Rescue Breathing (43 page)

Stephanie, you have changed my life in
ways that are immeasurable. We met in an unconventional way and
from opposite corners of the United States (2907.1 miles to be
exact), but you have become my soul sister, confidant, cheerleader
and best friend. You have made my life richer, fuller, more
vibrant and at
least
two times
happier for being a part of it. I am my true self with you and
there is such freedom in that. Thank you for your encouragement and
your understanding, your hard work and talent and most of all, your
friendship. Writing with you has been such a joy and I have enjoyed
the all ups and downs of this process with you. Buckle your
seatbelt, Sunshine. This ride is far from over.

To Jason and the girls, thank you for
sharing your wife and mother with me as we pursue our dream
together. I can't guarantee I'll be giving her back any time soon
though. She's become a permanent fixture for me.

To Dad, Mom, Shana and Wade, thank you for
your support and love. Although I kept this project under wraps for
quite some time, you have embraced it and supported me in it. Your
words of encouragement have more effect than you can possibly
imagine. Thank you. A special thank you too, to Craig for being a
sounding board for plausible storyline ideas and for serving as my
technical advisor for all things fire company related. There are
more books to come and I'll be calling on you again. You've been
forewarned. 

To those of you who have made it through
our first novel—all the way to the acknowledgements—how could we
forget to include you? Thank you for taking a chance on us. Thank
you for hopefully loving Owen and Olivia as much as we do. And hang
in there—their story isn't finished yet!