Wrested back to Cabarita Beach by her grandmother's sudden death, Kate Summer discovers a mystery buried in the past that changes everything.
Kate returns home to the sleepy hamlet of Cabarita Beach and the run-down Waratah Inn for her grandmother's funeral. She spent many happy childhood years at the inn, but all she wants to do now is sell the dilapidated boutique inn and head back to the city and her busy, professional life. But she and her two estranged sisters discover they've inherited the inn together. To sell, they need all three sisters to agree to the sale.
Soon, her carefully constructed life begins to unravel and Kate decides to stay in Cabarita Beach to renovate the elegant, old building. Despite her misgivings about reviving the crumbling structure, she quickly becomes consumed with crown moulding, history and an attractive horse wrangler she can't seem to ignore.
When she discovers a clue to a mystery from the past in her grandmother's things, she'll be drawn down a path that raises more questions than answers. Piece-by-piece she and her sisters will uncover the secret former life of their beloved grandmother. A life of love, intrigue, and loss. A life they never knew she had.
An opportunity to sell the Inn pushes them to make a choice: commit to the Waratah Inn and family, or walk away from the Inn and each other, back to their separate and isolated lives.
For fans of Debbie Macomber, Carolyn Brown and Danielle Steele.
NB. Includes recipes and a discussion guide.
Preview Chapter One
August 1995
Brisbane
The wind clutched at Kate Summer's straight, brown hair blowing it in wild bursts around her head and into her green eyes. The ferry lurched forward. She grabbed onto a cold, metal handrail with one hand and held her flyaway hair against her neck with. the other. Then she stepped through the doorway and into the City Ferry cabin. The rush of wind in her ears quieted, replaced by the dull murmur of conversation between commuters as they huddled together in clumps throughout the cabin.
The Kangaroo Point terminal faded out of sight behind them as the ferry chugged across the sluggish, brown Brisbane River towards the city centre. Kate tugged her coat tighter around her body and inhaled a steadying breath through her reddened nose. It'd once been smattered with freckles, but time had faded them to a pale remnant of their former selves.
Sighing, she sank into one of the hard chairs that were lined up like so many church pews, smoothed her hair with one hand as best she could, and set her purse on the empty seat beside her.
She had to get to work on time today. Marco was stressed out about the new menu. He'd called her at home to tell her he wasn't entirely convinced it was a good idea to take the restaurant in a new direction, what with the economic climate the way it was. She reminded him the economic climate was fine and it was the perfect time to try something new, as they'd discussed a hundred times over the past six months. That he'd named her head chef at the Orchid for a reason and should listen to her ideas. Keep reading
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