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        Dedication To all of my amazing readers who asked for more of Zoe’s story: This is for you.   Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Eight Months Later Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright About the Publisher   Excerpt from Boston Public Radio’s Interview Hour with John Gallagher Aired on June 20 John Gallagher: Welcome back to Boston Public Radio’s Interview Hour. We’re here with Marcus Johnson and his fourteen-year-old daughter, Zoe. Before the break, we talked to Marcus about how he was wrongfully convicted of murder fifteen years ago, and recently exonerated. Now I’d like to ask Zoe a few questions since she actually played an important role in Marcus’s release. Zoe, what made you want to investigate your father’s crime in the first place? You were only, what, twelve years old at the time? Zoe: Yup. Well, once I realized Marcus might be innocent of the crime, I had to know the truth. I’d never investigated anything before, but I don’t know—I was just determined. Marcus Johnson: Zoe’s very determined. I didn’t want her looking into my case, but she did it anyway. John: [laughter] It’s a good quality to have. Still, what you did is impressive for a kid. Zoe: I guess, but I had some help from my grandma and best friend Trevor. What kept me going was how much I hated the idea of Marcus being in prison if he hadn’t done anything wrong. Sometimes I think about what my life would been like if he’d never been arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Like, what if he’d been able to be my dad my whole life? But at least now we get to have time together. John: When you first found out that Marcus was being exonerated, how did you feel? Zoe: When the judge read the verdict, I was in the courtroom, sitting in the row right behind Marcus. My parents were next to me. I think I screamed and then started crying when the judge said, “not guilty.” It’s kind of a blur now, but I was so excited. John: I bet. Zoe: It was like everything I did two years ago, and all the waiting since then had finally paid off. John: Now that Marcus is out of prison, what do you look forward to the most? Zoe: So many things. Spending more time together in person. Listening to music. Cooking and baking. Actually, we both are working at Ari’s Cakes in Beacon Hill this summer, so . . . if you’re listening, you should come by! John: Zoe brought some of her treats to the studio, so I can attest to how delicious her baking is. I will definitely make a trip out to Ari’s Cakes. Well, thank you, Marcus and Zoe. We wish you both the best. [Music starts]   Chapter One If someone had told ten-year-old me that in four years I’d have a bakery job and that my birth dad—who I didn’t even know at the time—would be my coworker, I would’ve looked at them like they had two heads. It was totally unbelievable. But now, it was happening. “Hey, Little T!” Marcus said as he got out of the passenger side of Grandma’s car. “Hey, Big T!” I gave him a hug. “Little T” and “Big T” were our new nicknames for each other—short versions of Little Tomato, what Marcus called me when he wrote me letters from prison, and Big Tomato. We got into the car, and I said hello to Grandma. She had agreed to drive me and Marcus to Ari’s Cakes, since Marcus had gotten his driver’s license reactivated a week ago but didn’t have a car to drive yet. “Ready to go?” Grandma asked from the driver’s seat. Her earrings, which were made of small translucent shells, jangled as she twisted in her seat to talk to me. “Yup!” “Are you excited?” I asked Marcus from the back seat. “Or nervous?” “I guess both,” he said with a laugh. “But more excited. It’ll be nice to make cupcakes in the kitchen instead of the boring, tasteless meals I helped cook in prison.” “Is that the only thing you’re excited about?” I asked. “The baking?” Marcus pretended to think. “Yeah.” He paused. “I think that’s it.” I leaned forward in my seat and nudged him in the shoulder. He laughed. “Of course I’m excited to work with you.” He looked back at me and smiled. “It’s the best part of this whole job.” I smiled back. “Same here.” When we got to Beacon Hill, Marcus and I said goodbye to Grandma and walked inside the bakery. I breathed in the comforting smells of sugar and frosting, mixed with coffee. I looked around the shop and soaked it all in. The cupcakes displayed behind the glass counter in a rainbow of colors, including my Froot Loop cupcake recipe, which Ari still sold two years later. The pale-blue walls that matched the Ari’s Cakes T-shirt I was wearing. The little bud vases holding fresh flowers that sat on every table and next to the cash register. The ambient, cheery music playing lightly over the speakers. This was my home away from home. I waved at Gabe, who was currently taking orders. There were a few customers in line already. “Zoe! Perfect timing,” he said. “Hey,” I said. “I’m just gonna put my backpack away.” I followed Marcus to