Simply Lies, page 36
“Hardly in a way you wanted. I’m sorry for all that I did. I’m sorry for all that I said and thought about you. It was . . . I was . . . so wrong about everything.”
Gibson gripped her hand. “Francine, after all that you went through, the fact that you’re even functioning is a damn miracle.”
Francine glanced away, watching the children again. Tommy was running in circles, and Darby was doing awkward forward rolls and coming up laughing after each one.
Perhaps reading her mind, Gibson said, “You know, you can adopt. You’ll be a rich single mom, the world at your feet.”
Francine shook her head. “You’re clearly mother material. I don’t think I am.”
“I never thought I would be. You sort of grow into it.” She glanced at Tommy, who was now seeing how loudly he could burp while Darby egged him on by laughing uproariously. “And here I am raising two Einsteins of my very own.”
Francine gave Gibson a mischievous look. “They’re going to end up ruling the world and you know it.”
“With an aunt like you teaching them, they probably will.”
Francine gaped. “Aunt?”
“I have two brothers who can’t even dress themselves. You think I’m letting them be role models? It’s all yours if you want it.”
“Mickey, I don’t know what kind of a role model I would be to anyone, much less your kids.”
“First of all, it’s high time you called me Mick, which is what the people I care about call me. And second, you don’t have to decide right now. And last but not least, I think you’d be a great example to them. I don’t really care about the stuff you did back then.” She looked over at Francine’s mother and brother. “What I care about is that you have a heart, a big one. And in the end, you did the right thing.”
“We did make a pretty good team,” noted Francine.
“I think the term you’re looking for is world class. And there is a lot to be said for doing something interesting and worthwhile with your life.”
Francine said, “I have always done interesting things, but I don’t know how worthwhile they’ve been.”
“Life is but a series of second chances.”
“Do you really think so?”
“It’s just a matter of whether the will is there.” She paused. “So do we perform our next act together?”
In answer, Francine held out her hand, which Gibson shook.
“I think that we do, Mick.”
To Michael Pietsch, Ben Sevier, Elizabeth Kulhanek, Jonathan Valuckas, Matthew Ballast, Beth de Guzman, Ana Maria Allessi, Rena Kornbluh, Karen Kosztolnyik, Brian McLendon, Albert Tang, Andy Dodds, Ivy Cheng, Joseph Benincase, Alexis Gilbert, Andrew Duncan, Janine Perez, Lauren Sum, Morgan Martinez, Bob Castillo, Kristen Lemire, Briana Kuchta, Mark Steven Long, Marie Mundaca, Rachael Kelly, Kirsiah McNamara, Lisa Cahn, John Colucci, Megan Fitzpatrick, Nita Basu, Alison Lazarus, Barry Broadhead, Martha Bucci, Ali Cutrone, Raylan Davis, Tracy Dowd, Melanie Freedman, Elizabeth Blue Guess, Linda Jamison, John Leary, John Lefler, Rachel Hairston, Tishana Knight, Jennifer Kosek, Suzanne Marx, Derek Meehan, Christopher Murphy, Donna Nopper, Rob Philpott, Barbara Slavin, Karen Torres, Rich Tullis, Mary Urban, Tracy Williams, Julie Hernandez, Laura Shepherd, Maritza Lumpris, Jeff Shay, Carla Stockalper, Ky’ron Fitzgerald, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing. Thanks for being terrific partners for over twenty-five years. You make my life a lot easier with your support and enthusiasm.
To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, Kristen Pini, and Natalie Rosselli, for being great friends and counselors.
To Mitch Hoffman, for a great editing job and being a wonderful listener.
To Joanna Prior, Jeremy Trevathan, Lucy Hale, Trisha Jackson, Stuart Dwyer, Leanne Williams, Alex Saunders, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Jamie Forrest, Laura Sherlock, Jonathan Atkins, Christine Jones, Andy Joannou, Charlotte Williams, Rebecca Kellaway, Charlotte Cross, Lucy Grainger, Lucy Jones, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for being a stellar publisher and always innovating.
To Praveen Naidoo and the wonderful team at Pan Macmillan in Australia, for outstanding work.
To Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette, who have been by my side from day one.
To the charity auction winners, Arlene Robinson (Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society) and Wilson Sullivan (’Sconset Trust), I hope you enjoyed your characters.
And to Kristen White and Michelle Butler, for being the A Team!
About the Author
David Baldacci is one of the world’s bestselling and favourite thriller writers. A former trial lawyer with a keen interest in world politics, he has specialist knowledge in the US political system and intelligence services, and his first book, Absolute Power, became an instant international bestseller, with the movie starring Clint Eastwood a major box office hit. He has since written more than fifty bestsellers featuring, most recently, Amos Decker, Aloysius Archer, Atlee Pine and Travis Devine. David is also the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across the US.
@davidbaldacci
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BY DAVID BALDACCI
Amos Decker series
Memory Man • The Last Mile • The Fix • The Fallen
Redemption • Walk the Wire • Long Shadows
Aloysius Archer series
One Good Deed • A Gambling Man • Dream Town
Atlee Pine series
Long Road to Mercy • A Minute to Midnight • Daylight • Mercy
Will Robie series
The Innocent • The Hit • The Target • The Guilty • End Game
John Puller series
Zero Day • The Forgotten • The Escape • No Man’s Land • Daylight
King and Maxwell series
Split Second • Hour Game • Simple Genius • First Family
The Sixth Man • King and Maxwell
The Camel Club series
The Camel Club • The Collectors • Stone Cold • Divine Justice
Hell’s Corner
Shaw series
The Whole Truth • Deliver Us From Evil
Vega Jane series
The Finisher • The Keeper • The Width of the World
The Stars Below
Other novels
Absolute Power • Total Control • The Winner • The Simple Truth
Saving Faith • Wish You Well • Last Man Standing
The Christmas Train • True Blue • One Summer • The 6:20 Man
Simply Lies
Short stories
Waiting for Santa • No Time Left • Bullseye • The Final Play
First published 2023 by Grand Central Publishing, USA
First published in the UK 2023 by Macmillan
This electronic edition published 2023 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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ISBN 978-1-5290-6205-2
Copyright © Columbus Rose Ltd 2023
Cover Design: Neil Lang, Pan Macmillan Art Department
Cover images: Figure © Arcangel, all others © Shutterstock
Author photograph © Neil Spence
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David Baldacci, Simply Lies
