The flowering

the long version

Hester Carr, had everything -- charm, security, and friends who cared for her. Everything -- but a man. Her husband’s death had left her with memories of a calm, quiet happiness. There had never been any great passion between them. There had certainly never been anything to prepare her for John Justin. In a small town like Hester’s, any stranger caused talk. But John Justin was especially mysterious; the long walks he took past midnight, his strange familiarity with the townspeople, his dangerous plans for the town. And suddenly, Hester found herself torn from her old security and drawn through a whirlwind of danger and mystery -- to the arms of the stranger.