New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky delights with a compelling story of chance, fate, and perfect timing, first published in 1998.

Russ Ettinger doesn't know why the delicate young woman he found gasping for breath at the side of the road disappeared so abruptly -- or even what her name is. What he does know is he must find her again somehow. There has to be a deeper purpose behind his Samaritan act, because never has anyone so powerfully and immediately filled him with such an overwhelming desire to cherish and protect.

But Dana Madison is tired of being protected. What she wants is to be respected and loved as the strong, vital, independent woman she has worked so hard to become. And so she flees from a chance first meeting with a considerate stranger, a man who could possibly play a very important role in her future ... and maybe find a permanent place in her heart.