“Hello, this is Alice.”

“Hi, Alice, this is Melissa.”

“Melissa! Oh my goodness! How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling good. I’m calling for a friend. Is Danner there?”

“Yes. Hang on a sec,” Alice said, and then Melissa heard her calling for Dan.

A few moments later, Dan was on the phone. “Hello, Melissa. Good to know you’re up and about. Alice said you needed to speak to me?”

“Yes. Sully Raines, the man who saved my life, wants to talk to you, so I offered to call and make the introductions. I’m going to hand Sully the phone now, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Dan said.

Melissa got up, handed Sully the phone, then motioned for him to sit in her chair as she waved and left the room.

“This is Sully Raines. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.”

“Of course. What’s up?” Dan asked.

“I’ve been looking for my birth mother, and the clues I’d been following led me here to Blessings. But since my arrival, I’ve hit one dead end after another. Today, Melissa mentioned something about your neighbor, Elliot Graham, being something of a psychic…that he alerted people to Lovey’s need for rescue during the hurricane.”

“Yes, he did that,” Dan said.

“So, what I was wondering was if you could ask him if he would be willing to talk to me about my search. If he isn’t, then that’s that. But if he would, I would so appreciate it.”

Dan chuckled. “Oh… Yes, I could easily ask Elliot. What he says is a whole other thing. He’s a bit of an eccentric, but he is a man of great compassion. What’s your phone number? If he’s willing to meet with you, I’ll call you back.”

Sully gave Dan his cell phone number and then added, “If he will talk to me, the sooner the better. I’m at a loss as to what to do next.”

“Got it,” Dan said. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes, one way or the other.”

“Thank you so much,” Sully said.

“Not a problem, and by the way, you are a hero to all of us here in Blessings. We think the world of Melissa.”

“Just in the right place at the right time,” Sully said. “I’ll await your call.” Then he hung up and went to find Melissa.

She was in the living room watching TV and muted the show when he walked in.

“How did it go?” she asked.

Sully sat down beside her and gave her a hug.

“He’s calling Mr. Graham for me now. I’ll find out in a few minutes whether he’ll see me or not, but either way, thank you for helping make this happen.”

She shrugged it off. “I’m happy I could help.”

“What are you watching?” he asked.

“Expedition Unknown. I’m a fan.”

“Seriously? We always watched that at the station. Josh Gates is funny and something of a daredevil, which of course spoke to the chest-thumping males that we were.”