* * *
Hunt rolled up to the bed-and-breakfast as quietly as he could manage on a Harley, cognizant of the other guests who were likely asleep. He locked up his bike, grabbed his bag and helmet, then headed to the door and rang the bell.
Bud Goodhope was still up and waiting for their last guest to arrive, and when he heard the doorbell, he hurried through the hall to answer the door.
“Welcome to Blessings Bed and Breakfast,” Bud said.
Hunt nodded. “I’m Hunt Knox. I have a reservation.”
“Yes, come in, Mr. Knox. I’ll get you registered and show you to your room. You must be exhausted.”
A short while later, Hunt was taken upstairs and given a room at the end of the hall.
“It’s quieter back here,” Bud said. “Breakfast will be served from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. If you need anything, just press seven on the house phone and either my wife, Rachel, or I will answer.”
“Thanks,” Hunt said. “Right now, all I want is a shower and a bed.”
“Then rest well,” Bud said as he put Hunt’s bag on the bed. “We’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.”
Hunt locked the door, put his jacket and helmet on a chair, then sat down and took off his boots. The room was well-appointed and had a warm, homey feel. It had been a long time since he’d been in a place like this.
He poked around and found a basket of individually bagged, homemade chocolate chip cookies, as well as a mini-fridge of cold drinks. He hadn’t eaten since noon, and it was already tomorrow, so he chose a cookie and a cold Coke and ate to dull the empty feeling in his belly.
When he was finished, he stripped and walked into the bathroom. The full-length mirror reflected the milestones life had left on his body. The scars of war weren’t just within him. Some, like the thin silver ropes left from wounds that had healed, were visible, too.
He turned the water as hot as he could stand it to loosen tired muscles, and then washed his hair before he washed himself. By the time he got out, all he could think about was crawling between clean sheets and sleeping for a week. But there’d be no sleeping in. He’d come a long way to keep a promise, and it wasn’t going to be accomplished by staying in bed.
* * *
Ava’s shift ended at 7:00 a.m.
Normally, she would be looking forward to a little breakfast and then sleep, but Hunt Knox was on her mind as she headed home. She wondered if he was married—if he had children—where he lived—what he did. But it appeared she wasn’t the only one in the dark. From the little she’d overheard, his brothers and sisters didn’t know, either. Again she wondered what had happened to drive such a rift within their family, and what promise he’d made to his mother before she died.
Ava was still thinking about him as she pulled up beneath the carport. The morning was cold and the sky appeared overcast. But weather wasn’t going to affect her day. She let herself in and then went through the house, leaving her coat in the front closet and her purse on the hall table.
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.”
“I hope he made it in time to see Marjorie,” Ruby said.
“He just asked me where Peanut’s office is,” Rachel said.
“I don’t know if Peanut will be in the office or not, since it’s a holiday. I guess time will tell how this all plays out,” Ruby said. “In the meantime, just giving you a heads-up about a family dinner at church in the near future.”
“Noted,” Rachel said. “I’ve got to make some more waffles. I’ll talk to you later.”
“And I have more people to call,” Ruby said. “I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
Hunt ate his fill of eggs, biscuits, and gravy, then went back for waffles. He was making up for having gone so long without real food and had no idea what the day would bring, so eating what was in front of him seemed like a good idea.