Emily took the box in apprehension. “You didn’t need to—”
“It’s nothing.”
His gaze was on the box, avoiding her eyes. It’s something.
“I know the original was lost in the fire, but this one is close,” he said.
She barely knew Zander Wells. She didn’t know where he had grown up, how he liked his steak, or what kind of music he enjoyed. But she knew him. She knew his character; he had integrity and honor and intelligence.
He was a good man.
She lifted the lid off the small white box and lost her breath. “Where did you find it?”
“Like I said, Simon did most of the work. I asked him about it, and it became a mission for him.” He leaned closer.
The bracelet of buttons in the box started to blur. She picked it up, examining each button. Someone had invested a lot of time and effort to make a very special bracelet.
Damn, how I loved the original.
This bracelet was so similar. But that wasn’t the important aspect. What was important was that Zander had listened and cared.
She blinked away tears and studied him. A fresh vulnerability shone in his eyes.
How did this happen so fast?
“I need a date for a wedding this summer,” he finally said, holding her gaze.
“Ava’s?” Emily had hoped to see the agent again.
“Will you go with me? She’d be thrilled to see you.”
“Is that what you want?” she asked, an undertone in her question, her heart in her throat.
“Absolutely.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Colleen Lindsay and Anh Schluep, who helped me brainstorm the skeleton of this story, and to Charlotte Herscher, who supervised the addition of the flesh.
My readers have begged for a book for Zander Wells since his first appearance in my Callahan & McLane series, and I’m excited that I found a way to make that happen.
Thank you to all the usual suspects on my Montlake team. I count my blessings every day that I work with the most innovative publishing house in the world.
Thank you so much to my partner in crime Melinda Leigh, who patiently listens to me moan and groan when the words won’t come and always suggests I blow something up when my plot gets stuck.
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. Kendra is 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.
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 © 2020 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, Seattle
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ISBN-13: 9781542006729 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1542006724 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781542006705 (paperback)
ISBN-10: 1542006708 (paperback)
Cover design by Caroline Teagle Johnson
First edition