PROLOGUE

      BREATHING in the familiar scent of chalk, Hailey squirmed into the small seat behind the dwarfish desk and faced her friend from the perspective of a nine-year-old. “I’d like to make a statement,” she announced.

      “I’m holding my breath,” Ellen managed to say around the pen between her teeth. She pulled a thermos out of her briefcase and filled the yellow plastic cup. “Why can’t thermoses ever keep coffee warm more than a couple of hours?” she complained with a grimace after spitting out the pen and taking a sip. “Someone should do something about that.”

      “This is an important announcement. Put down your coffee and pay attention.”

      “Sounds serious. Is it about your New Year’s resolutions?”

      “Of course. What else would it be this time of year?”

      Ellen made a show of pushing her coffee away and leaning back in her seat. “Well, let me hear it.”

      Hailey sat up straight, preparing for her dramatic declaration. “No more men!” she called out, emphasizing it with a sweeping hand gesture.

      “Uh-huh,” Ellen said, returning her attention to the pile of paper in front of her. “Right. And you’re going cold turkey on chocolate too, aren’t you?”

      “Well—”

      “…and doing daily sit-ups?”

      “Well—”

      “And getting up earlier on weekends?”

      Hailey frowned. This was the annoying thing about friends. They knew you too well. “This time, I mean it. Seriously. And for more than two weeks.”

      “I see. Why? Must be pretty urgent since you invaded my classroom to tell me.”

      Hailey glanced around the third grade classroom, empty of children, but not of children’s presence. Classrooms never were. “At least I waited until the kids were gone. Although,” she added darkly, “if someone had told me the truth about men at an early age, I could have joined a convent straight out of high school and saved myself a lot of misery.”

      “You mean you hadn’t already figured boys out by third grade?”

      “Nope, stars in my eyes until I was nineteen or so. I guess I was a late developer. Hence all the scars on my heart.”

      “Aw, Hailey.” Ellen made a sympathetic sound, but her pen did not pause on the paper she was scribbling on. “Why are you really here?”

      “No other reason! I just wanted you to be the first to know. Especially as you’re always dragging guys in my direction.”

      “No more men, huh?”

      “No more men. As in, you’re not allowed to set me up, introduce me to guys, or in other ways work against my resolution.”

      “I see. And are you—in principle—swearing off men for good?”

      “Well, no,” Hailey admitted. “I haven’t entirely lost my faith in half of the human race. Not yet.”

      “Phew.”

      “It’s me. I’ve been making so many mistakes when it comes to guys. So, I’m taking a year out.”

      “A year?”

      “Yep.”

      “A whole year?”

      “Yes.”

      Ellen put down her pen and leaned forward. “Hailey, do you have any idea how long a year is?”

      “Three