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water-damage repairs, he’d probably need a little encouragement as well.
    “Good morning,” said Alice as she joined Jane in the kitchen.
    “You’re up early,” observed Jane as she stirred waffle batter. “I thought this was your day off.”
    “There’s a staff meeting at the hospital that I need to attend.”
    Jane shook her head. “That doesn’t seem fair, making you come in on your day off.”
    Alice laughed. “Oh, I don’t mind. I don’t have to wear my uniform, and I get to come home as soon as it’sover. The other nurses will probably wish they were in my shoes.”
    “The teakettle’s hot.”
    Alice brewed herself a cup of green tea and sat down at the table. Wendell leaped into her lap. “Silly old cat,” she said as she petted him.
    “Ever since I started the bacon cooking, he’s been begging.”
    “Now, Wendell,” warned Alice, “you need to be watching your waistline.”
    “Exactly what I told him.”
    “It looks like you’re making a rather big breakfast for just one guest,” observed Alice.
    “Oh, I saw Kenneth a bit ago. I invited him to stop in for some nourishment.” Then she told Alice about his nightmare.
    Alice chuckled. “You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if some water may have leaked in. I remember a time, years ago, when we had the same sort of odd weather with this freezing and raining. Some cracks in the foundation had frozen and thawed, allowing groundwater to seep into the church basement. Father fixed the damage himself, and once the weather cleared up, we never had problems like that again.”
    “So, no swimming pool in the sanctuary then?”
    “Goodness, no.”
    Jane turned on the waffle iron. “Do you have time for breakfast, Alice?”
    “No, I should get going in a few minutes. Besides, they usually bring in all sorts of food for our meetings—sort of an incentive to come, I think.” Alice got a curious expression as she peered at Jane over her tea. “You seem to be feeling better, Jane,” she said.
    Jane shrugged. “Well, I did force myself to run this morning. That probably helps with my somber spirits. They do say that exercise produces endorphins, and endorphins are supposed to make us happier people.”
    Alice nodded but still looked curious. Jane suspected this was because of the letter Alice put in Jane’s room yesterday. Jane wasn’t sure she wanted to discuss her dilemma yet. Part of her wanted to believe that it wasn’t going to happen, that it was all only her imagination. Or perhaps Justin had changed his mind about coming by now.
    “Well, I suppose I should get moving,” said Alice as she stood and placed her cup in the sink. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
    Alice had barely left when Jane heard someone tapping on the back door. She was just pouring batter into the hot waffle iron and couldn’t go open it. Thinking it was Kenneth, she called out for him to let himself in.
    “Jane,” called a hoarse-sounding female voice.
    Jane closed the waffle iron onto the batter and turned to see who was there. But the puffy red nose poking through the cracked open door looked unfamiliar. She walked over to see more clearly.
    “It’s me,” hissed the voice. “Aunt Ethel. But don’t look at me, Jane. I am perfectly hideous.”
    “What on earth!” exclaimed Jane as she fully opened the door to see Ethel standing there, with a bright purple silk scarf draped over her head and partially covering her face, which was blotchy, red and swollen. “What happened to you, Auntie?”
    Ethel pulled her scarf more tightly around her chin, clearly embarrassed by her appearance. “An allergic reaction.”
    Jane nodded as realization sunk in. “Oh. Was it from last night’s facial?”
    “I’m afraid so. Anyway, that’s what Dr. Bentley suspected.”
    “You’ve already been to the doctor?”
    “He came to see me. I felt bad calling him so early, but I wasn’t sure what had happened to me and I seemed to be having difficulty breathing. I