“I haven’t had time. I’ve been preoccupied with something,” he said with a grin, his eyes intent on her.
Preoccupied with me.
Cate was okay with that. “I’ve been distracted too,” she said softly. “I’ve been immersed in us . . . spending time with you, enjoying how well we mesh. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
“Me too.” He gave her a long kiss. As they parted, he held her gaze and took her hand, slipping a diamond solitaire on her finger.
Cate stared at the ring, speechless, her pulse pounding in her ears.
“Former FBI special agent Cate Wilde, would you do puzzles with me for the rest of your life?”
More electrical sparks flowed to the finger with the ring. “Yes,” she forced out. “Absolutely yes. There’s nothing I want more to do with my life than spend it with you.”
“Good. And this is what Mike meant when he told me to keep you on the island.” A satisfied gleam entered his eyes as he bent to kiss her. “But I’d already planned to.”
Icy air touched her neck.
Thanks, Ruby.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
After writing ten Rogue River novellas, Melinda and I were ready to write about new characters and a new location. A trip to the beautiful San Juan Islands convinced us a Pacific Northwest island would be a fabulous setting for more mystery and murder, and the concept of Widow’s Island was born. We carried over a couple of characters from Rogue River—we weren’t ready to leave it completely behind. Thank you to Montlake and our editor, Anh Schluep, for their enthusiasm about this project. Thank you to Charlotte Herscher for helping us sound like we know what we’re doing. Thank you to our readers who loved our first novella series and constantly begged for more. We hope you enjoy Widow’s Island as much as we do.
Kendra Elliot
Melinda Leigh
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2016 Rebekah Jule Photography
Kendra Elliot has landed on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list multiple times and is the award-winning author of the Bone Secrets and Callahan & McLane series, as well as the Mercy Kilpatrick novels. She’s a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award, an International Thriller Writers Award finalist, and an RT Award finalist. She has always been a voracious reader, cutting her teeth on classic female heroines such as Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Laura Ingalls. She was born, raised, and still lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her family, but she looks forward to the day she can live in flip-flops. Visit her at www.kendraelliot.com.
