Once Upon a Cabin (Sweet Home, Alaska, Band 2) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Patience Griffin is the award-winning author of the Kilts and Quilts series of contemporary romances. She grew up in a small town along the Mississippi River, enjoying life in a close-knit community. She loves to quilt and has gained national recognition with her September 11 Story Quilt, which has toured the country as the property of the Pentagon, and is teaming up with QT Fabrics for an extensive line of fabrics to accompany her novels.

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Chapter 1

Tori St. James gripped the chair in the lawyer's office as she and her sister McKenna glanced at each other nervously.

Terrence, their great-uncle's lawyer, opened the door and wheeled in a big-screen TV.

"Please tell us what's going on!" Tori implored. "Is Uncle Monty okay?"

The sisters feared the worst. Uncle Monty was their last living relative. He meant so much more to them than the large inheritance they were to receive when he passed away.

"Montgomery is well." Terrence plugged in the television.

"Then why all the secrecy?" McKenna asked. "Why were we summoned?"

"All will be revealed on the recording," Terrence said calmly. He stood back and hit play.

Uncle Monty appeared on the screen. "Hello, girls."

They were hardly girls. Tori was twenty-eight and McKenna was twenty-nine; they were only eleven months apart.

"I've made plans for the both of you," Uncle Monty continued.

Tori's worry turned to excitement. The last time Uncle Monty made plans, she and McKenna were whisked off to Monaco for a month.

"I've rented out your condo. Make peace with it." Uncle Monty's voice had a steely edge.

"Wait a minute." Tori was confused. This wasn't the uncle they knew. "Pause the video."

Terrence clicked the remote.

"Is our uncle ill?" McKenna asked.

"He doesn't seem like himself," Tori added.

"He's fine and of sound mind," the lawyer said. He turned the video back on.

But Uncle Monty looked a little strained as he glanced down at his desk. It was like he was referring to a script. "Neither of you girls have any long-term goals because everything has been provided for you. You expect nothing of yourselves. I've decided it's time you both stood on your own two feet."

"I bet it was Peggy who decided," McKenna said under her breath. Peggy was a therapist and Uncle Monty's latest girlfriend. At least she was fiftysomething instead of the thirtysomethings he usually dated, and this one seemed to stick around for more than the money. Peggy had been shocked when she found out that the St. James sisters didn't work. And why should we? Tori thought. Uncle Monty had the means and allowed them to enjoy life without a budget.

On the screen Uncle Monty was wearing a stern expression she'd never seen before. "You both need to change. This is your notice: I've put your trust funds and credit cards on hold."

"You've what?" McKenna complained to the screen. "I have a climbing trip at the Grand Canyon coming up."

"Go home and pack," Uncle Monty said. "You'll need clothing for four seasons, but especially for cold weather. No Dallas winter for you girls this year. You're headed for Alaska."

"Oh, that's not a bad idea," McKenna said, smiling. "There's plenty of outdoor activities there."

Tori frowned at her sister. "Sure, Alaska is great for you. But what am I supposed to do there?"

Uncle Monty continued, looking increasingly grim. "I really hate to do this to you, but I'm going to split you up. One in the city, one in the wilderness."

"Sounds good to me," McKenna said cheerfully.

This time Tori glared at her. "I don't think Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Juneau is the size of Dallas. They probably don't have a single Galleria among them."

"And here's the hardest part," Uncle Monty said. "I've tied all this to your inheritance. If you complete your respective stays, the money will be yours. Terrence has your assignments."

The lawyer passed a folder to each of them. Tori flipped hers open but couldn't believe what she was seeing. "One year on a homestead in the middle of nowhere?"

"He can't seriously put me in a bank in Anchorage and expect me to survive," McKenna said at the same time.

Uncle Monty was talking again. "You've both heard me speak about my time as a young man living in Alaska near the small town of Sweet Home. Well, I've spoken with Piney at the Hungry Bear grocery-diner and she's found some local gentlemen to help you settle in and adjust to life in Alaska."

But Tori wasn't really listening at this point. "Why is he doing this to us?" she asked Terrence. "The Spring Fashion Show Gala is next week and I have responsibilities." Her job that night was to make sure every model was perfectly dressed and styled before walking the runway. It had taken her months to pick just the right outfits.

Uncle Monty was waving. "See you both in a year." The screen went blank.

"This is a disaster," Tori grumbled.

"He can't split us up, Tori," McKenna said fiercely.

McKenna had always watched out for Tori, as she was the younger and weaker of the two. Fragile was the word everyone used to describe her. Just like their mother, who had died during an asthma attack, Tori had weak lungs, too.

She looked back at the screen, about to let her uncle have it, only to be reminded he was gone.

As if choreographed, she and McKenna pulled out their phones at the same time.

"It won't do any good," Terrence said, pointing to their cells. "Monty is on a trip around the world for the next year. You are welcome to email him, but he'll only have limited access."

"He can't do this to us." Tori wanted to scream. "He can't make us go to Alaska!"

"True," Terrence said. "Neither of you has to accept your assignment."

"Really?" McKenna said.

"Yes. You can stay here, get jobs, and pay your own way in the world."

He didn't say the rest, but Tori could read his expression: Pay your own way in the world, just like the rest of us.

Terrence continued. "All assets are frozen except a modest allowance for incidentals, nothing like the unlimited access to cash and credit you had before."

"What about Tori's medication? Her inhaler?" McKenna looked as worried as she always did where Tori's breathing issues were concerned.

"Of course," Terrence said, giving Tori a pitying glance. "I'll have all of her prescriptions sent to Sweet Home."

McKenna didn't look satisfied.

"Fine," Tori said, tired of always being the sickly one. "We'll do it."

"We will?" McKenna said. "We'll stay here and get jobs? Do it on our own without the trust fund? If you say so, but I don't think your bachelor's degree in fashion management and mine in parks and rec are going to pay enough to feed us, let alone make rent on an apartment."

"No, silly. We're going to accept the challenge and go to Alaska. Uncle Monty wants us to get out of our comfort zones, and we will."

McKenna shook her head. "Alaska is a good fit for me, but I don't think it's a good fit for you. Remember when I took you to Thailand? You hated roughing it."

Tori was determined to prove her uncle-and that snooty Terrence-wrong. "Come on, sis. We can do this. A year will go by quickly," she added comfortingly, but she didn't actually believe it. The year would drag on. It would be miserable. But they'd survive.

Seven days later, she and McKenna were on a plane to Anchorage, both of them still shell-shocked from uprooting their life in Texas. When the pilot announced they would be landing soon, they reached for each other's hand and held on tight. Not because they were...