Praise for Wife in the Fast Lane
“Karen Quinn does it again! Wife in the Fast Lane is funny, entertaining, sweet, and smart. Every woman who has ever had to juggle kids, work, and marriage (or even two of the three!) will relate to its wise and witty voice.”
—Leslie Schnur, author of The Dog Walker
“Wife in the Fast Lane is a hysterical journey up and down both corporate and romantic chutes and ladders—and a delicious, tart, juicy, slice of Big Apple life.”
—Jill Kargman, author of Momzillas and coauthor of The Right Address
Praise for The Ivy Chronicles
“[A] ferociously funny tale.”
—Us Weekly
“Entertaining…picks up where The Nanny Diaries left off.”
—New York Post
“Hilarious.”
—Child magazine
“A guilty pleasure worth indulging.”
—Booklist
“Tales of Manhattan’s elite trying to get their tots into private schools is sure to make you smirk condescendingly…. The Ivy Chronicles delivers.”
—Boston Herald
“If you think you may be a neurotic parent, read this and feel sane.”
—Allison Pearson, author of I Don’t Know How She Does It
TOUCHSTONE
Rockefeller Center
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Wife in the Fast Lane is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents portrayed in the story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual names, people, organizations, places, events, and incidents is coincidental. Although some real New York City institutions and people are mentioned incidentally, all are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2007 by Karen Quinn
All rights reserved,
including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form.
TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks
of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Quinn, Karen.
Wife in the fast lane: a novel / Karen Quinn.
p. cm.
1. Businesswomen—Fiction. 2. Parent and child—Fiction.
3. Women athletes--Fiction. 4. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3617.U575 W54 2007
813'.6—dc22 2006050076
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-3987-2
ISBN-10: 1-4165-3987-5
Visit us on the World Wide Web:
http://www.SimonSays.com
To my husband and my children,
who keep me running in the fast lane,
and to my friend, Tan.
Acknowledgments
Trish Todd and Kate Lyall Grant, thank you so much for your editing advice and guidance throughout this project. Special gratitude also to Suzanne Baboneau, Sarah Nundy, Shari Smiley, Nigel Stoneman, Robin Straus, Sally Wilcox, and Stuart Calderwood. You are all brilliant at what you do, and I’m beyond lucky to work with you.
To my family: Mark, Sam, and Schuyler Quinn, I love you so much. Sam, now do you think it was worth it for me to work on weekends? To my first family, Shari and Sonny Nedler, Michael and Don Nedler, and Monica—Mwwwwah! That’s me throwing you a big kiss. And to Beverly Knowles and Kathleen Stowers, you are goddesses in my eyes. What would I do without you?
There are so many other people to thank who made The Ivy Chronicles such a success, and who helped bring Wife in the Fast Lane to life. Writing a first book opened my eyes to how many friends and cheerleaders I have in the world. I will always remember the support and inspiration each of you offered along the way. Special merci beaucoups to: Matt Autterson, Paula Bailey, Andrea Bardach, Carol Becker, Elizabeth Buchan, George and Betty Buckley, Nancy Bowling, Meris Blumstein, Ellen Bregman, Scott Bond, Rick Bruner, Tiffany Cammarano, Alison Chase, Claire Chasnoff, Kevin Che, Jane Cleland, Jennifer Cohen, Vicki Conway, Stacy Creamer, Kelly and Michelle Curtis, Catherine Cusset, Robin Daas, Drew Davies, Jennifer Deare, Lisa Drapkin, Trish Duval, Randy Dwenger, Kathy Dwyer, Carole Fetner, Amanda Filipacchi, Judy Finnigan, Robyn Spizman Friedman, Brian Fun, Mark Goldberg, Victoria Goldman, Ken Gomez, Shelly Griffin, Rita Gunzelman, Kathy and Johnny Herman, Richard Hine, Phyllis Horowitz, Pat Hurlock, Ron Hogan, Carole Hyatt, Marla Isackson, Scottie Iverson, Tracey Jackson, Rachel Jones, Charles Jordy, Barbara Kantor, Janice Kaplan, Jill Kargman, Kathy Kaye, Holly Kylberg, Susan Kleinberg, Vicki Kline, Judith Levy, Pat Lipton, Lois London, Richard Madeley, Bonnie Marson, Murray Miller, Alexandra Morehouse, Kirsten Mullen, Cindy Ng, Eva Okada, Candice Olson, Allison Pearson, Victoria Pericon, Beth Phoenix, Amy Pizzarello, Chopin Rabin, Alessandro Ricciarelli, Nancy Salz, Ariel Sandberg, Michael Schneider, Leslie Schnur, Gail Schupak, Kathleen Smith, Linda Spector, Augusta Sterne, Sally Stitch, Brooke Stachyra, Kim Stroumbos, Marie Tambero, June Watson, Katharine Weber, Danna Weiping, George Wilman, Lynne, Vic, Wendy, Janet, and Ted Quinn, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
PART 1Working Girl
We’re in for a Rough Ride
Look for Highway 380. That’s our exit,” Katherine said. “I’m looking, I’m looking. According to this map, we have a ways to go.” Christy checked her watch again. It would be close. If they could keep up this speed and not get lost, they should make it with just enough time to change their clothes. “There it is! There it is! Get in the right lane.”
“Jesus, you said we had a ways to go.” Katherine swerved and the Taurus careened across three lanes, miraculously avoiding at least five collisions and inspiring a cacophony of horn honking. “Oh my God,” Christy said as she covered her eyes and ducked. Katherine was silent, intent on getting them to Menlo Park before two. When their plane had landed in San Francisco, more than an hour late, they’d called the Steiner McClane office. The meeting couldn’t be postponed. Mr. Roche was booked solid, then leaving for Europe on Monday.
“Good thing it stopped raining.” Christy had the habit of pointing out the positive whenever things got tense. Katherine preferred working up a good head of steam.
“Oh no, no, NO,” Katherine said, spying the traffic ahead. In seconds, they slowed to a complete stop. “How much time do we have?” she asked.
Christy checked
