Getting out of her uniform was always paramount. It went straight to the laundry, then she went to the bathroom to shower. The ritual of washing all over was both a physical and an emotional cleansing—leaving behind all of the sadness and sickness of the patients she’d cared for last night to the capable hands of the day shift.

She was off for the next two days, and then she would be going back on days. She hadn’t minded filling in while one of the nurses had been out of town for a family funeral, but she was ready to go back on her regular shift in the ER.

As soon as she was out and dry, she put on her pj’s, switched her laundry to the dryer, ate a bowl of cereal while standing at the sink, then crawled into bed. She was still thinking of Hunt Knox when she fell asleep.

* * *

Rachel Goodhope met their latest guest when he came down for breakfast. She hadn’t seen him in biker gear, but he cut a fine figure in the black Levi’s and the gray chambray shirt he was wearing. He hung a black leather coat over the back of a chair, set a biker helmet in the seat of the chair beside him, and then went to the buffet.

“Welcome to Blessings,” Rachel said, and added a fresh batch of crisp bacon to a near-empty chafing dish.

“Thank you,” Hunt said. “Everything looks good.”

“Enjoy,” she said. “If you want something to drink other than hot tea or coffee, just let me know.”

“This is fine,” Hunt said. “Oh…can you tell me where Butterman Law Office is located?”

“Sure. He has an office in a building directly across from the courthouse. There’s a sign out front. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” Hunt said, and began filling his plate.

Rachel went back to the kitchen to take a batch of hot biscuits out of the oven. She put them on a counter beneath a heat lamp to keep them warm and was going to bake up some more waffles when her cell phone rang. She wiped her hands and then answered.

“Hello, this is Rachel.”

“Good morning, Rachel. This is Ruby. I’m on the church calling committee, so I’m giving you a heads-up about an upcoming funeral.”

“Oh no! Who died?” Rachel asked.

“Marjorie Knox finally passed, bless her heart,” Ruby said.

“Oh, of course! I heard they’d called in the family,” Rachel said, and then gasped. “Oh! Oh my! I didn’t put two and two together until now. We had a guest sign in really, really early this morning. His name is Hunter Knox. I’ll bet he’s family.”

Ruby gasped. “Oh my word! That’s the oldest son! He disappeared right after high school and never came back.”

“Well, he’s here now,” Rachel said. “And a fine-looking man he is, too.”