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moved toward Kip. “Kathleen, when you get back we’ll order something for dinner. We’re celebrating tonight. No Naomi.”
    Kathleen left her mom’s, not feeling the least bit in the mood to celebrate anything—even the fact the town would avoid Naomi. Her cousin’s apartment burnedtoday. She could have lost Sally and her sons. A firefighter went into a burning building because of her insistence her family was still inside.
    Her life continued to come apart at the seams, starting with the last year of her marriage to Derek. She had wanted coming home to be a new start but hadn’t counted on her sons’ rebellion against moving to Hope. There was no going back to Denver, however. She couldn’t afford to live there, financially or emotionally.

Chapter Two
    T he crashing sounds of the falling timbers and the crackling of the fire haunted Gideon when he tried to sleep at the hospital. He remembered being put into the ambulance and glancing at the Magnolia Street Apartments as the structure caved in on itself, flames shooting upward as the blaze rampaged through it.
    The noises around him amplified in volume. The antiseptic smell of the hospital overwhelmed him. Sweat popped out on his forehead. His breathing became shallow, his throat raw.
    Finally, Gideon inhaled a deeper breath and regretted it the second he did. A sharp pain pierced through his chest. He clenched his jaw and rode the wave until it subsided to a throbbing ache. In spite of how he felt, restlessness churned through him. Scanning the hospital room, he resisted the impulse to walk away. The doctor should be here within a few hours to give him the okay to leave. But as he stared at the clock on the wall across from his bed, the second hand seemed to be moving in slow motion.
    The sound of the door opening lured his attention away from watching time inch forward. KathleenHart—last night he’d finally remembered she’d told him her name at the fire—entered his room. Her long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail emphasized her delicate features—large, blue eyes like the Gulf off the shores of Hope, lips with a rosy tint that wasn’t from lipstick, and two dimples in her cheeks as she smiled at him.
    Dressed in blue scrubs, she approached his bed carrying a little plastic cup with his meds. “How are you doing today?”
    â€œWell enough to go home.” He held out his right palm for his pills.
    â€œDr. Adams should be here soon. He does rounds after lunch.” Dark shadows under her eyes attested to not enough rest.
    He recalled her apology and hoped what had happened at the fire hadn’t caused her a sleepless night. “Where did you go yesterday? Nurse Ratched brought me my meds. She wouldn’t tell me what happened to you.”
    â€œI won’t tell Mildred you called her that.”
    He grinned. “She’s definitely a no-nonsense nurse. I’m glad you came back today.”
    â€œI work on this floor. I had to.”
    â€œOuch. I think my ego was just wounded.”
    â€œOnly think?” A twinkle danced briefly in her tired eyes.
    The shadow in her gaze tugged at him. He wanted to prolong the light tone of the conversation, but he needed her to understand how he felt. His injuries weren’t her fault. “You were upset yesterday. Are you all right today?”
    â€œThe more important question is, are you?”
    â€œI will be in time.”
    â€œYou shouldn’t be here right now. If only I hadwaited a little…” Her voice faded into silence, and she glanced away, swallowing hard.
    â€œI would rather err on the side of caution than have someone trapped in a burning building. What I did yesterday is part of my job. Occasionally we go into a fire looking for a person who isn’t there. It happens. You are not to blame.” He would never forget the firefighters who had rescued him and his younger brother from a fire when he was