Before Amethyst Colored the World: Prequel to A Convenient Catastrophe

By Tracy Bayle

A MODERN DAY LOVE STORY ON PARALLEL TRACKS WITH DECADES OF DECEPTION AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE TWO COLLIDE.

At the heart of A Convenient Catastrophe is a mother that was laid to rest a long time ago. But her secrets were buried much deeper than she ever was. No one in Flannery Cove has seen or heard from Caroline Chadwick in decades, not

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tracy Bayle
• Release date: Nov 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781735450629

Tracy Bayle

"A keen observer of the experiences of humans."Tracy Bayle is an American author of women's fiction/family drama and romantic suspense, in both her Flannery Cove and Shanning's Bay novels, which are all part of The Sea Island Series. she is known for portraying the true characteristics of humans and the situations they create. She has been entertaining her family with tall tales ever since she could put two thoughts together, and if you're stuck in traffic or a waiting room with her, you are going to be forced to listen to her imagination run wild and create a story.Tracy resides in Florida with her family, and loves interacting with readers.Follow Tracy on Facebook to be part of an engaging community of readers and be the first to find out when more books are being released. https://www.facebook.com/TracyBayleAuthorInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracybayleauthor/https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19901615.Tracy_Bayle"Bayle's novels are baked with irresistible heartbreak and honesty, but it's that final sprinkling of relatable humor that makes them so addictive.".

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Before Amethyst Colored The World

Tracy Bayle

Before Amythyst Colored The World

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2021 by Tracy Bayle

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. if you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact author at: [e-mail]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Cover Design by: Yashodhan Jaltare

Formatting by: SkimStone Publishing

Published by: SkimStone Publishing Winter Springs, FL, USA 32708

The Sea Island Series

There is a special place in the world called the Atlantic Ocean. Along this ocean’s coast, on the eastern part of the United States, from South Carolina down to Florida, is a chain of tidal and barrier islands called the Sea Islands. The Sea Islands gift the inhabitants of these coastal towns with a glorious watercolor rendition of nature’s most dynamic array of colors, as well as a continual symphony. Each island has a different flavor, but they all have been given a special sprinkling of enchantment.

It is that enchantment that brings visitors from around the globe seeking beauty and tranquility. But within every village there are the locals. The locals have families, jobs, homes. And the locals have secrets.

Contents

The Sea Island Series

BLAME IT ON THE BOW AND ARROW

RESTLESSNESS HAS NO POTION

DIAMONDS IN THE BATTER

THE LUSTER WAS YESTERDAY

IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IF IT WORKS

A Convenient Catastrophe

Before Amethyst Colored the World

The Road to Remorse

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

Amethyst is commonly referred to as the stone of Saint Valentine, the patron of romantic love who wore an amethyst ring carved with the image of Cupid.

BLAME IT ON THE BOW AND ARROW

The start of fall that year was a particularly dreary one. Rain had fallen for three weeks straight. Great sweeping gusts that rattled windows and soaked the soil that had held tight to the stately oaks for decades. Cars were swept away, power lines were damaged, and trees were uprooted. When finally it stopped, the townspeople came out and surveyed the landscape and joined forces in cleaning the debris. Then they moved forward. A new day full of clear skies and promises.

On that September evening there was a slight, possibly even imagined, chill in the air. On the college campus all signs of the havoc caused by the downpours had been swept away and in its place stood manicured shrubs and blades of grass as vibrant as a kite soaring through a summer sky. The air buzzed with a certain expectation.

Caroline slipped a scarf around her neck and busied her hands with a sailor knot. She’d had a sense niggling in the back of her brain all day. Something told her that before the night was over her life might be changed, even though that seemed dramatically ominous, even for her. What could possibly happen that would transform her existence? When considered in that regard, there was the possibility it could be something dangerous, even criminal.

Well, that would certainly be different!

Across town Raleigh whistled while he searched for his car keys and glanced at the clock. Caroline Lemond was prone to little displays of aggravation like a narrowing of the eyes, a tsk of the tongue, or a twist of the lips, and he wished to bring none of those upon her pretty little face. Not tonight. He was ready to prove himself a competent man. One she could depend on. He searched the hook by the door, in between the couch cushions, and in the pockets of the pants he’d last worn. After much huffing and praying and perspiration, the keys were finally located hanging from the ignition of the car. The engine sputtered a bit then turned over and Raleigh backed out of his driveway (which was really just two tracks in the grass that his tires had created) and cruised to the stop sign on the corner. It was there, while fiddling with the radio dial, that he remembered he hadn’t locked his front door, so he turned around and drove back to the worn path he called a driveway and pulled the keys from the ignition to secure his house. Then Raleigh repeated everything he’d done before that, only this time he found a good station on the radio that was playing, Walk on by and made it past the first intersection only five minutes behind schedule.

Just one and a half blocks over from Raleigh’s place Ian Guthrie was scouring his empty refrigerator like something might magically manifest on the shelf in front of him. He reached for the carton of milk and opened the puckered top which had frayed from too much handling. Swigging the last of it, Ian thought about where to go that evening and who to call to accompany him. Planning ahead was not Ian’s strong suit, but it never seemed to matter. Any phone call he made was likely to produce results. But then, Ian thought, maybe it would be fun to go to that party he’d heard about, and go alone. That could be interesting. Like throwing a dart at a map before leaving for vacation. Something different, for a change. Change was good, right?

One September evening. Three very different people headed