When We Were Enemies: A Novel(109)

Thank you to my developmental editor, Jodi Warshaw. You opened my mind and helped me continue to learn to trust my creative process. Thank you for your guidance and trust. You were a joy to work with. I love how your brain works. I hope I get to see it in action up close again soon.

Thank you to the team at Lake Union Publishing, including Kyra Wojdyla and the production team. You make this process a joy, and I appreciate all your hard work and effort.

Thank you as well to the Lake Union author community—you are such a wonderful and supportive group of pseudosiblings. I cheer for you each individually, even if you don’t hear it from behind your computer screen, and I appreciate every minute you invest in me as well.

And my editor, Melissa Valentine, I truly believe we were meant to work together. Thank you for taking on this story and believing in it wholeheartedly. I’ve enjoyed our journey together, and I know we have more greatness ahead of us.

Marlene Stringer, my amazing agent and guide—thank you for literally everything. You’ve been by my side since the beginning. I know for a fact that I am where I am today because of your belief in me. Thank you, Marlene. Thank you, always.

To my family—I adore you. You continue to come through for me and my little crew, and I love you for it. Thank you for accepting us for who we are. We love you.

To my sister Elizabeth—I’d never be able to do this without you. Thank you for being so many things in my life—my best friend, my confidant, my maid of honor and officiant, my beta reader, and my cheerleader. I love you more than I can explain and love watching you continue to succeed in life, love, and motherhood. Let’s keep taking those less traveled roads, okay? Deal.

To my Bleeker kids—my brave, strong, beautiful humans—I’m humbled every day to be your mother. Motherhood is my greatest joy and teaches me more than any other class, book, or life experience. I promise to keep learning and cheering and supporting for the rest of my livelong days. Thank you for your endless patience and love. You are the reason I do this.

And to my two newest kids, Anthony and Michael Barbaro—thank you for accepting me and showing me so much love and warmth. You are bright, funny, and intelligent men. I’m grateful your parents have shared you with me. I look forward to including you both in all this book stuff . . . endlessly . . . for the rest of your lives. Be warned—it’s gonna get annoying. Sorry.

My very own Italian lover (and loving husband), Sam. They say write what you know, but I wrote about love for a long time without ever having fully experienced it. For some time in my life, I wondered if I’d ever know what it was like to be loved without reservation and to give that love in return. Now, I get to have both experiences because of you. Thank you, my love, for being my person. Thank you for loving me and the unique family we’ve created together. Marrying another creative person and finding ways to support our individual pursuits brings such richness to my life and creative experience. Thank you for listening to me read out phrases over and over again, assisting and correcting me on my Italian translations, and making me the best egg sandwiches a girl could ask for. We make a great team, and I look forward to celebrating all our successes and comforting each other through all our inevitable sorrows as we go through life together.

And to my readers new and old alike—thank you for giving me a shot. Thank you for getting lost in the worlds I hold inside my head. I love, love, love sharing them with you. I hope you keep coming back because without you, I’d just be a lady making up people on my computer. These stories are for you. Thank you for reading them.