Chapter One

      Dr. Jonathan Clifton had never understood what it meant to be stopped dead in your tracks. That changed when he walked into the Rust Creek Falls Medical Clinic and saw the woman behind the reception desk. She stopped him cold—or maybe hot—with long blond hair falling past her shoulders and bluebonnet-colored eyes that could tempt a man to kiss her. Or bring him to his knees. Since he had no intention of letting that happen to him again it was strictly an observation about the very pretty receptionist he would be working with.

      Moving to the open window separating her from the crowded waiting room, Jon patiently waited for her to hang up the phone. That was when he noticed her blue scrubs decorated with cartoon animals. The stethoscope draped around her neck was a clue that she probably wasn’t the receptionist. But she sounded a little frazzled, possibly fatigued and even prettier up close than she’d appeared from across the room.

      When she hung up the phone, he smiled at her. “Hi. Is it always this busy in here?”

      “Pretty much. But today is more crazy than usual.”

      Say something brilliant, he told himself. And funny. “It’s still summer. Not even flu season yet.”

      “Tell me about it,” she agreed. “Things should get really interesting in a couple months.”

      “Flu shots would help. Might want to think about having a flu shot fair. Kind of like a health fair but with the focus on prevention.” When she smiled at him he nearly broke his promise to not let a woman bring him to his knees. “Just a thought.”

      “It’s a good one. There