Love on a Deadline Read Online Free PDF

television. “Look! There you are, Pumpkin.”
    Mac stifled a groan. The nickname described the color of her hair anyway.
    She stood on the sidelines, wearing a lion suit because Beetle Jenkins had come down with a case of food poisoning during seventh-hour study hall. It wasn’t the first time Mac had subbed as the school mascot, but she hadn’t realized the costume was so . . . big . And fuzzy.
    Mac hadn’t realized the camera was trained on her, either. She’d yanked off the headpiece—probably so she could breathe—but instead of an intimidating jungle animal who prowled the sidelines, urging the fans to cheer for their team, Mac looked more like a little girl dressed in footie pajamas who’d just woke up from an afternoon nap. Flushed cheeks. Hair every which way.
    Gazing adoringly at the star quarterback as he ran for a touchdown.
    And she’d thought homecoming had been humiliating the first time.
    Coach shook his head. “You had amazing instincts, Channing.”
    â€œI don’t know about that.” Ethan’s gaze shifted to Mac. “I don’t think I always saw what was right there in front of me.”
    The bottle of root beer slipped through Mac’s hands, but she caught it before it hit the floor. “I should take Snap for a walk.” The w -word roused her faithful Lab from his evening nap but Mac beat him to the door.
    She’d bolted from Ethan that night too.
    Only this time— thank you, God— he didn’t follow her.

    Ethan woke up the next morning to the mournful call of a loon. He rolled out of bed and squinted at the clock, amazed to discover it was almost seven. He hadn’t slept more than five hours in a row since he’d started at Midland Medical, the hospital where he’d completed his residency.
    The competition to fill a spot on Dr. Langley’s team was fierce, and sleep had become a luxury Ethan couldn’t afford. The doctor expected his residents to give 100 percent so Ethan had given 150 percent. Langley mentored only one resident and he’d chosen Ethan, a decision that had ultimately led to an invitation to join his team.
    He still wasn’t sure when—or how—to break the news to his mother that he wasn’t returning to Chicago. Sometimes Ethan thought her aspirations were even higher than his. He’d overheard his parents arguing once. Heard her telling his father that he was wasting his medical skills in a place like Red Leaf.
    Until a few months ago Ethan might have agreed with her.
    He’d embraced the long hours. The blare of sirens outside the hospital that jump-started a rush of adrenaline. The pressure of making split-second decisions that had the power to save a person’s life. Now he was trading in the challenge of a busy ER for a family practice in the sleepy little town where he’d grown up. A town with grass instead of concrete. Trees instead of skyscrapers.
    Ethan lifted the shade that overlooked the backyard.
    Lots of trees. Trees that dropped needles and leaves and pinecones.
    He was beginning to wish Hollis and Connor had picked a day in December to get married. The number of tasks on Ethan’s to-do list suddenly seemed a lot longer than the number of days he had to accomplish them.
    He skipped a shower, knowing he’d only have to take another one later, and extracted a T-shirt and his oldest pair of jeans from the suitcase.
    A half hour later, armed with a cup of coffee and a bucket of sealer he hoped was just as strong, Ethan climbed the ladder he’d found in the shed. From the roof of the boathouse, he had an unobstructed view of the lake and the yard.
    And trespassing reporters.
    Mac was striding down the flagstone path to the water, camera in hand, clearly on a mission to take her photographs for the newspaper.
    Ethan thought about calling her name, but he had a gut feeling that when it came to Mackenzie Davis, the element of surprise would