To an outsider, which Clint Strong was, Flatville seemed like any other small town. It had its busybodies, its local scandals...and an unassuming boardinghouse for stranded journeymen like him. But Alison O'Hara, mistress of the manor, was like no woman he'd ever met....

Suddenly, Clint was acting like the man of the house. Repairing squeaky hinges, chopping wood...kissing Alison with a possessiveness and passion that scared them both, especially Alison. What man had hurt this woman? What man had abandoned Alison's pint-size little girl who loved ponies and pizza and who pulled on Clint's rusty heartstrings? And could Clint transform from stranger in a small town to permanent husband and daddy?