Now that her friends are all marrying or moving away, Heart
Beachy has started feeling lonely. Worse, everyone keeps asking
when she's going to find a man of her own. Don't they realize
Heart has her hands full at home with her widowed dad, too
many chores, and a menagerie of needy, small animals? Besides,
she doesn't understand the fuss about marriage. It's enough to
make her consider finally becoming a pet-sitter, or moving to
an English community, where she won't be an oddity. Newcomer Clayton
Glick is utterly charmed by Heart--and completely confounded. He can't
figure out why this beautiful woman is as awkward as a teenager
whenever he's around, which is often now that he's an apprentice to her
blacksmith father. So Clayton starts assisting with Heart's never-ending
tasks, even helping her corral her unruly pets. How else can he court an
adorably flustered woman who doesn't know the first thing about
courtship? Because courting is exactly what he intends. Heart doesn't
know why her pulse hammers every time she sees Clayton. She only
knows yielding to such emotions will mean trouble. But maybe with a
little faith-and the loss of a shoe-Clayton can convince her to join him on
the road to happily ever after.