Excerpt from Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"The next one," he says, "is a little different than usual. We need somebody with good disconnect skills, so of course I immediately thought of you."

"Face time?" I ask.

"Lots of face time," he says. "We're looking at weekly face time."

The more face time, the more preparation required. On the plus side, it makes it easier to establish a bond with the children. It pays a lot more too.

"Okay," I tell him. "I can handle it. What makes it so different? Do I have a husband?"

"No," he says, "It's not that. It's a switch job."

A switch job means the child already knows the actual grandparent but a switch is needed due to an unforeseen death. It has to be done just right, usually with situations where the family rarely sees the grandparent. A switch job with lots of face time could be a problem. You don't want to make it worse on the child, add insult to injury.

"Let me think about it," I tell him.

"Well, think about this too," he says, and then he is quiet for three, maybe four, seconds. "She's still alive."

The foregoing is excerpted from Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022