Girl in the Rearview Mirror

I never meant to lie. That is, I never wanted to.

They are Phoenix’s first family: handsom Philip Martin, son of the sitting senator, an ex-football player who carries himself with an easy grace and who appears destined to step into his father’s seat when the time is right; his wife, Marina, the stylish and elegant director of Phoenix’s fine arts museum; and their four-year-old daughter, Amabel, beautiful and precocious and beloved.

Finn Hunt is working a dull office job to pay off her college debt when she meets Philip and charms Amabel. She eagerly agrees to nanny, thinking she’s lucked into the job of a lifetime. Though the glamour of the Martins’ lifestyle undeniably dazzles Finn, her real pleasure comes from being a part of the family: sharing quick jokes with Philip in the kitchen before he leaves for work; staying late when Marina needs a last-minute sitter; and spending long days with Amabel, who is often treated more like a photo op than a child.

But behind every façade lurks a less attractive truth. When a young woman approaches Finn, claiming a connection with Philip and asking Finn to pass on a message, Finn becomes caught up in a web of deceit with the senate seat at its center. And Finn isn’t exactly innocent herself: she, too, has a background she has kept hidden, and under the hot Phoenix sun everything is about to be laid bare…