Ready to take the plunge and learn more about your favorite characters?

Scroll down for a bio and background on each notable character. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find cut scenes from the book.

Doctor Holly Bennett

Dr. Holly Bennett grew up on Belvedere Island in San Francisco, California with her father Francis, and brother Brad. Always ahead of her class, Holly excelled through grade-school to an early graduation. She went on to Berkeley to study medicine like her father before her, and his father before him. Learning advanced medical procedures was and is her favorite pastime. Specializing in neurosurgery, Holly hopes to pick up her father’s torch and pioneer research on neuro-pathways to help cure various neurological ailments. Being the best in her field has no meaning to this girl, because there’s always room to be better. Two years after giving birth to Lucy, Holly and Noah welcome a little boy; naming him Arlo Jackson.

Noah Jackson

The youngest of his two brothers, Noah was Mr. Popular in school. No one could dampen his good time. When Kate moved to town in the 10th grade, she was smitten with Noah’s carisma, and he was taken with her bright blue eyes and tom-boy nature. While they sometimes fought like angry dogs, Noah and Kate were hooked on eachother, and married after Noah’s time in the Marines. After another night of drinking too much over the excitement of learning he was going to be a dad, Noah woke up in the hospital to learn Kate was on life support and braindead. While he knew Kate wouldn’t want to live off machines, it took him three months to muster up the courage to take her off life support, and it broke him. From there, he let everything go; the house, his career, his friends, and his family. It wasn’t until the fated day he met Holly that life began to look like it might have some hope in it again. 

Brad Bennett

Holly’s brother Brad wasn’t born with the driven Bennett spirit, but is still no slouch. Because his father was working so much of the time, he stepped into the roll of “sudo dad” for Holly. He took pride in his little sister’s successes, helped her through her struggles, and made sure she always had the support she needed—feeling it was his fault their mother left them.  Brad also went to Berkeley to become a lawyer, but it wasn’t what he really wanted to do. Brad always dreamed of becoming a teacher, but knew the profession would be frowned upon by his judgemental grandparents and father. 

Greg Bradshaw

Greg was never the best or brightest at anything, but he knew how to hustle. After his exceptionally abusive father drank himself to death, Greg and his mom were left penniless. At the age of eleven, he was finding crafty ways to earn money to help his mother keep the lights on and a roof of their head. The only thing that came easy in life was knowing how to broker a good deal in his favor. After leaving home to go to a community college for his B.A., he was able to argue his way into law school where he met Brad, then Holly. He’d never met anyone so beautiful, and envied Holly’s entire life. She had a father who’d never laid a hand on her, a brother to be her best friend, and an absent mother. If he could’ve left his mother sooner than leaving for college, he would’ve. In his eyes, Scarlett was as spineless as water. The perfectness of Holly and her life continued to wear on Greg until his jealousy was all he could see. He’d worked so much harder than her to be successful, and with seemingly little effort on her part, continued to do better than him. Greg drove himself to madness trying to constantly top Holly’s success, and still felt like no one could see how far he’d come.

Linna Jackson

Linna is the oldest of five brothers, so it’s no question how she handled being the mom of three boys to so well. After seeing how her mother was bound by the societal standards of under-appreciated housewives, Linna felt in necessary to never fit the bill. She began college two years before Moses was born, stayed home until her three boys were in school, then continued her education to become a physician’s assistant. It was her biggest priority to raise her boys into the kind of men that respected women as equals, just the way Thomas has always viewed her. While it may not seem outwardly evident, Linna and Thomas are more in love with each other everyday.  

Thomas Jackson

From a father’s farm hand to a college professor of physics and astronomy, Thomas is a brilliant mind full of many complexities. While sometimes demanding of people’s intellect, Thomas still ruled with his heart more times than not. He wanted his children and students to know that their knowledge was only limited by willpower and nothing else. Even after his stroke and in his old age, he is still thirsting for knowledge. With his Acquired Savant Syndrome and deep understanding of mathematics, he holds the key to composing symphonies as timeless as Beethoven’s—his favorite composer. 

Moses Jackson

It’s easy to assume that Moses uses his “class clown” nature to over compensate for a lack of intelligence, but it’s simply not true! He was accepted into MENSA at the age of eleven, and his quirkiness is a choice. Proudly following in his father’s footsteps, Moses is a college professor of mathematics and physics. He doesn’t teach during the summer semester because he loves running the children’s program at the library, where he can checkout a limitless number of books to satisfy his overactive mind. After meeting Holly’s best-friend Bethany, he slows down to become a part-time professor and full-time dad to four spunky girls.

Gabe Jackson

Ever wonder why Gabe is seemingly bitter? Because he is. Just a grade above Noah in school, his eye was also caught by Kate. Infact, Gabe was the first one to talk to her and fell instantly in love with her. Because he took too long mustering up the courage to ask her out, after a few months of friendship, Bridgett dared Noah to ask Kate out on a date. Gabe was furious when he found out he lost the girl of his dreams to a dare. As time went on, and Noah’s nights of drinking with friends became more frequent, Gabe became bitter about the way Noah was treating Kate. He even punched Noah out one night. When Kate died with Noah behind the wheel, he was never the same. It wasn’t until just before Holly came around that he forgave Noah.

Clara Hindsley-Bennett

Clara’s story is long, and will most likely end up in the outtakes section at some point. She was the only child to a pastor and his wife where she was suffocated by religion as a child. After meeting Francis Bennett through a mutual friend while she was still in high school, they dated in secret until she was of age, and were married shortly after. Because Clara was so young, her immaturity over things often irritated the very impatient Mr. Bennett. He would frequently yell, scream, and belittle her to tears. After giving birth to Brad, Clara was struck by postpartum depression that was never treated. She grew to hate her child as much as she hated his father, and her only solace was Fran’s kind-hearted brother, Garrett. When she became pregnant with Holly, Clara already had a foot out the door, ready to leave Fran, but she didn’t want to bring Holly with and suffer through another infant and toddler stange. She’d never wanted children, and Garrett was still struggling with his addictions. Clara was quick to agree to Fran’s threat of taking the children away from her, without Garrett even knowing of the conversation.

Garrett Bennett

Garrett became the black sheep of his family before he could even talk. Different from his “can do no wrong” brother, Garrett struggled his way through school because of his undiagnosed dyslexia. His strict parents believed he was too lazy and made sure to tell him at every opportunity. After high school, Garrett traveled abroad for a year, then began college. While still working on his bachelors and unknowing of his dyslexia, Garrett continued to struggle with school and the seemingly impossible expectations of his parents. He was given prescription pills by a college buddy to help him focus while he studied and found they worked pretty well for him. The habit developed and lead to a terrible spiral in which he ended up being forced to drop out of college. Once his relationship with Clara began, he made an honest effort to clean up, but kept finding reasons to fall short. It wasn’t until he moved to Minnesota, away from his families critical expectations and words that he found the will-power to stop and get himself back on track. He also hoped if he worked hard enough, Fran would allow him to be part of Holly’s life. His love for Holly was the entire reason he became the respectable man Holly loves so much.

Bridgett

Bridgett is all for whatever make life fun. Her credit card statements will easily show her lack of impulse control, and she doesn’t give a bother because she can afford it. As a kid, she was the rowdy tom-boy that dumped a bunch of glue and glitter in Noah’s hair the first week of Kindergarten. In high school, she was smoking, wearing cut off jeans, a Nirvana t-shirt, and chucks. Her garage band was pretty successful until the lead guitarist, her then boyfriend, moved away. Bridgett always knew she wanted to be a therapist. She could use her profession to get first-hand town gossip and use her wit to twiddle with people’s minds. While she loves it, she’s also bored with it and still wishes she’d pursued being a rockstar. Bridgett’s best and well-kept secret is that she’s always loved Noah, but by the time she finally admitted it to herself, he was already dating Kate.

Dallas

Dallas requires few words. He was the typical high school jock and never grew out of it. What his friends didn’t know until after high school was that his parents were dirt poor. He lived in a run down shack of a house that was cluttered with the proof of his father’s hoarding addiction. Dallas was always careful to make sure no one ever found out because he was so embarrassed, which was why he was so hard on Holly when he found out she was worth several million and had house staff growing up. He’s a bit shallow in his views, and has an unwarranted ego.  

Teri

Teri is the daughter of a fun-loving single mom who worked hard and bought them all the latest fashions in clothing. Some might’ve viewed her as spoiled, but Teri always appreciated how hard her mom worked, and all the love and care that went into giving her the best childhood. Her absent-dad syndrome shines a bright spotlight on her love life, but after meeting Jess—a guy gives her all the spoils and love—she’s living in her happy bubble blissfully.  

Carrie

It is this author’s personal opinion, but Carrie is… devoid of character. She’ll say and do whatever is expected of her, take whatever side of the argument that will make someone like her, and is far too concerned about making her life look better than it is. While she cares about her husband, she’s never really loved him that much. She’s as fake as she is fickle. In an ending of the book that was cut, Carrie makes a turning point after Holly’s cold-shoulder.   

Gifford Jackson

You didn’t think the lovable Gif would be left out, did you? Not a chance. This furry critter provides so much comfort to Holly in her times of need; just like he used to for Noah’s late wife Kate. While he waits for Holly to come home, he can be found keeping a protective eye on his new best friend, Lucy, or out chasing squirrels. While this extra soft fur-ball is sweet as can be, he’s also an aggressive protector of his family.  

Cut Scenes from Your Life Will Have You Back!

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