Peace by Piece

Six years after fleeing college and Thomas's betrayal, Maggie has nearly given up on love. Enter Izzie, a motherless eight year old, and every maternal instinct kicks-in. With Donald, Izzie's dad, Maggie waits for the thrill-for anything magic: a spark, a quickening, a quiver racing up her spine. The magic never comes, but it is precisely the ordinariness of his kisses and subsequent proposal that make her feel safe. She imagines that loving Izzie is enough to finally lock Thomas out of her heart. Donald sways Maggie to quit work and be a stay-at-home mom to Izzie, cajoling her to wait for the right time to have a baby. Izzie is the center of her world, but some days Maggie cannot think over the roar of her biological clock. Unable to win the baby debate, she returns to college and accepts a teaching job. She has what many women long for: the house and minivan, the daughter and spouse, a career and steadfast girlfriends. But there's an empty space inside that no amount of bingeing can fill. After an ectopic pregnancy, Maggie's bulimia worsens. Donald cannot cope with all her tears over her lost baby. For a much needed break, Maggie attends a teacher's conference in her college town, a handful of miles from where her heart first came alive-and where it was irrevocably shattered. By chance, Maggie and Thomas, also a teacher, reconnect. Will Maggie return to her enviable life as a wife to a successful banker and as a mother to the child who has become her own? Or this time around, will she trust Thomas and follow her heart?