She slid the eggs and bacon onto a big white platter and put it in the middle of the table. Margie took down dishes and silverware and stacked them at the other end. Everyone automatically helped themselves.

“What does this really mean?” Harper sat back down with a fresh cup of coffee. She didn’t take any food. She’d lost her appetite.

Edward shook his head. “No one really knows for sure. Maybe nothing. We’ve still got sick people to take care of, and that’s what we need to focus on.”

Flann drummed her fork on the table to a beat only she could hear. “What did you say the name of the corporation was that bought the hospital?”

“SunView Health Systems,” her father said. “They’re located out west somewhere.”

“Strangers.” Flann glanced at Harper. Fourteen months apart, they were as close as twins. They’d gone to the same medical school, had done their residencies at the same hospital, and on rare occasions had competed for the attention of the same girls.

Harper could read the warning in Flann’s eyes. Change was coming, and it couldn’t be good.

*

Presley lugged her suitcase and briefcase through the front door and found herself in a central foyer facing a wide staircase against one wall. Two large rooms opened on each side, and she took a quick glance into each. On the left was a sitting room with a sofa and several oversized chairs arranged in front of a stone fireplace. An oil painting of a red barn and fields of swaying green stuff hung above the broad granite mantelpiece. She shook her head. Didn’t they get enough of that view just driving down the road?

A faded Oriental rug in greens and browns covered the wood floor. The other room also had a fireplace against the far wall and walnut-stained, floor-to-ceiling wood shelves holding a haphazard assortment of hardback books, and a pair of comfortable-looking reading chairs with round, dark wood casual tables beside each one. The rooms appeared lived-in and surprisingly welcoming. She’d expected a rental house to be furnished, but this place looked as if the owner might return at any moment.

“Whose house is this?” Presley asked Lila, who waited for her at the foot of the stairs.

“It’s been in the White family for a hundred years or so,” Lila said. “Old Mrs. White finally gave in and went to live with her son downstate. They haven’t had any buyers, so they finally decided to rent it.”

“Can’t imagine there are many buyers for places out here.”

Lila laughed. “You’d be surprised how many city people like to try their hand at country living.”

“You’re right about that.”

Presley followed Lila upstairs where she found three bedrooms, one with a large bathroom attached, and a second bathroom down the hall. She’d never lived with anyone—she liked to work at odd hours and didn’t care to worry about someone else’s schedule, but Carrie could stay here for the short time they’d be on-site. They got along well and they wouldn’t actually be spending that much time in the house. Carrie had been her personal assistant now for almost three years, since Carrie had graduated from college and finished an internship at SunView. She was organized and efficient, respected personal space, and appreciated that Presley wasn’t a chatterer. Exactly the kind of person Presley could tolerate having around.

She took the master bedroom with bath, dumped her bag by a broad, tall four-poster bed, and walked to the open window. Lace curtains billowed in the breeze. The room overlooked a sloping lawn to the drive and, beyond that, a broad green pasture bordered by a wooden rail fence. The air was surprisingly clean and bright. She could almost smell the green in it. The thought struck her as ridiculously whimsical, and she turned away to study the room with its tall armoire in lieu of a closet in one corner and a matching dark wood dresser topped with a huge wood-framed mirror. Another Oriental-patterned rug covered the floor, and a small chair upholstered in a floral brocade design sat by the window with a standing brass reading lamp nearby. Homey. And absolutely nothing like her condo in Phoenix, where she favored glass and steel and modern art, highly polished tile floors, and a gleaming gourmet kitchen she rarely used. Not that she really noticed her surroundings when she got home late at night and put in a few hours’ work before bed.

“Talk about a fish out of water,” she muttered with a shake of her head. Frowning, she scanned the wall, checked what appeared to be a thermostat, and walked out into the hallway. Leaning over the wooden banister, she called, “Lila?”

Lila appeared below and looked up. “Need something?”

“Where are the controls for the air-conditioning?”

Lila stared at her for a few seconds. “Well, there aren’t any.”

“Come again?”

“Most places up here don’t have it. You won’t need it except maybe in August, when it can get a little stuffy. Then just open the windows, and if you want a bit more air, you can put a fan in one of them. I’ll see to it when the time comes.”

“A fan. In August.”

“Maybe.”

“Wonderful.” Presley added another item to her list of things she intended to torture Preston for. “Which direction is town? I thought I’d walk around and get acquainted.”

“You won’t be walking to town. It’s about eight miles.”

“Eight miles. Lovely.” She couldn’t wait for Carrie to arrive to see to the rest of the arrangements Preston had neglected. “All right then, I’m going to need a car. Today. Where’s the nearest rental place?”

“I imagine that would be in Albany. And that’s a good—”

“Yes, I know, forty-five minutes away.” She considered her options. “Where would I go to buy one?”

“Well”—Lila seemed to be searching for words—“a new one or used one?”

“One that runs.”

Lila smiled. “I know just the place. When you’re ready, I’ll drive you over.”

“Let’s go.”

Lila’s cousin’s husband Clyde operated a small used-car dealership out of a garage next to his house twenty minutes away. Lila called, and a big man in baggy jeans and a faded T-shirt met them in the driveway in front of a single-story white cement building surrounded by a dozen cars and trucks.

“Good morning, ladies. You’re looking for a car, I hear.”

Presley surveyed the vehicles, all of which looked relatively new and surprisingly clean and in good condition. “I need something reliable with air-conditioning and GPS.”

The man glanced at Lila, who gave him a nod. “Are you going to be hauling anything?”

“What would I want to haul?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Hay, sod, feed, furniture—that kind of thing?”

Presley smiled thinly. “No. No hauling.”

“And I guess you won’t be pulling a trailer, either.”

“Not in this lifetime.”

“Well then, I think I’ve got what you want.” He showed her a relatively new Subaru hatchback with all the basic requirements and assured her it was in excellent condition. “And if you have any problems with it, just bring it back and I’ll take care of it.”

“Fine. Will you take a check?”

“I sure will. And I’ll get the registration taken care of for you this morning as soon as motor vehicles opens up. You’ll need insurance.”

“I’ll have my assistant call you with that information. Can you have someone deliver it to me when it’s ready? My cell number is on the check. You can call me, and I’ll tell you where.”

“I can do that.”

“Excellent.” She wrote a check, handed it to him, and turned to Lila. “Might I impose upon you a little while longer? I’ll need a ride to town while Clyde gets this ready for me.”

“Of course. I was going to go grocery shopping and stock up the kitchen anyhow.”

“Wonderful.”

Lila dropped her off a little before nine.

“Thanks, Lila.” Presley grabbed her briefcase. “You’ve been a tremendous help.”

“If you need a ride back before Clyde gets the car ready, you call me. It’s no bother.”

“That’s all right. I can always call a cab.” She paused, reading Lila’s expression. “Or not.”

She laughed before Lila could. The absurdity of the entire situation was starting to feel normal. She waved as Lila drove away, and surveyed Argyle Community Hospital for the first time. The ivy-covered red brick building with its white colonnaded front entrance and two symmetrical wings extending out in a lazy U stood on a hillside above the village. The road up wended through what Lila had told her were apple orchards. A rolling grassy lawn studded with shrubs and flower beds bordered the circular drive in front. With its tall gracious windows and elegant portico, the place might have been a grand hotel or a private summer home. It bore no resemblance to the modern, sprawling hospitals Presley was used to. A pretty place. She started up the broad stone sidewalk, thinking of all the uses for a building like this when it wasn’t a hospital any longer.

Chapter Three

The hospital foyer soared two stories to a vaulted ceiling painted in swirling patterns of dusky rose, periwinkle, and pale cream. A line of brass chandeliers with candelabra bulbs lit the upper recesses, and floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the massive entrance let sunlight in to dance across the highly polished marble floors. Presley’s low heels tapped rhythmically as she crossed to a gleaming mahogany desk in the center of the expanse, behind which sat a tiny white-haired woman wearing a bright red jacket and a blazing smile. Presley glanced around and didn’t see anyone resembling a security officer, and she doubted that this diminutive octogenarian could stop a flea. Hopefully the other entrances were staffed more conventionally.

“Good morning,” the woman said in a surprisingly full, strong voice. “Are you here about a patient? Visiting hours aren’t until one unless you’re here to see someone in the ICU.” She pulled over a clipboard. “I can check a room number for you.”