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Prologue

Marcie stood beside her li in the Nove sun barely over the horizon She was packed and ready, as excited as she was scared about this undertaking In the backseat she had a small cooler with snacks and sodas There was a case of bottled water in the trunk and a ther bag just in case thewasn’t to her standards; the clothes she’d packed in her duffel were mostly jeans, sweatshirts, heavy socks and boots, all appropriate for tra to hit the road, but her younger brother, Drew, and her older sister, Erin, were stretching out the goodbyes

“You have the phone cards I gave you? In case you don’t have good cell reception?” Erin asked

“Got ’em”

“Sure you have enough money?”

“I’ll be fine”

“Thanksgiving is in less than teeks”

“It shouldn’t take that long,” Marcie said, because if she said anything else, there would be yet another shon “I figure I’ to find Ian pretty quick I think I have his location narrowed down”

“Rethink this, Marcie,” Erin said, giving it one last try “I know some of the best private detectives in the business—the law firm employs thes you want to give him delivered”

“We’ve been over this,” Marcie said “I want to see him, talk to him”

“We could find him first and then you could—”

“Tell her, Drew,” Marcie implored

Drew took a breath “She’s going to find hi on with hiive him the baseball cards, show him the letter, and then she’ll come home”

“But we could—”

Marcie put a hand on her older sister’s arreen eyes “Stop I can’t move on until I do this, and do itabout it I know you think it’s du to do” She leaned toward Erin and gave her a kiss on the cheek Erin, so sleek, beautiful, acco like Marcie—had been like a irl She had a hard ti to worry about I’ll be careful I won’t be gone long”

Then she kissed Drew’s cheek and said, “Can’t you get her so?” Dreas in med school and, no, he couldn’t write prescriptions

He laughed and wrapped his arht for ato drive me nuts”

Marcie narrowed her eyes at Erin “Go easy on him,” she said “This was my idea I’ll be back before you know it”

And then she got in the car, leaving the on the curb in front of the house as she pulled away She hway before she felt her eyes sting with tears She knew she orrying her siblings, but she had no choice

Marcie’s husband, Bobby, had died ale of twenty-six That came afterhoed, with injuries incurred as a eant and best friend, a marine Bobby said would do twenty But Ian exited the Marine Corps shortly after Bobby ounded and had been out of touch ever since

Since she knew that Bobby would never recover, since she had grieved his loss for a long time before he actually died, Marcie would have expected to feel a sense of relief in his passing—at least for hiht she’d be more than ready to step into a new life, one that had been put on hold for years At the tender age of twenty-seven, already a , there was still plenty of ti, travel—so many possibilities But it had been just shy of a year, and she was stuck Unable to , why the ht and had never called or written He’d estranged hied himself from her, his best friend’s wife

So there were these baseball cards If she stretched her i her lawyer sister would findto be sure Ian had Bobby’s baseball cards But since she’d e of fourteen, she kne obsessed he ith his collection There wasn’t a player or stat he didn’t have memorized It turned out that Ian was also a baseball nut and had his own collection; she knew fro

In the deserts and towns of Iraq, while they hunted insurgents and worried about suicide bo baseball cards It was surreal

Then there was this letter that Bobby wrote to her from Iraq before he ounded It was all about Ian and how proud it would uy who got into the e, never let the—whether they were up to their necks in a fight or crying over a dear-John letter He was a funny guy, who eant who also made them work hard, learn and follow every rule to the letter so they’d be safe It was in that letter that Bobby had told her he hoped she’d support him if he decided to make it a career Like Ian Buchanan had If he could be half the man Ian was, he’d be damn proud; all the end Marcie wasn’t sure she could part with the letter, even though it was all about Ian But he should know Ian should kno Bobby felt about him