NCW Libraries

"In the New England beach town of Stony Point, everyone is waiting for something. Or someone. They're waiting for an answer. Waiting on something to believe in. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for a friend. Some are waiting to come home. Others are waiting to make a move. Then there's that shabby coastal table at twilight awaiting a secret dinner guest. And the Seaside Saga continues." - back cover

Salt air drifts in through the windows. Swaying marsh grasses whisper. Seagulls cry overhead. Off the docks, rowboats are anchored in a calm inlet. Beyond, shingled cottages look silver beneath rays of sunlight. Seafood shacks are strung with fishing net and lobster buoys. You're driving on SHORE ROAD.

In the dark of a summer night, everything can change. A moment can tip on edge. The salt air might stir. Or still. The waves might roll in. Or recede. A heart might fill. Or break. In two different cottages, the night is coming undone. As the sun sinks into the sea, as evening presses in, the summer calm is broken. Until an unexpected visitor arrives. -- back of cover.

"How do you know when it's goodbye? When something's over. When it's the last perfect day of the summer. When it's the last time you'll see a face, hear a voice. The last time you'll close a shingled cottage's door. How do you know when you'll never be somewhere again, that you've had your last glimpse of a certain sea? For the tangled cast of beach friends in Stony Point, it's a question some of them face. Because as the golden late-summer sun shines,...

Hidden by dune grass on the edge of the Barlows' craggy bluff is a stairway to the sea. Depending on the tides, it leads to a tiny secluded beach. But for years, the stairway's been neglected and nearly forgotten. Until now. Until a sudden offer to restore it brings a sea change, both to the stairway itself - and to the man rebuilding it. Conversations. Revelations. Secrets. Desires. All are intimately told in this sacred spot where sea and sky meet....