Cassie's Castaways

This is Book 1 in Anne L. Watson's Island Women trilogy, which includes "Cassie's Castaways," "Willow's Crystal," and "Benecia's Mirror."

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Anne L. Watson, a retired historic preservation architecture consultant, is the author of several novels, plus books on such diverse subjects as soapmaking and baking with cookie molds. Living now in Bellingham, Washington, she lived for many years in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands -- the home base of her Island Women trilogy.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

SAMPLE

Morning light slid across the mountaintops like a wash of pearl. How far away were they? Twenty miles, fifty? Drinking coffee in my living room, I watched them shine, as I did almost every dawn. Thinking of nothing but the moment, the beautiful moment.

My phone rang.

At this hour, either a wrong number or something important. I checked the caller ID before answering. Something important, then.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Hi, Honey! How's life up there in the islands?"

Dad was a good guy, and he loved me. But he used casual endearments only when he wanted something, a speech habit he wasn't aware of. I turned my back on the view, sipped my coffee, and got my guard up.

"Life is fine. How's life way down in Seattle?"

"Good. Eliane and I went to a gallery opening the other night. You should have seen the garbage they were passing off as art. We laughed so hard on the way home, the cab driver probably thought we were drunk."

Drunk on having fun in downtown Seattle sounded good to me. Eliane was smart, witty, and a damned good artist. Didn't fit the wicked stepmother mold in the least. I liked her a lot.

"Say hi to Eliane for me. Anyway, what's happening?"

"It's your mother. She's in the hospital. From what she says, it doesn't look good. Can you go out there and help?"

"Shouldn't I talk to her first?"

"She asked me to call you. I don't think she wants to talk about it that much."

"How long does she want me to stay?"

"More a matter of how long she has left."

Oh. 

"Does anyone know how long that's likely to be? A week, a month?"

"You know how your mother is. Name, rank, and serial number, that's about all the information she parts with."

"That makes it kind of hard to plan things."

"I know. Will you go? Please?"

I felt cornered. But however weird my mother could be, she was not one to cry wolf.

"Well, I guess," I said.

Replacing the phone in its charger, I checked the mountains again, but the glow was gone. They looked cold and far away.