He opened it with his mouth poised to greet his new boarder. Instead he stared gaping at a woman that stood nearly eye-to-eye with him, but not just a woman, a young African American woman.

He stuttered in surprise. "Uh…can I help you?"

Stella looked at him steadily before responding. It was obvious why she was here, wasn‘t it? How many people was he expecting today to rent his cottage? "I‘m Stella Burton."

They continued to stare at each other before he ...