Ben answered Connor but kept his attention on Jenna. “Things have been out of control. Maybe having you here will calm some nerves and let people get back to normal.”

“That’s why you think it’s a good thing?” Connor asked.

“Yes.” Ben shot Connor a look that screamed shut up before turning back to Jenna. “And it’s interesting.”

Maddie smiled at Connor over the top of her glass. “I think it will be, yes.”

The company and the island deserved a cheer. Connor raised his water glass in a toast. “To Whitaker.”

Jenna raised her glass. “Whitaker.”

“Interesting,” Ben said.

Connor agreed.

Acknowledgments

A huge thank you to May Chen, my marvelous editor, for supporting this series and not balking at the idea of an island of dysfunctional misfits. We had a bumpy road getting this one to production. I am eternally grateful that you gave me the time and space I needed to write it the way it deserved to be written. Mr. Higginbotham is my gift to you.

As always, thanks to Laura Bradford, my lovely agent, for pitching this project so we could both get paid. I’m a fan of getting paid.

And big thanks to my husband, James, for tolerating me during the writing of this book. Surviving this one was not easy. I wrote this during a difficult time, when my attention was pulled in 900 directions and I felt as if I were failing at everything. This truly was the “I can no longer write” book for me. I thought I’d lost it . . . but I found it again. It just took some time. I wrote a version, hated it, and then rewrote until I fixed it. Almost every last word changed from the original and I did the rewrite in less than four weeks. It wasn’t the optimal way to get a book done, but we got there. I wanted to write about grief and moving on and how hard those are. Connor and Maddie let me do that.

To my readers—thank you and I hope you enjoy this one. It truly was a labor of love.

Announcement

Don’t miss the previous book in HelenKay Dimon’s thrilling Whitaker Island series,

HER OTHER SECRET

Is it the perfect escape?

Whitaker Island is more than a getaway. For Tessa Jenkins, the remote strip of land in Washington state is a sanctuary. Fleeing from a shattering scandal, she has a new name, a chance at a new beginning, and a breathtaking new view: Hansen Rye. It’s hard not to crush on Whitaker’s hottest handyman. At six-foot-three and all kinds of fine, he’s also intensely private—and the attraction between them soon simmers dangerously out of control.

. . . or a private trap for two lovers?