Falling Together (54 page)

“But if you can possibly swing it,” Pen went on, “just plain here is better. Here is the best place anyone could ever be.”

Will held her face between his hands and smiled in amazement. “And look,” he said.

“I know,” said Pen, looking with all of herself, with everything she had. “Here we are.”

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
HANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING
people:

Jennifer Carlson, agent and precious friend, who does every single thing she does with uncanny insight and clear-eyed grace;

My lovely and gifted gift of an editor, Laurie Chittenden, and all the good people at William Morrow, including Liate Stehlik, Sharyn Rosenblum, Tavia Kowalchuk, Lynn Grady, Mike Brennan, Seale Ballenger, Shawn Nicholls, and Trish Daly.

My treasured early readers Kristina de los Santos, Dan Fertel, Susan Davis, Annie Pilson, Amanda Eyre Ward, and Sarah Davis Brandon (you are all so smart and kind);

Katie Martin for letting me steal
Middlemarchian,
Arturo de los Santos for answering my Cebu questions, John Willis for solving the mystery of the chapel window, and Annabel and Charles Teague for revealing that, in early childhood, both of them believed that the greatest jazz singer to ever live was named Elephants Gerald.

Anna Carapellotti, ballerina babysitter extraordinaire and all-around sweetheart;

My parents for loving me unreservedly and for cheering loudest of all;

Charles and Annabel Teague, brave, exuberant, and funny children among whom I am blessed to spend my days;

And David Teague, best writer, best reader, best friend, best everything.

This book is dedicated to my first family, but there have been so many families since, in Charlottesville and Houston and Philadelphia and Cebu and Wilmington and places in between. Some are gone but here. Some are just plain here.

I’m keeping all of you.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

An award-winning poet and bestselling author with a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing,
MARISA DE LOS SANTOS
lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with her husband, the children’s book author David Teague, and their son and daughter. She’s the author of the bestsellers
Love Walked In and Belong to Me
.

www.marisadelossantos.com

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www.AuthorTracker.com
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P
RAISE

“The mix of perfectly realized personalities and genuine emotion makes this a winner.”—
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Vividly descriptive and surprisingly insightful.”—
BOSTON GLOBE

“Prose that shines in moments of tenderness.”—
PEOPLE

“De los Santos keeps us totally engaged with these fragile creatures, who get under our skin and, ultimately, into our hearts.”—
LIBRARY JOURNAL
(STARRED REVIEW)

“Witty and intelligent.”—
KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Poignant, heart-tugging.”—
WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

O
THER
W
ORKS

Belong to Me

Love Walked In

C
REDITS

COVER DESIGN BY MARY SCHUCK

C
OPYRIGHT

FALLING TOGETHER
. Copyright © 2011 by Marisa de los Santos.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-0-06-167087-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-06-210635-3 (international edition)

EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2011 ISBN: 9780062100726

11 12 13 14 15
OV
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RRD
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A
BOUT THE
P
UBLISHER

Australia

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Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

www.harpercollins.com.au/ebooks