1

      LATER SHE’D CRY or scream.

      Olivia Kearns pressed her throbbing forehead against the ice-cold, living-room window of her suburban Chicago town house. She wanted to freak out, but now wasn’t the time to lose it, not when she had so much to do.

      Outside, snow flurries were starting to accumulate. Liv hoped her parents, driving away in separate cars, wouldn’t have trouble with the slippery roads. She shook her head in disbelief, still unable to accept that her parents really intended to divorce after nearly thirty years of seemingly harmonious marriage. They’d come to her home to tell her the bad news, calling ahead to be sure she’d be there on a Saturday afternoon. Dad had nodded agreement while her mother assured her the decision was for the best.

      Would she and her sister, Amy, have a place they could consider the family home, a place where they could all gather for Christmas? One set of grandparents had retired to Florida and the other set to Arizona, so everyone had always come to her parents’ house for family celebrations.

      Liv was the family problem-solver, the one who could resolve any crisis—but not this one. How could her parents split up? They were the heart of the family. How could they still be a family if her parents weren’t together? Liv knew she was being a drama queen, but she didn’t care.

      She padded in stocking feet across the moss-green carpeting, hardly seeing her comfy couch and chair covered with flowery slipcovers or the Queen Anne–style cherry tables. The room was tidy and organized, just the way she liked her life.

      What she needed to do was make a list. Making a to-do list would help her focus and feel more in control. She went upstairs to her office in the spare bedroom and grabbed a fresh yellow legal pad.

      First, she thought, writing a bold numeral one, she had to cancel her parents’ New Year’s Eve thirtieth-anniversary party.

      Theoretically, she and Amy, her older sister by one year, were planning the party, but she’d never expected much help from her sister. Amy was willing enough, but organization wasn’t her strong suit especially now when her wedding was coming up in a few months. She had more on her plate than she could manage. It was up to Liv to cancel the party.

      She groaned. Nearly fifty invitations had gone out. She’d have to explain fifty times why the party was off.

      Then there was Amy’s wedding. Only her sister would choose February for a big wedding. Liv had tried to suggest tactfully that sub-zero, snowstormy late winter wasn’t the best time. Now it was an awful time because of her parents. Who would keep the wedding arrangements on track? She wrote a large number two on her list.

      “I can get through this,” she said with a sigh.

      She was almost glad there were no men in her life at the moment. She didn’t have to break a date to the anniversary party, because her last relationship had ended several months ago. Breaking up with Jerry after a lukewarm relationship had been more comedy than drama, although she wouldn’t mind a shoulder to cry on right now.

      The timing for a family crisis was terrible. This wasn’t a good time to worry about anything but work. She’d done plenty of that lately because