Cassie's Castaways

When Amy Bendbowe receives a call for help from her dying mother, Cassie, she rushes from Washington's San Juan Island to Mobile, Alabama, to see her. But Cassie has other ideas. Before letting Amy visit the hospital, she wants her to sell off or give away all the stock from Cassie's secondhand store. Is Cassie trying to keep the distance that has long separated her from her daughter? Or is this her way to help Amy finally understand her? This is Book 1 in Anne L. Watson's Island Women trilogy, which includes "Cassie's Castaways," "Willow's Crystal," and "Benecia's Mirror." " 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.