Read Friends--And Then Some Online
Authors: Debbie Macomber
Friends--And Then Some (21 page)
DEBBIE MACOMBER’S TOP TEN FAVORITE THINGS TO DO IN SEATTLE:
Since we live near Seattle, we naturally like to visit and enjoy all the city has to offer. Here are ten of my recommendations for fun things to do while in town:
1
. Stroll along the historic waterfront area where the Washington State ferries arrive and depart. Maybe you can catch the ferry to visit my hometown of Port Orchard, the inspiration for Cedar Cove.
2
. That ferry ride can make you hungry. I like to visit the landmark fish-and-chips restaurant, Ivar’s, on the Waterfront for fresh seafood and chowder in a bread bowl.
3
. From there, head over to climb the steep stairs that lead to the historic Pike Place Market.
4
. My grandchildren love the Seattle Aquarium with its beautiful Pacific Coral Reef.
5
. The Seattle Art Museum is always worth a visit and has a lovely café where you can rest your feet.
6
. The Seattle Center houses the Pacific Science Center and the famous Space Needle, landmarks that were built originally for the 1962 World’s Fair.
7
. While at the Seattle Center you can also visit the Experience Music Project, where you’ll find locals and tourists mingling among the listening stations.
8
. By now almost everyone must know we are a football family. We regularly attend Seattle Seahawks football games at CenturyLink Field.
9
. While waiting for football season to begin, we catch Seattle Mariners games at Safeco Field.
10
. I just love to shop at Westlake Center, and when I’m there, I always stop in at the nearby Barnes & Noble.
BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET
is the third novel in the series. Lydia’s customers are knitting a lace prayer shawl called The Alix Knit Prayer Shawl, designed by Myrna Stahman.
LYDIA GOETZ
Has married Brad Goetz and is happily making a home with him.
SUSANNAH NELSON
Owner of Susannah’s Garden, a flower shop next door to A Good Yarn. Her daughter, Chrissie, sometimes helps out in the shop.
COLETTE BLAKE
Is a widow and rents the apartment above A Good Yarn Shop. Her husband died in a tragic accident a year before. After her husband’s death, Colette had a one-night stand with her boss, Christian Dempsey. Colette quits her job at Dempsey Imports after finding out something disturbing about Christian, and she accepts a job at Susannah’s Garden.
ALIX TOWNSEND
Is working as a pastry chef at the French Café and engaged to Jordan Turner, a youth pastor. She’s trying to stay sane while her future mother-in-law plans a fancy wedding for her and Jordan. She’d prefer a quiet and simple celebration.
MARGARET LANGLEY
Lydia’s sister and mother to Hailey, twelve, and Julia, seventeen. Margaret and her family are thrown into turmoil trying to deal with Julia’s injuries after a carjacking incident.
BETHANNE HAMLIN
Has started a party business.
COURTNEY PULANSKI
Is in college in Chicago and teaching her friends how to knit.
ELISE BEAUMONT
Is nursing her husband, Maverick, through a recurring bout of cancer.
GRANDMA SARAH TURNER
Offers a safe haven for Alix when she needs it most. Alix and Jordan are married at her cottage.
TWENTY WISHES
is the fourth novel in the Blossom Street series. On Valentine’s Day, Anne Marie Roche and several others gather their Widows Club to celebrate the holiday. Instead of grieving, they get together to celebrate their friendship and their memories. They each create a list of wishes and dreams to look forward to.
ANNE MARIE ROCHE
Widow and owner of Blossom Street Books. Nine months after the death of her husband, Robert, she is still grieving. She volunteers at the local grade school for a lunch-buddy program. She has an apartment above Blossom Street Books.
BAXTER
Anne Marie’s dog, a Yorkie.
BRANDON
Robert’s twenty-nine-year-old son from his previous marriage.
MELISSA
Robert’s twenty-four-year-old daughter from his previous marriage. She dislikes Anne Marie intensely.
ELLEN FALK
Anne Marie’s lunch buddy, an eight-year-old girl being raised by her grandmother, Dolores.
ELISE BEAUMONT
Joins the Widows Club celebration after losing her husband, Maverick, from a long illness. She is a frequent book-store customer and book-club member, and she’s a customer at A Good Yarn.
SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET
is the fifth Blossom Street novel. The knitting pattern included in the book—and on my website—is a Cable Sampler Scarf.
Lydia is attracting new customers to A Good Yarn by offering a different sort of class, a Knit to Quit. The pattern, a Cable Sampler Scarf, designed by Bev Galeskas, will offer seven different blocks of cables increasing in complexity as the scarf progresses. Perhaps concentrating on each new block will help the class members focus on something other than the item they are trying to give up!
PHOEBE RYLANDER
She’s trying to put distance between herself and Clark Snowden, the man to whom she was engaged. He’s not faithful, and Phoebe can see it will be a pattern. Clark is fighting to win her back, and Phoebe’s resolve is weakening.
ALIX TURNER
Is working at the French Café and loving her life with Jordan. She started smoking again shortly before her wedding to Jordan and wants to quit, but she’s having a hard time of it. She and Jordan are trying to start a family, and Alix needs to quit smoking now.
BRYAN “HUTCH” HUTCHINSON
Is suffering from heart disease and soaring blood pressure due to a frivolous lawsuit and the pressures of running his family’s candy company. Hutch’s doctor suggests something that is meditative and relaxing, like knitting!
ANNE MARIE ROCHE
And her adopted daughter, Ellen, have returned from a trip to Paris and are settling into being a family. But a stranger is asking questions about Ellen at the bookstore.…
TIM CARLSEN
Is Ellen’s biological father. He’s trying to reach out to the daughter he didn’t know he had. Anne Marie is cautious. She is not sure if she can trust Tim and is not about to give up her new daughter.
CASEY MARSHALL
A troubled twelve-year-old girl in desperate need of a family. Casey forms an attachment to Lydia’s mom, who lives in an assisted-living complex.
A TURN IN THE ROAD
is the sixth book in the series. This book involves characters from Blossom Street, but takes place during a road trip. Bethanne Hamlin, her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth, are three generations on the road together from Washington to Florida. It’s a trip I am very familiar with as my husband Wayne and I travel south every winter. Bethanne needs time to sort out her feelings about her ex-husband, Grant, who wants a reconciliation. Annie is feeling jilted when her boyfriend takes off for a European adventure without her. Ruth is determined to attend her fiftieth high-school reunion, no matter how far away it is. Perhaps she’ll reconnect with her teenage love? A knitting pattern for a beaded wedding purse is available on my website.
BETHANNE HAMLIN
Bethanne’s catering/party business is going strong.
GRANT HAMLIN
Bethanne’s ex-husband, recently divorced for the second time. He’s come to realize what a good thing he had with Bethanne and is hoping to win her back.
ANDREW HAMLIN
Bethanne’s son, planning his wedding to Courtney Pulanski.
ANNIE HAMLIN
Bethanne’s daughter, intent on bringing her parents back together.
RUTH HAMLIN
Would love to reconnect with friends from her high-school years in Florida.
ROYCE ZEBULON
Ruth’s high-school prom date and first sweetheart.
MAX (MALCOLM) SCRANTON
Owns a wine distribution company but is happiest when he’s riding his Harley with his buddies.
ROOSTER
One of Max’s motorcycle riding partners and good friend.
NOTES FOR KNITTERS
• Many of the knitting patterns included in the Blossom Street books are also available for download on my website under the Knitting tab. You, too, can knit along with Lydia and her customers, and with me!
• The chapters that start with Lydia’s name include inspirational or instructional quotes from knitters who are prominent in their field.
Read on for an excerpt from Debbie Macomber’s
The Inn at Rose Harbor
Last night I dreamed of Paul.
He’s never far from my thoughts—not a day passes when he isn’t with me—but he hasn’t been in my dreams until now. It’s ironic, I suppose, that he should leave me, because before I close my eyes I fantasize about what it would feel like to have his arms wrapped around me. As I drift off to sleep I pretend that my head is resting on his shoulder. Unfortunately, I will never have the chance to be with my husband again, at least not in this lifetime.