The beach trees - Karen White

Julie first knew loss at the age of twelve, when her younger sister disappeared from their back yard - never to be found. As her once close-knit family grew apart, Julie's mother obsessively searched for the girl, and when her mother died, Julie took up the search. Then Julie meets Monica Guidry - a struggling artist and single mother who reminds Julie so much of her sister... Monica paints a vivid picture of her southern family through stories, but never says how she lost contact with them. And she has another secret: a heart condition that will soon take her life.