Arriving at the boardinghouse, they all stepped out of the car. Elizabeth leaned into Nathan's ear and whispered, "I should warn you, she can be a bit much sometimes."

They walked up to the door, and Elizabeth knocked. A moment later, a woman appeared. She had long chestnut-colored hair and wore simple clothing.

"Elizabeth!" The woman pulled her into a warm embrace. "This is a pleasant surprise. Jack, look at how big you've gotten!"

"Mamaw!" The boy leapt into her arms.

Nathan and Allie exchanged confused looks until the woman turned to them with a knowing smile.

"And you must be the man who managed to make my daughter-in-law so happy," she said. "Charlotte Thornton—pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am." Nathan reached out and shook her hand.

Charlotte's gaze shifted to the girl at his side. "And you must be Allie. Lizzy here has told me so much about you. Come on in, everyone." She opened the door and led them into the cozy living room.

"So," Charlotte said as they settled in, "what brings you to Cape Fullerton?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I really thought a lot about what you said in your letter. After a bad batch of insulin caused another health scare, I knew we needed to move closer to one of the labs, and this is the closest one. Hopefully, this is a short-lived stay—no offense."

Charlotte shook her head. "None taken. Hope Valley is your home. It couldn't have been easy to leave."

"It wasn't," Elizabeth admitted. "But Dr. Carter assured me she's working tirelessly to bring a lab to Hope Valley. Until then, here we are."

"Obviously, you all are welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you so much." Elizabeth glanced around. "I must say, you did a really nice job with the place."

Charlotte smiled. "When my husband died years ago, he left me quite a bit of money. I had no use for fancy things, so I just saved it. After Jack died, I wanted to leave a legacy—something people could remember me by. So this isn't just a typical boardinghouse. It's meant to house struggling families, women who have been abused, traveling nurses and doctors, and people here for medical reasons—at no charge."

"That's so cool," Allie said, clearly impressed.

"I just opened a month ago," Charlotte continued. "I spent the whole last year repairing the place. It was in pretty bad shape when I bought it. I haven't had a ton of guests yet, just a traveling nurse here or there."

"That's remarkable," Nathan said, with admiration in his voice.

"So," Elizabeth said, shifting topics, "Tom came to Hope Valley about a year ago. What's he up to nowadays?"

"He's doing very well, actually. He's working at a sawmill in Buxton. He seems to be enjoying it and said he's planning on visiting at the end of the summer."

"That's great," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Maybe we'll see him if we're still here."

"So, rooms… You each can have your own, considering there are eight bedrooms in this place—not including mine. But if, for some reason, I have a major uptick in customers…"

"Of course, we'd be willing to adjust," Elizabeth said.

"Each room has a bed, a small desk, a dresser, and some closet space. I have three bathrooms and two telephones—one in the library-slash-office space and one in the living room."

"Well, we left late last night without notice," Nathan said. "Would we possibly be able to use the phones?"

"Of course. Allie, Jack, I'll show you to your rooms."