Susan Phillips - What I Did for Love

Paul finally spotted his unhappy granddaughter and broke away from his wife, but he was too late. Iris had already chosen her table, a wrought-iron one located in the exact center of the crowded backyard, and begun to climb on top.

“Iris!” Georgie tried to move, but a swing set and their wriggling son kept her trapped. “Iris! Get down.”

Iris pretended not to hear. Instead, she carefully stepped around someone’s discarded drink, threw her arms wide, and addressed the crowd in a commanding voice far too big to come from such a small body. “Listen to me, everybody! I’m going to sing!”

Aaron put his fingers to his lips and whistled. “You go, Iris!”

Skirting the crowd, Bram made his way to Georgie’s side and took their son from her just as Iris opened her tiny mouth and let the music rip. By the time she reached the first chorus of her vigorous and tuneful rendition of the opening number from Annie, neither Bram nor Georgie had the heart to pull her down.

“What are we going to do with her?” Georgie said on a sigh.

“I guess we’ll eventually have to hand her over to Grandma Laura.” He kissed his son’s sweaty head. “You know Laura and Paul are dying to see how Iris will audition.”

“We know how she’ll audition. She’ll be fabulous.”

“She really is good, isn’t she?”

“Not a bad note. She was born to perform. And we don’t need another child star in the family.”

Bram set their squirming toddler on the ground. “The good news is, she’ll never feel as though she has to perform to earn anyone’s love.”

“True. There’s more than enough love here to go around.”

They were too wrapped up in smiling at each other to notice their son plop down on his bottom and begin clapping in perfect rhythm to his sister’s song. Bram’s voice grew husky, the way it so frequently did when he came face-to-face with his blessings. “Who could have imagined a guy like me would end up with a family like this?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Skip couldn’t have done any better.” And then she winced. “Oh, dear…Here comes the tap dance.”

“At least she’s keeping her clothes on.”

But he’d spoken too soon. A little floral sundress floated into the roses.

“She gets that from her mother,” he whispered. “I never knew a woman so eager to take off her clothes.”

“Not my fault. You’re very persuasive.”

“And you’re irresistible.”

Skip Scofield chose that moment to tap Bram on the shoulder. Who’d have imagined it? You’ve turned into a family man after all.

And what a family, Bram thought, gazing around him.

Iris bowed and moved on to her next number. His son rolled over in the grass. And his wife, his very own wife, rose on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. “This is the best reunion show ever.”

He couldn’t have agreed more.

All of my fictional characters exist in the same creative universe, so astute readers will have noticed the reappearance of some familiar people: April Robillard and Jack Patriot from Natural Born Charmer; Fleur, Jake, and Meg Koranda from Glitter Baby. I can’t resist revisiting old friends and plan to keep on doing it.

Some very special people helped me as I wrote this book. Thank you to Joseph Phillips for sharing his knowledge of Southern California with this midwesterner; to Julie Wachowski for guiding me through the modern universe of filmmaking; to Jimmie Morel, whose insights always help me dig deeper; and to Dana Phillips, who has temporarily given up editing film to take care of the two most adorable children in the universe. Any mistakes are, unfortunately, all mine. (But feel free to blame them!)

More thank-yous to Carrie Feron, my longtime editor and dearest friend, as well as Steven Axelrod and Lori Antonson at the Axelrod Agency. My extraordinary assistant, Sharon Mitchell, is invaluable. Hugs to my family; my sister; to Dawn and the Chili Babes; to my walking buddies, Kathy and Suzanne; to Kristin Hannah and Jayne Ann Krentz; and to the Seppies on my Web site Message Board. Every writer should have so many great people cheering her on.

Finally, a great big curtain call to everyone at William Morrow and Avon Books, with a little extra applause for Lisa Gallagher. I never forget how lucky I am to be part of such an enthusiastic, talented publishing team.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

www.susanelizabethphillips.com

Award-winning New York Times bestselling author SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS has found fans all over the world with her warm and wonderful contemporary love stories that manage to touch hearts as well as funny bones. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and has two grown sons.