She studied him. His face was bruised and battered, and he had snickerdoodle crumbs on his shirt. But she loved him with every ounce of her being, and she didn’t feel an ounce of fear.
This is right.
He was perfect for her. And so was his proposal.
He gets me.
She lunged into his lap, not caring that he winced or that her leg complained. “I do!”
“That’s the answer that comes later. I think right now you’re supposed to say yes.”
“Yes!” She kissed him slowly, tasting sugar and cinnamon. “But you’ve got to promise to never disappear on me again.”
“The same goes for you,” he muttered. “When should we do it?”
“I suspect another wedding will be happening in the next few months,” she speculated.
“Rose?”
“Yes. I think she wants to see how Nick is after the baby comes . . . I could be wrong. Maybe it will happen before that, but I don’t want to take away any of their limelight.”
“Agreed. What about Christmastime? That’s about eight months away.”
So far off. Her immediate mental complaint made her smile. He was right—she wasn’t the same person she had been last fall. “I’d love a Christmas wedding.”
“Deal.” He kissed her again and pulled her closer. “I told you in the water I’d always hold on to you.”
“And I promise the same.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is my thirteenth novel. Unlucky thirteen flowed more smoothly for me than the majority of my books, and I believe it’s because I now know Mercy and Truman inside and out. I hear them speak in my head, and I know how they feel when I throw roadblocks in their paths.
My original plan was to write four Mercy books, but my publisher agreed I could write two more. I’m extremely fortunate to write for a house that gives me the freedom to pursue what I want, and I’m thankful every day that Montlake took a chance on me. Anh, Galen, Jessica, Elise, and Colleen are the best in the business. Jessica, you’ve been the heart and rock-solid core of Montlake—I will miss you terribly!
I appreciate my readers who spend time with the characters I pull out of my head. Your emails and tweets always make my day. Thank you for enjoying Mercy and Truman. I know many of you are waiting for more Mason and Ava—it will happen! I miss them too.
Thank you to Melinda Leigh, who kicks me in the rear when I need it and is just a text away to brainstorm when I’m stuck. The three thousand miles between our homes feel like nothing. It’s pure gold to have a friend who shares your love of plotting murders.
Thank you to my family, who are supportive and cheer for me along this unexpected journey. I never planned to write books; I wrote the first to simply see if I could finish one. Then I wrote more to see if I could improve enough to be published. By then I was hooked and had discovered a community of people who loved to read books and write as much as I did.
More Mercy books to come!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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: A Merciful Death, A Merciful Truth, and A Merciful Secret. Kendra is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award, an International Thriller Writers 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 husband and three daughters, but she looks forward to the day she can live in flip-flops. Visit her at www.kendraelliot.com.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2018 by Oceanfront Press Company.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle
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ISBN-13: 9781503901315
ISBN-10: 1503901319
Cover design by Eileen Carey