Volume 14
The Avenue survived the “great shutdown” of the early 2020s and is now back, stronger than ever.
Guests at the Inn are in town to participate in the fall grape harvest. Local wineries have worked together to create tours and a stomp. Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating. Someone else is not cooperating, either.
Two shady characters crash their catamaran on the beach. Are they drug runners or worse? Turns out, it’s probably “or worse.”
George and Candice, after opening a new brewpub that closed during the shutdown, are trying it again. The hotel that Chris purchased a couple of years ago finds new life with an apartment complex and food court. Too bad that things just keep happening.
And to top it off, Annie’s cats have rescued a kitten whose matted hair has her looking a mess!
Come visit Chelsea for a while! The action never stops!
Purchase Options
You can order from Tiger Lily’s Store. This is the same paperback book you can get from Amazon. The difference is that it will come from the author and will be signed.
Author: Kathleen Thompson
Excerpt from Shipwreck
Chapter 1
Tiger Lily sighed as she jumped off the bed. Daylight had not yet peeked into the room. Late October, it would be some time before it did.
She sighed again and trotted to the apartment’s front door, slipped through the cat door, and padded down two flights of steps. In the kitchen, she turned at a sound. Sassy Pants, Kali, Ko, and Mo were right behind her.
There was no time to waste. A cat had to do what a cat had to do.
It being Monday, the cats should have been preparing to “go to work” at businesses that were named after them. Today, the humans would have to take care of business on their own. The cats had something more important to do.
Henrie opened his apartment door as the last cat tail slipped into the basement stairwell. He was the erect, correct, and nearly always prescient manager of the KaliKo Inn. He usually knew everything going on in the Inn. He usually knew everything going on in town. Today, he may have missed that last tail going downstairs, but he knew the cats were up to something. He knew what the something was.
He opened one door of the double refrigerator and pulled items for breakfast. Today, he would make breakfast only for himself and Annie. Bacon (always), French toast casserole, and oatmeal with walnuts and blueberries.
He heard a quick knock on the kitchen door. Turning, he saw Isabel enter carrying a baker’s box in one hand and battling with an umbrella in the other. It was not quite fifty degrees, and a cold rain sheered sideways in the twelve miles per hour wind. Isabel looked a little worse for the wear.
Isabel’s dog, Tillie, a Jack Russell terrier, stood in the doorway long enough to shake the water off. Isabel looked as if she wanted to do the same.
Tillie yipped good morning to Henrie, then she trotted off to the basement.
“Good morning, Isabel,” said Henrie. “We could have done without a delivery, but I am so happy to have it, except for the expense of your comfort.”
Isabe laughed, a bell-like sound ringing through the kitchen. She looked after Tillie and asked, “Where is she going?”
In a low voice, Henrie said, “The kids are hiding something down there and they think I do not know.”