Jennifer Crusie
Maybe This Time
© 2010
This book is for
Sarah and Cecilia
who want cereal for breakfast every day
and who fill those days with joy.
My Thanks To
THE GLINDAS and the ARGH PEOPLE,
who suffered through this book with me
GAIL HOGAN,
who helped me with the TV research and who is nothing like Kelly O’Keefe
HEIDI and DAN CULLINAN,
who suggested the salvia
BROOKE BRANNON, SUE DANIC, MOLLY HASELHORST, LANI DIANE RICH, ROXANNE RICHARDSON, and ANNE STUART,
who beta read brilliantly
RACHEL PLACHCINSKI,
who gave me the original house that became Archer House, a picture of herself as a small child that became Alice, a translation of American English into British English for one character, and constant support throughout the writing of this (as in, “Hurry up and finish the [British expletive deleted] book, Crusie”)
JODI REAMER and AMY BERKOWER,
who went above and beyond the call of agenthood… again
JENNIFER ENDERLIN,
the finest editor an author can have
and
HENRY JAMES and TRUMAN CAPOTE,
who were here first.
This book takes place in 1992.
Because.
One
Andie Miller sat in the reception room of her ex-husband’s law office, holding on to ten years of uncashed alimony checks and a lot of unresolved rage. This is why I never came back here, she thought. Nothing wrong with repressed anger as long as it stays repressed.
“Miss Miller?”
Andie jerked her head up and a lock of hair fell out of her chignon. She stuffed it back into the clip on the back of her head as North’s neat, efficient secretary smiled at her, surrounded by the propriety of his Victorian architecture. If that secretary had a chignon, nothing would escape from it. North was probably crazy about her.