Carol Higgins Clark
Laced
The tenth book in the Regan Reilly series, 2007
Acknowledgments
Shamrocks to my editor, Roz Lippel, for all her hard work, advice, encouragement, and friendship. As always, her guidance has been wonderful.
And special thanks to everyone else who saw Regan and Jack Reilly off on their honeymoon to Ireland!
Associate Director of Copyediting Gypsy da Silva, copyeditor Rose Ann Ferrick, and proofreader Barbara Raynor.
Art Director John Fulbrook III, photographer Debra Lill, and photographer Glenn Jussen.
Scribner Publishing Associate, Kara Watson.
My publicist, Lisl Cade.
My agent, Esther Newberg.
My mother, Mary Higgins Clark, my stepfather, John Conheeney, my aunt, Irene Clark, my family and friends.
It’s been grand!
In memory of my grandfather,
Luke J. Higgins,
who immigrated to New York from Ireland as a young man,
And my maternal great-grandparents,
Thomas Durkin and Bridget Kennedy Durkin,
who came to New York a generation earlier,
And for all my cousins who live in the Emerald Isle…
With love.
Monday, April 11th
1
In a remote village in the west of Ireland, a light mist rose from the lake behind Hennessy Castle. The afternoon was becoming increasingly gray and brooding as clouds gathered and the skies turned threatening. Inside the castle the fireplaces were lit, providing a cheery warmth for the guests who were already anticipating a wonderful evening meal in the elegant eighteenth-century dining room.
The massive front doors of the castle opened slowly, and newlyweds Regan and Jack Reilly stepped out onto the driveway in their jogging clothes. They’d arrived on an overnight flight from New York, slept for several hours, and decided a quick jog might help alleviate the inevitable jet lag.