“That your husband?” Douglas says. “The real one?”
“That’s him,” I say. “I would love for you to meet him before you go.”
*
I’m in the newly painted room on the second floor. Aiden comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. His lips touch the nape of my neck, and he settles against me. Our bodies fit so well together. “I like the color,” he says. “Saffron?”
“More like straw.” I lean against him. I can feel the softness of his flannel sleeves on my arms.
“Golden glow,” he says.
“Goldfinch.”
“Sun shower. We could call her that. Sunflower.”
“Heck no.”
“How about Daffodil?” He rests his hands gently on my belly.
“We’re not naming her after the color of her nursery.”
“Whatever you say. I still like the name Daffodil,” he says. “Daff for short.”
“No way,” I say, laughing at his silliness.
“You have a better idea?”
“I’ll think about it. I’m sure I will.”
He takes my hand. I can feel the tremor in his fingers. He’s still in physical therapy. “When’s our next appointment with the doc?”
“In two weeks.” I’m saturated in happiness, although the shadows still follow me. They may never completely disappear, but I’ve learned to hold them at bay. I’m five months along, past the point of danger. Smooth sailing from here, we hope. We don’t talk about the timing, about what we will do if we see Jacob’s eyes in our child’s face.
Instead, I keep focusing on the light, on possibilities, on what is good and true. None of us is bound by the past. We can make our own future as a family. Our child will embody the best of her parents. She will become a decent, caring person, guided by love. This, I have to believe.
I’m grateful to my amazing agent, Paige Wheeler; my fabulous editor, Tara Parsons; and the brilliant people on the Touchstone team, including but not limited to Susan Moldow, David Falk, Meredith Vilarello, Kelsey Manning, Jessica Roth, Charlotte O’Donnell, Etinosa Agbonlahor, Isabella Betita, and Joshua Cohen. Thank you for believing in this book.
Where would I be without my intrepid writing and brainstorming buddies? Thank you to Susan Wiggs, Sheila Roberts, Kate Breslin, Elsa Watson, Lois Dyer, Michael Donnelly, Elizabeth Wrenn, Sherill Leonardi, Randall Platt, Patricia Stricklin, Dianne Gardner, Anita LaRae, and Christa LaRae. Rich Penner, our lengthy “what if” discussions helped me imagine the possibilities. Huge thanks to Marilyn Lundberg for advice regarding the therapy scenes. Stephen Messer, your computer expertise kept me from falling wildly off track. A note of gratitude to Paige Wheeler’s interns and her office manager, Ana-Maria Bonner, for valuable feedback on the manuscript. Thank you to my family, Joseph, and my friends for your support and encouragement. To my appreciative readers, who’ve posted such wonderful reviews of my first novel of psychological suspense, The Good Neighbor, and who have contacted me to say how much they love my work—thank you from the bottom of my heart.
TOUCHSTONE READING GROUP GUIDE
This reading group guide for The Twilight Wife includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author A. J. Banner. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Kyra Winthrop is recovering from a harrowing diving accident, but her memory still isn’t perfect. Luckily, her doting husband, Jacob, patiently recounts her past to her, filling in the gaps left by an unusual form of memory loss. So when Kyra begins to remember details that don’t align with what she knows to be true, she must fight through her murky memory, her isolation, and her own intuition to discover what—and whom—she can trust.
1. Why do you think A. J. Banner chose to make Kyra a marine biologist? How does Kyra’s intellectualism help ground her to reality? If you were to lose your memory, what are the parts of you that would stay, the way Kyra’s memories of marine life stayed? In other words: What about you do you think is indelible?
2. Kyra pieces together, almost completely under her own direction, what happened on the fateful dive on which she lost her memory. At what point did you start to suspect that what happened wasn’t quite what she had previously believed?
3. Sylvia says, “Smells can evoke memories in powerful ways. The smell goes to the olfactory bulb, which is directly connected to the parts of the brain involved in emotions and memory”. What smells bring you most vividly to the past? Are there smells you can’t stand because of the memories associated with them? Or are there smells you seek out to remind you of somewhere, sometime, or someone?