Nurse for Morgan Acres — Virginia K. Smiley

If Kelly Wilson had not been jilted by Dr. Lincoln Britt, she would never have taken her brother's suggestion to go to Morgan Acres to do private-duty nursing. She would never have met Brad Ridley, the blue-eyed, fun-loving veterinarian who helped her come to terms with the past. Nor would she have met Mel Hunter, the owner of the horse-breeding farm whose niece, Lisa, suffering from rheumatic fever, was Kelly's young patient.

But Mel always seemed to be a thorn in Kelly's side. A brooding, unhappy man, Mel's moods switched from high to low in the space of a few minutes, and even though Kelly's brother, Bill, defended Mel, she herself did not consider him an ideal employer. After all, Bill trained the horses and Brad cared for them, and they could view Mel with a far different eye than she -- a nurse whose job it was to care for Lisa.

Mel's unhappiness stemmed from his feeling responsible for the death of Lisa's parents three years ago. Mel had been driving the car in which his sister and her husband were killed, and Mel's resultant back injuries served as an ever-present reminder of his guilt.

It takes a barn fire that endangers the lives of Mel's prized horses, Bonnie and Clyde, to bring Kelly closer to an understanding not only of everyone at Morgan Acres but of her own hopes and dreams for the future.