Azure Lake / Crown Books NYC (ePub)

Widowed Catherine Stewart, living in Thousand Oaks, California, receives a phone that her mother has passed on and the funeral will be in a few days. The message is from her sister Lois and she begs Catherine to come to the funeral.

Since she graduated from college, Catherine has only returned to Azure Lake, her hometown, when her father passed. Directly from Boise State, she moved to California, soon met her husband, had a son, and settled in Thousand Oaks.

Now a widow and running the real estate company that she and husband Tom had designed .took many long hours, and great effort to keep the company thriving, and now had five employees. She decides to drive with her ten-year-old son, the 950 miles to reach her hometown; Azure Lake.

When they arrive, they are invited to her sister Lois' house for dinner. She also finds that the original family house had been extensively remodeled and there her second sister, Serena lives in it.

At dinner, she connects with Serena, who suffers from Down syndrome She is sweet and welcoming. Catherine learns that the money for the remodeling came from selling the old farmland for building lots. Now it is considered prime land for building larger houses.

Thomas and Catherine soon leave to stay in the original family home.

Two evenings later, at the Mortuary, Catherine again meets Thad Vickers and an old boyfriend from college. He has now become her family's attorney. He has matured into a handsome and intriguing man and seems quite interested in her. They go to breakfast the next day, and she enjoys a 'date' with this great-looking man.

After the funeral, at the reading of her mother's will, Catherine learns there are two stipulations. The first one shocks Catherine because her mother wants her to stay in Azure Lake and care for Serena. If she does, she will inherit the family house, and she will inherit one-third of the estate.

But what is she to do about her real estate firm? She has worked almost nonstop for nearly two years since Tom's death to build and maintain it.

These two stipulations surprise everyone in the family. When Catherine was a child she remembered the financial struggles of her family. Now the land had become very valuable not only as a lakefront resort, but other sections of the land are wanted for upscale residential property.

Who will take over Serena's and the family's home if Catherine refuses? What is Catherine to do?