No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review. ISBN-13: 978-1-60777-318-4 This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Chapter One Rush Goodwin had lived his entire life in a small New England town. He’d been an only child, living with his widowed mother and her spinster sister, always dreaming of the day he would begin a new life in New York. He kept his wavy brown hair at a medium length and wore a thin, well-manicured layer of facial hair that looked more like five o’clock shadow than an actual beard. He didn’t have a heavy beard, but he trimmed what he did have daily to achieve an intentionally scruffy look. In the right light, his brown hair took on a reddish tint that grew more pronounced in the summertime. When he wasn’t working, he often wore knitted caps on his head all year long.
