Book excerpt: When a broken arm forces Dr. Eric Mitchell to hire temporary help, the veterinarian who arrives on his doorstep takes him by surprise. Physically, Alison Truesdale seems too fragile. Emotionally, her smile never quite reaches her eyes - especially around his son. The boy, Eric soon discovers, reminds her of a past she can't outrun. By the time he finds a runaway hiding in his barn, Eric has started to accept the unexpected, because the teen has shown him the way to Alison's heart, and helped him to see that his house full of strangers could make a perfect home.