Miracle at Seaside — Laura Raef

When sapphire-eyed Kristi Marlow arrived at the coastal town of Seaside, California, she anticipated an idyllic summer. And aspiring actress, she had arranged to study drama with Floss Karrodine, a film star of the thirties whose studio was an old barge on the waterfront. Kristi herself took up residence on the houseboat she had inherited from her fisherman grandfather, enthralled with the casual, freewheeling life-style of the small community of boat dwellers, mostly artists and students. Best of all, Tom Stricklin, the blond sculptor to whom she was practically engaged, lived on a neighboring boat.

In a short time Kristi had settled into a comfortable routine of drama lessons in the mornings and work in the afternoons at her part-time job as companion-tutor to six-year-old Heather Templeton. The daughter of dark-featured Mark Templeton, a wealthy widower who treated Kristi with cool detachment, Heather was moody and often difficult to manage.

But her young charge was the least of Kristi's problems. When her houseboat was broken in to, Kristi knew fear--but she refused to budge from her new home. Then came danger from another quarter. A group of citizens, led by Mark Templeton, spearheaded a drive to "clean up" the waterfront--which meant forcing the houseboat residents to abandon their homes. The law supported the citizens group, and it seemed that only a miracle could save the carefree life-style of the boat dwellers.