Swimming at Cat Cove — Lauren Wright Douglas

In the peaceful Oregon town of Lavner Bay, displaced Californian Allison O'Neil is busily working through a long list of things she needs to do to make her newly inherited bed and breakfast profitable. Things are going smoothly until the daughter of the B7B's live-in handywoman brings home a bedraggled nine-year-old named Minou. The child's mother is in jail for shoplifting, and the last time Minou saw her drunken father he had just lost everything he had … including her … in a winner-take-all card game with some L.A. pornographers. That's when Minou started running for her life. The girls beg Allison to let Minou stay for a week … just until her mom is released from jail … and Allison reluctantly agrees. Minou is a model houseguest, but before the week is up, Allison O'Neil is going to have a couple of unexpected things on her to-do list: find the girls and stay alive!