Introduction

Two estranged sisters reunite in an emotional novel of family, forgiveness, lost hope, and new beginnings.

They had a forever bond, until a sudden tragedy thrust them apart. Now, each at a crossroad in her own life, two sisters’ paths are about to intersect.

Broadcast journalist Julia Frank has it all: a career, an ambitious fiancé, and the hard-won respect of her peers. Until a ruinous decision destroys her reputation, puts her job at risk, and sends her reeling toward the only soul left to turn to: her estranged sister, Ginny.

The owner of a clandestine supper club hidden in the Arizona desert, Ginny Frank has a lot on her plate. The last thing she wants is more drama—or the burden of nursing her younger sister’s wounded ego. But family is family. Besides, Ginny can use the help in more ways than one, and she’s going to make sure Julia pulls her weight.

As a tenuous reunion reopens old wounds, Julia and Ginny have no choice but to confront the pain and betrayals of the past. Will working to keep the secret supper club running be just what they need to find common ground and a path toward forgiveness, or will the increasing stress push them even further apart?

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Excerpt

Chapter One

JULIA

The rain drenching Manhattan hadn’t let up for three miserable days. On Thursday morning, an orchestra of percussive drops tapped at the window and woke Julia like an incessant faucet leak. At the same time, her phone vibrated just inches away. She blinked back confusion and raised her head from its spot on the living room sofa. To her dismay, a paper plate containing day-old bits of pizza crust clung to the side of her cheek.

She’d fallen asleep in her clothes again.

With one palm, she swiped the plate to the floor and rubbed her eyes. The beginnings of a muted dawn peeked through the neighboring buildings outside. Everything was blurred.

Her phone buzzed a second time.

“Okay! Okay!” she groused. The heel of her hand rose to press against an uncomfortable thrumming in her head. She smacked her dry lips and grimaced, detecting a layer of film coating her tongue.

Trying to focus, Julia studied the screen. It read 5:45 a.m.

Oh no. She tensed. Without hesitation she punched “Answer.”

“Hello?” Clearing her throat took considerable effort. She really needed to stop working such late hours.

“Julia? Where the hell are you?” A woman’s voice on the other end was sharp and insistent.

Catrine.

“At home,” Julia blurted, a shot of adrenaline sending her to her feet. Surveying the room, she noticed work papers strewn everywhere. Her eyes widened at the full realization of her mistake. She’d drifted off without setting an alarm. Her much more punctual other half, her fiancé of nine months, James, was away on business, which meant there hadn’t been anyone around to insist she set the alarm. Or not fall asleep on top of a plate of takeout. She should have left for the studio forty-five minutes ago.

Catrine’s tone turned to worry. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m not. I overslept.” Julia groaned. With the phone pinned under one ear, she scurried about, urgently gathering up files. “I can still make it! You’ll just have to work quickly. I have a feeling I look like a train wreck today.”

“Well, you better hurry.” Catrine’s voice dropped to a stage whisper. “You-know-who is already getting his hair blown out.”

“I’m on my way!” No! No! No!

The pinpricks of alarm were multiplying.

She was unbelievably late. Of all days. To make matters worse, Miller “Perfectly on Time” Warren was already in the studio, probably rolling his eyes at Julia’s tardiness and savoring how he’d deliver the news to the executive producer. Their EP, Peter Henry, was not known to show mercy. If he detected an iota of weakness among his staff, he seized upon it. Julia both admired and feared this about him. Currently, fear was winning out.

This morning’s slipup would be used against her for sure.

Without so much as stopping to brush her teeth (she kept spare toiletries at work), Julia snatched her tote bag and phone, buttoned up her wrinkled blouse, and cast about frantically for something to put on her feet. She opted for the closest thing; a pair of running shoes with neon swooshes. Pausing to glimpse in the oblong mirror above the entry table, she recoiled.

“Oh hell.” She scowled at her reflection of electrified hair and purple half-moons drooping under bloodshot eyes. “This is bad.”

There wasn’t much choice in the matter. Swallowing back horror, she used her fingers as a makeshift comb. The clock was ticking. She had to go. She yanked the door open and uttered a little prayer as she raced downstairs to catch a ride.

As her driver snaked through Midtown and Julia urged him to speed up, she balanced on the edge of the back seat and agonized. She counted the milliseconds as blocks went by. Please hurry. Please hurry. Please hurry. She chewed on her lip and considered what kind of excuse she could possibly give for holding up the morning show so dangerously close to airtime.

If Peter found out, heads would roll.

If the other execs found out, it would be curtains for her.

Just yesterday, after Miller had hijacked nearly the entire news segment, Julia had been summoned to her boss’s office. Her presence was hardly ever requested upstairs at the network, but that morning, she’d been seated at an imposing mahogany table and scrutinized.

Julia shuddered at the memory.

All those sets of eyes bearing down on her, the executives accusing her of not meeting expectations. It was awful.

“We count on everyone to pull their own weight around here,” announced Mr. McBride, a member of Gamen Broadcast Network’s executive team. He was an unforgiving older man, lean and sinewy, lacking any ounce of softness. Julia watched, terrified, as he tapped a pencil with a stern and unyielding gaze that made her squirm. It was a test of some sort, and she wasn’t prepared. Even so, she smiled meekly in his direction.

“Yes, of course.” She nodded and wished her wobbly response hadn’t betrayed her. For some reason, none of her team were in the room with her. If anyone else had been called on the carpet, she wasn’t aware. This meeting was all about how her performance, and hers alone, was disappointing the network. “I, uh, I thought the show had been going pretty smoothly,” she responded.

There was a pulse of silence before someone from marketing, a Paul Something-or-other, sprang up from his chair with terrier-like reflexes and passed around a mind-bending spreadsheet to everyone in the room. From what Julia gathered, the focus was her recent dip in ratings.

“We’re concerned about this,” McBride said, stabbing the spreadsheet with the point of sharp lead. “Your viewers just aren’t staying engaged. They’re tuning out.”

“You don’t have a brand,” the Paul guy piped up. His eyebrows arched just below a perfectly coiffed hairline. Julia instantly hated him.

“A brand? Isn’t that something the show should have?” She was confused. She’d been hired to do a job and she was doing it. Wasn’t she? Sure, the morning show was less than a year old, and perhaps she was still finding her footing. But initially she’d received all kinds of positive responses on social media. Viewers had likened her to a breath of fresh air. That counted for something. But that was early on, she glumly realized. The numbers apparently no longer reflected this.

Miller’s larger-than-life personality had begun to drown her out. That was why her cohost’s numbers had spiked higher than hers. What was Miller’s brand? she wondered. Julia had no idea why the media company had paired the two of them together eleven months ago. She and Miller co-anchored Daybreak, a weekday program that included headline news and light elements of pop culture. Her producer had claimed he detected a “chemistry” between the two of them upon their hiring.

She gazed desperately at the spreadsheet for answers. The data distorted in and out of focus. Pretending to study the math, she stalled.

What on earth was she supposed to say? It felt as if she’d been called into the principal’s office for an offense of which she wasn’t guilty.

“We want you to think about how to turn these numbers around.” McBride interrupted her contemplation. “This is a prime spot, your morning show. And it’s imperative the ratings swing our way. Understand?”

No, not really, she wanted to say. She’d shown up for work every day, reported the news in front of her, and put up with her slimy cohost. Julia needed to say something in her own defense, but before she had the chance, she was swiftly excused from the room. It seemed her time was up.

The door swung open as someone mumbled instructions, and she was ushered into the hallway. To her shock, a much-younger woman was seated just outside, wearing a tight-fitting dress and a smug smile. Julia glimpsed down at her own boxy pantsuit, which suddenly seemed wildly outdated, and then watched, dumbfounded, as the woman was welcomed into the room just as quickly as she’d been whisked out.

The heat of humiliation had engulfed her.

GBN was considering firing her. And that younger model would be her replacement.

A surge of newly formed rage washed over Julia now as she willed the car to drive faster. But emotions weren’t going to do her any good.

What she needed was a plan. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1) The sisters face a devastating event together. Let’s discuss how this event changed the two sisters individually and their relationship together for good.

2) Discuss impressions. What were your initial thoughts about Julia? About Ginny?

3) The sisters are both incredibly career-minded, perhaps to a fault. Discuss the pressures Julia is under in her high-profile position in journalism.

4) Ginny's church is the kitchen. Her happiness derives from the food she prepares for others. How has her career choice impacted her family life?

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