Twilight at Blueberry Barrens Read online

  ACCLAIM FOR COLLEEN COBLE

  “Incredible storytelling and intricately drawn characters. You won’t want to miss Twilight at Blueberry Barrens!”

  —BRENDA NOVAK, NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  “Coble has a gift for making a setting come to life. After reading Twilight at Blueberry Barrens, I feel like I’ve lived in Maine all my life. This plot kept me guessing until the end, and her characters seem like my friends. I don’t want to let them go!

  —TERRI BLACKSTOCK, USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF IF I RUN

  “I’m a long-time fan of Colleen Coble, and Twilight at Blueberry Barrens is the perfect example of why. Coble delivers riveting suspense, delicious romance, and carefully crafted characters, all with the deft hand of a veteran writer. If you love romantic suspense, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed!”

  —DENISE HUNTER, AUTHOR OF THE GOODBYE BRIDE

  “Colleen Coble, the queen of Christian romantic mysteries, is back with her best book yet. Filled with familiar characters, plot twists, and a confusion of antagonists, I couldn’t keep the pages of this novel set in Maine turning fast enough. I reconnected with characters I love while taking a journey filled with murder, suspense, and the prospect of love. This truly is her best book to date, and perfect for readers who adore a page-turner laced with romance.”

  —CARA PUTMAN, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF SHADOWED BY GRACE AND WHERE TREETOPS GLISTEN ON TWILIGHT AT BLUEBERRY BARRENS

  “Gripping! Colleen Coble has again written a page-turning romantic suspense with Twilight at Blueberry Barrens! Not only did she keep me up nights racing through the pages to see what would happen next, I genuinely cared for her characters. Colleen sets the bar high for romantic suspense!”

  —CARRIE STUART PARKS, AUTHOR OF A CRY FROM THE DUST AND WHEN DEATH DRAWS NEAR

  “Colleen Coble thrills readers again with her newest novel, an addictive suspense trenched in family, betrayal, and . . . murder.”

  —DIANN MILLS, AUTHOR OF DEADLY ENCOUNTER ON TWILIGHT AT BLUEBERRY BARRENS

  “Coble’s latest, Twilight at Blueberry Barrens, is one of her best yet! With characters you want to know in person, a perfect setting, and a plot that had me holding my breath, laughing, and crying, this story will stay with the reader long after the book is closed. My highest recommendation.”

  —ROBIN CAROLL, BESTSELLING NOVELIST

  “Colleen’s Twilight at Blueberry Barrens is filled with a bevy of twists and surprises, a wonderful romance, and the warmth of family love. I couldn’t have asked for more. This author has always been a five-star novelist, but I think it’s time to up the ante with this book. It’s on my keeping shelf!”

  —HANNAH ALEXANDER, AUTHOR OF THE HALLOWED HALLS SERIES

  “Second chances, old flames, and startling new revelations combine to form a story filled with faith, trial, forgiveness, and redemption. Crack the cover and step in, but beware—Mermaid Point is harboring secrets that will keep you guessing.”

  —LISA WINGATE, NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SEA KEEPER’S DAUGHTERS, ON MERMAID MOON

  “I burned through The Inn at Ocean’s Edge in one sitting. An intricate plot by a master storyteller. Colleen Coble has done it again with this gripping opening to a new series. I can’t wait to spend more time at Sunset Cove.”

  —HEATHER BURCH, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ONE LAVENDER RIBBON

  “Coble doesn’t disappoint with her custom blend of suspense and romance.”

  —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ON THE INN AT OCEAN’S EDGE

  “Veteran author Coble has penned another winner. Filled with mystery and romance that are unpredictable until the last page, this novel will grip readers long past when they should put their books down. Recommended to readers of contemporary mysteries.”

  —CBA RETAILERS + RESOURCESREVIEW OF THE INN AT OCEAN’S EDGE

  “Coble truly shines when she’s penning a mystery, and this tale will really keep the reader guessing . . . Mystery lovers will definitely want to put this book on their purchase list.”

  —ROMANTIC TIMES REVIEW OF THE INN AT OCEAN’S EDGE

  “Master storyteller Colleen Coble has done it again. The Inn at Ocean’s Edge is an intricately woven, well-crafted story of romance, suspense, family secrets, and a decades-old mystery. Needless to say, it had me hooked from page one. I simply couldn’t stop turning the pages. This one’s going on my keeper shelf.”

  —LYNETTE EASON, AWARD-WINNING, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HIDDEN IDENTITY SERIES

  “Evocative and gripping, The Inn at Ocean’s Edge will keep you flipping pages long into the night.”

  —DANI PETTREY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ALASKAN COURAGE SERIES

  “Coble’s atmospheric and suspenseful series launch should appeal to fans of Tracie Peterson and other authors of Christian romantic suspense.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW OF TIDEWATER INN

  “Romantically tense, but with just the right touch of danger, this cowboy love story is surprisingly clever—and pleasingly sweet.”

  —USATODAY.COM REVIEW OF BLUE MOON PROMISE

  “Colleen Coble will keep you glued to each page as she shows you the beauty of God’s most primitive land and the dangers it hides.”

  —WWW.ROMANCEJUNKIES.COM

  “[An] outstanding, completely engaging tale that will have you on the edge of your seat . . . A must-have for all fans of romantic suspense!”

  —THEROMANCEREADERSCONNECTION.COM REVIEW OF ANATHEMA

  “Colleen Coble lays an intricate trail in Without a Trace and draws the reader on like a hound with a scent.”

  —ROMANTIC TIMES, 4½ STARS

  “Coble’s historical series just keeps getting better with each entry.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL STARRED REVIEW OF THE LIGHTKEEPER’S BALL

  “Don’t ever mistake [Coble’s] for the fluffy romances with a little bit of suspense. She writes solid suspense, and she ties it all together beautifully with a wonderful message.”

  —LIFEINREVIEWBLOG.COM REVIEW OF LONESTAR ANGEL

  “This book has everything I enjoy: mystery, romance, and suspense. The characters are likable, understandable, and I can relate to them.”

  —THEFRIENDLYBOOKNOOK.COM

  “[M]ystery, danger, and intrigue as well as romance, love, and subtle inspiration. The Lightkeeper’s Daughter is a ‘keeper.’ ”

  — ONCEUPONAROMANCE.COM

  “Colleen is a master storyteller.”

  —KAREN KINGSBURY, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF UNLOCKED AND LEARNING

  ALSO BY COLLEEN COBLE

  SUNSET COVE NOVELS

  The Inn at Ocean’s Edge

  Mermaid Moon

  Twilight at Blueberry Barrens

  HOPE BEACH NOVELS

  Tidewater Inn

  Rosemary Cottage

  Seagrass Pier

  All Is Bright: A Hope Beach

  Christmas Novella (e-book only)

  UNDER TEXAS STARS NOVELS

  Blue Moon Promise

  Safe in His Arms

  THE MERCY FALLS SERIES

  The Lightkeeper’s Daughter

  The Lightkeeper’s Bride

  The Lightkeeper’s Ball

  LONESTAR NOVELS

  Lonestar Sanctuary

  Lonestar Secrets

  Lonestar Homecoming

  Lonestar Angel

  All Is Calm: A Lonestar Christmas

  Novella (e-book only)

  THE ROCK HARBOR SERIES

  Without a Trace

  Beyond a Doubt

  Into the Deep

  Cry in the Night

  Silent Night: A Rock Harbor

  Christmas Novella (e-book only)

  THE ALOHA REEF SE
RIES

  Distant Echoes

  Black Sands

  Dangerous Depths

  Midnight Sea

  Holy Night: An Aloha Reef

  Christmas Novella (e-book only)

  Alaska Twilight

  Fire Dancer

  Abomination

  Anathema

  Butterfly Palace

  JOURNEY OF THE HEART SERIES

  A Heart’s Disguise

  A Heart’s Obsession

  A Heart’s Danger

  A Heart’s Betrayal

  A Heart’s Promise

  A Heart’s Home

  NOVELLAS INCLUDED IN:

  Smitten

  Secretly Smitten

  Smitten Book Club

  NOVELLA COLLECTIONS

  Silent Night, Holy Night

  All Is Calm, All Is Bright

  OTHER NOVELLAS

  Bluebonnet Bride

  © 2016 by Colleen Coble

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Brief quotation from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Copyright © 1973, 1998, 2003.

  Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-0-7180-9069-2 (Library Edition)

  ISBN: 978-1-4016-9031-1 (eBook)

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Coble, Colleen, author.

  Title: Twilight at blueberry barrens / Colleen Coble.

  Description: Nashville: Thomas Nelson, [2016] | Series: A Sunset Cove novel ; 3

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016014088 | ISBN 9781401690304 (softcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Man-woman relationships—Fiction. | GSAFD: Romantic suspense

  fiction. | Mystery fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3553.O2285 T95 2016 | DDC 813/.54—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014088

  16 17 18 19 20 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For my beloved Amanda Bostic. Thanks for unfurling my suspense wings!

  CONTENTS

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THIRTY-NINE

  FORTY

  DEAR READER

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  AN EXCERPT FROM CARRIE STUART PARKS’ WHEN DEATH DRAWS NEAR

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  ONE

  JUNE 24

  Melissa’s breath came hard, and the pressure in her ears built as she sprinted up the slope toward the top of the cliffs. The glow in the east told her she would have to hurry if she wanted to see the sunrise from Mermaid Rock. Small pebbles skittered away from the soles of her sneakers, and the sound set her on edge.

  She glanced over her shoulder. While she’d seen no one on the trail, the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention, and she kept expecting to find a bear’s gaze boring into her in the darkness. In spite of her careful perusal of the surrounding area, she saw nothing but piles of pink granite gleaming in the faint glow of the coming sunrise.

  When she finally reached the summit, the view swept away her unease. The sun peeked over the water and bathed everything in a pink halo that heightened the color of the cliffs. She sat on a rock and inhaled the salty air. It was a perfect morning, but she would soon have to go back and face what she’d come to Maine to do.

  Heath wouldn’t be happy, but she couldn’t continue this way when she didn’t want to be with him anymore. When had their giddy love changed? When Heath had been in law school, they kissed over takeout as they cuddled on crates at a table constructed from a box crate.

  Now that they had everything, they really had nothing.

  And what was she going to do about the girls? They adored their father. Taking them away from him would be a terrible idea, but she couldn’t leave them behind. Even if that decision had been made, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it.

  Pain began to pulse behind her eye, and she rubbed her forehead. This was so hard. She didn’t want to think about their fight, the way his voice shook with fury, but the memory swamped her.

  “What’s this?” Heath tossed a sheaf of papers onto the table at the coffee shop.

  The aroma of espresso suddenly turned Melissa’s stomach when she saw his expression. “What’s what?”

  The children’s activity director at the hotel, Lisa Greenhill, sat at the next table over and lifted her head at his raised voice. Melissa hunched her shoulders and turned away from the curious stares. Her heart pounded as she peered up at her husband.

  His eyes were narrowed in what looked like hatred, and his nostrils flared. His normally smiling lips were pressed together in a straight line. Her gaze leaped to the papers, and she bit back a gasp. He knew. “I can explain.”

  His lip curled. “Explain how you’ve been meeting him behind my back. And that scum, of all people.”

  She straightened and met his gaze. “He’s not what you think.”

  “No, he’s worse.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “I could kill you for this, Melissa. I don’t know how I can live with this.”

  For an instant she cringed. Would he hit her? She’d never feared Heath before today. He was the gentlest of men and had been a good husband. She couldn’t help it that she’d fallen out of love with him. The words of explanation died on her lips. If the shoe were on the other foot, she’d feel just like he did.

  She tipped her chin up. “I’m sorry, Heath. It j-just happened. I didn’t mean for it to.”

  “Don’t even think about taking the girls.” Steel laced his words. “No judge in the land would give you custody.”

  She thought of the airline tickets she’d already bought for them. They’d get over losing her more easily than they would losing Heath. But could she leave without her babies? It went against everything she believed in. She’d look like a terrible mother, and maybe she was. She’d always thought a woman who would leave her children for a man was the lowest of the low. But she had to think of what was best for the girls. Maybe she should stay and ignore her own happiness, but the thought of it brought tears rushing to her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Heath.”

  “Sorry isn’t good enough. You’ll regret this, Melissa. I’ll make sure of it.” He spun around and stalked away.

  A sound brought her out of her reverie, and she started to turn. Before she made
a full rotation, hard hands gripped her throat from behind. Her eyes widened, and she tore at the fingers.

  She tried to speak or scream, but nothing came out. Spots danced in her eyes, and her vision began to darken. Air, she needed air. She tried to pry away the vise crushing her neck, but she . . . just . . . couldn’t. Then the ground rose to meet her.

  * * *

  Kate Mason trained her binoculars on the cliff face high above her. She’d left her yellow Volkswagen parked on the dirt road up top, and she and her sister hiked in to this remote beach on Folly Shoals, just off the Schoodic Peninsula in Downeast Maine, to see the brightly colored beaks in the craggy rocks. “They’re here just like Dixie said!”

  It had taken half an hour to hike down here, and she hadn’t been sure it was worth it. Even the ranger they’d run into had laughed at the notion of puffins nesting here, but there they were with their bright parrot-like coloring and awkward movements. She’d heard the rumor about these birds, but she’d been afraid to hope it was true. Atlantic puffins had never been known to nest on Folly Shoals. As far as she knew, there were only five nesting sites in Maine.

  Her sister, Claire Dellamare, snatched at the binoculars. “I want to see.”

  Kate handed them over and shivered as the early morning fog rolled in. Even though it was late June, the wind was cold off the sea, and her thin jacket did little to hold back its bite.

  Claire adjusted the binoculars and gasped. “You’ll have to notify Kevin.” Their cousin was the local game warden, and he’d want to monitor this site.

  “I’ll call him.” Her pulse jumping, Kate studied the puffin nest way above their heads. A bird with a fish in its beak landed in the burrow.

  Kate and her twin looked much alike with their dark-blonde hair and big blue eyes, but while Claire had the sharp business mind it had taken to run an aviation business, Kate was just getting past the chemo fog from the aplastic-anemia treatment that had saved her life. Correction—Claire had saved her life by showing up in time to be a donor for the stem-cell transplant Kate had desperately needed.

  Claire handed back the binoculars. “I heard they mate for life.”

  “Which is the only reason you’re interested in them. You like anything to do with romance these days.” Kate smiled at the color washing over Claire’s cheeks. “You’d move your wedding up if you could.”