“Perfect,” Rachel said. “You go clean up. Bud and I always eat in the kitchen, and you’re the only guest here at the moment. It will work out perfectly. When you come down, just go through those double doors at the end of the dining room.”

“Yes, ma’am, and thank you again.”

“Please, call me Rachel,” she said.

Sully nodded, then took the stairs up two at a time and let himself into his room. Once again, he was back in the shower, washing away the blood and the choking scent of smoke. The small wound on his back had also been closed with glue after they’d removed a small piece of metal and cleaned it up. He showered in lukewarm water, patted his back dry, and put on more clean clothes. At this rate, he was going to be looking for a place to get laundry done.

As he came downstairs, he heard dishes rattling, then voices, and followed the sounds into the kitchen.

“Come in, come in!” Rachel said. “Sully, this is my husband, Bud. Bud, this is Sully, the man I was telling you about.”

Bud came forward smiling and quickly shook Sully’s hand.

“Good to meet you,” Bud said. “Sounds like you’ve had quite an introduction to Blessings. It’s not normally this exciting. Have a seat at the table. Lunch is almost ready. Hope you’re hungry. These open-faced roast beef sandwiches are the bomb, and so is the gravy that goes on them. Rachel is taking french fries out of the deep fryer right now. Would you rather have coffee or sweet tea?”

“Sweet tea, please,” Sully said.

The food appeared moments later, and as soon as they sat down, Bud reached for the ketchup for his fries. When he did, Rachel rolled her eyes.

“Peasant,” she said.

“Snob,” Bud fired back.

Then they laughed at each other as Bud began shaking ketchup all over his fries.

“Rachel thinks gravy should go on the fries that come with these sandwiches,” Bud said.

“Bud puts ketchup on everything, which is a slight blow to my ego, considering I’m supposed to be this great cook,” Rachel countered, and then winked at her husband.

Sully laughed. “Pass the ketchup, please,” and proceeded to do the same thing that Bud had, which sent Bud and Rachel into peals of laughter.

“I guess that settles it,” Rachel said. “When in Rome…and all that. Will someone pass me the ketchup, too? Oh…and save room for dessert. It’s peach cobbler à la mode.”

Sully took his first bite and then rolled his eyes in delight.

“This is amazing. The meat is so tender. What kind of bread do you use for this?” he asked.

“Different kinds,” Rachel said. “This is toasted and buttered sourdough bread.”

“I’m going to remember this,” Sully said. “We all had to take turns cooking at the fire station when I was still on the job. Those guys would love this food. Rachel, you are an amazing chef.”

Rachel beamed, pausing a moment to watch two men wolfing down her food like they’d been starving. The satisfaction of knowing people loved her cooking was a huge part of the reason she enjoyed owning the B and B.