Sweetbriar Summer — Brenda Wilbee

Summer 1854 finds Louisa and David, and baby Emily Inez, on their claim (today's Seattle Center), caught up in the first fruits of their labor and basking in their hard-won hopes and dreams. New settlers, new industry, added shipping lines, gold beyond the mountains--everything adds up to strong economics times. Yet beneath the heady air of prosperity runs a current of fear--rumors of Indian unrest ominously rumble.

In the middle of everything comes word that David's brother James is dying. Will Louisa and David abandon their improvements and rush to his bedside in far-away Oregon? Can they even make it in time?