Sanctuary at Heron Ledge
A book conservator on the Maine coast discovers that her late sister's son has been pushed out of his father's household, then follows the records that reveal financial abuse and neglect.
Fictional story. Contains depictions of familial neglect, emotional exclusion, and legal guardianship disputes involving a minor. The characters, firms, schools, and events are fictitious.Chapter 1: The Midnight Call
At 1:15 a.m., the fog rolling off Penobscot Bay had turned the pine needles outside Clara Vance’s workshop into dripping silver threads. Inside her quiet cottage in Belfast, Maine, the air smelled of beeswax, calfskin leather, and dried lavender. Clara, fifty-eight, sat at her heavy maple workbench, carefully pressing the spine of a nineteenth-century maritime atlas back into alignment. Restoring damaged books required patience and precision—two qualities that life had demanded of her in abundance since her younger sister, Sarah, had died four years ago.
When the brass bell of her antique wall phone began to chime, the sound startled the cat asleep on her ledger. Clara dried her fingertips on her apron and picked up the receiver. Night calls along the Maine coast rarely brought gentle news, but she had not anticipated hearing her fourteen-year-old nephew’s voice shivering through the static.