 66 – T.J.
Chapter 67 – Anna
Chapter 68 - T.J.
Epilogue - Anna
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR