Beginning ~ with a call in the middle of the night

Beginning

The call came in the dead of night, the way those calls nearly always do.

Stella fumbled for the phone. ''lo?' she mumbled.

'Is this Stella Distry?' a woman asked.

Stella sat up, finally clearing sleep.  She pushed her curls out of her face, heart pumping.  'Yes,' she said.  'Who's this?  What's wrong?'

'It's about your grandmother, Gina Pontin.  She's had an accident.  I'm calling from Lincoln hospital.  Now don't panic — it was just a tumble.  She's broken her right arm, bruised a couple of ribs, and sprained her ankle.  We can't send her home alone, but she's being very difficult.  Abusive actually.  You're down as her emergency contact number.'

Mapton on Sea: Laughter, Tears and Mayhem at the British Seaside ~ by Sam Maxfield, 2015, fiction (England), 398 pages, 8/10

Stella loves her life in London, far from the foul-mouthed, flame-haired grandmother who raised her.  Then Stella gets the dreaded call in the middle of the night; Gina has taken a tumble.  Soon Stella finds herself trapped with Gina in the crazy coastal town of Mapton on Sea.  Can Stella and Gina ever truly reconcile?  As the June temperature soars, they (and the residents of Mapton) are in for a quite a summer.  For mobility scooter gangs, a bit of romance, and misbehaving dogs, you’re invited to Mapton on Sea.

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