Treasure Beach: Chapter Six, Part One
Summer isn't "over" for us, thank goodness, but it's nearly over for Olivia and the women of Happiness Key, whose lives will be forever changed in Sunset Bridge , available now at your favorite bookstore. Meantime, Treasure Beach (the free prequel to Sunset Bridge) ends this month. If you haven't been reading along, visit this page for enlightenment and instructions. It's not too late to catch up. And don't worry, you don't have to finish Treasure Beach to enjoy Sunset Bridge . The stories aren't directly related, even though the characters are the same.
Finally, please don't forget to visit quilter Pat Sloan's website to sew along on the charming Happiness Key quilt that goes along with the series. This month the final piece of the mystery quilt is revealed. The moment my own quilt is finished, I'll show you my handiwork.
Treasure Beach: Chapter Six, Part One
Olivia hadn't planned to attend Sunday's barbecue. The home room mother for the upcoming year had organized it, along with a couple of other parents, so that everybody in the class could have a carefree afternoon and get to know each other before braving the front doors of the middle school.
She knew some of the kids who had been assigned to her home room and would probably recognize more on the first day of school. At first she hadn't seen any point in hanging out with them before she had to, but as the weekend progressed, she changed her mind. The barbecue was at the town beach. She thought it might be interesting to have an excuse to test the weatherman's theory that the SunDrop bottle had been launched there. She decided she would launch a bottle herself, and see if it washed up at Treasure Beach in the next day or so.
If nothing else, it was something to do.
When she and Alice arrived at the beach the party site wasn't hard to spot because Olivia could see smoke from barbecues and girls her age running toward it. Her grandmother, who was feeling better now, dropped her off in the parking lot and promised to come back the moment Olivia wanted to go home. She got the canvas bag with her towel, a mat and the SunDrop bottle Wanda had given her, complete with a cork she'd borrowed from Tracy's trash. Then she waved goodbye and started toward the commotion.
There were kids everywhere, tanned Florida kids in bright swimsuits and cover-ups, and the salt breeze smelled like coconut oil and roasting hot dogs. There were parents, too, designated to keep an eye on things and make sure nobody swam out too deep or went in without a buddy, a lecture one of them gave Olivia as she neared the fray.
Some girls were burying a friend in the sand not far away, and she quickly turned in the other direction so they wouldn't include her in their plans. She said hi to some boys she knew and waved at a couple of girls, ignoring their beckoning hands. Having been prepped by Alice ahead of time she made her way to the picnic table where the food was being set out and introduced herself to the mom in charge.
Then she took off down the beach.
She didn't want to explain what she was about to do, not to anybody. And while she felt just a dab of guilt that despite the warning she was going into the water without a buddy, she had no plans to go above her waist. She was too smart to take chances, and while she could swim, she had reasons for not being fond of the water. She just needed to get out deep enough to give the bottle a chance to get past the waves at the shoreline.
She walked about fifty yards down the beach and looked for a place to put her bag. Only then did she realize she hadn't quite left the party behind. Jessie Patterson, who must be in her new home room, was sitting on a beach towel just beyond her gazing out at the water. Jessie Patterson, with a bottle of SunDrop soda in one hand and a rainbow tablet on her lap, a pen in her hand.
