What Matters Most Read Online Free PDF

Dad. I am neither married to nor engaged to Elaine Jackson, and I am beginning to realize that I never will be. No man wants a woman who runs to his father and tattles. I don’t mind telling you, Dad, but I’ve lost my appetite for lunch.”
    Montague ground his teeth, a sure sign that he was seething with anger. “You’re being pigheaded as usual, and you’re going to regret it.”
    “I doubt it, but if I do, I’ll put my tail between my legs and run and tell you,” Jack said, his voice laced with sarcasm. The waiter cleared his throat.
    “I’ll have the special, thank you,” Jack said and returned the menu to the waiter.
    “But you don’t like crayfish,” Montague said.
    “It doesn’t matter, Dad.”
    He suffered through the meal and said goodbye to his father. Deciding that he had probably exhausted his supplies the previous night, he stored his Porsche at home, got on his Harley and headed for his other office. He hoped that none of the patients would see him, since he didn’t plan to open on Wednesdays.
    He arrived at the office around three o’clock, opened the door and stopped short. Melanie sat on a stool beside an open cupboard with pen and pad in hand, apparently taking inventory. He’d only seen her in nurse whites, and that had been enough to hook him. But in those tight, low-slung jeans, red T-shirt and sneakers, she was lethal.
    Stunned, he stared up at her. “You’re taking inventory?” he asked in a voice that sounded dry. “That’s what I thought I’d do.”
    She looked down toward him, but not at him. “I hope you don’t mind, Dr. Ferguson, but I got up thinking about that crowd in here last night and all the stuff we used up. I was just about to call you and tell you we’re running low on supplies. What are we going to do?”
    Not what will you do, but what are we going to do. Nothing could have told him with such certainty that she was with him all the way. He sat on the edge of her desk and tried to shift his attention from her to what she’d said. “How long have you been here?”
    “Since around ten this morning. Why?”
    He shook his head in wonder. She had worked five hours with no expectation of overtime pay, only because she wanted to help provide the best possible care for his patients. “So you didn’t work on any term papers today, did you?”
    She kept her mind on what she was doing, or so it seemed, because she didn’t look at him. “It’s okay. I didn’t want you to come here tomorrow and not find any swabs or cotton balls or…or whatever. You know.” Her right hand shook nervously.
    He thought about Elaine and her demand that he close the office and stifled the urge to lift Melanie from the stool and hug her. His father wouldn’t approve, and he doubted that his friends or his well-heeled patients would understand. But this woman gladly gave her free time to help ensure his success.
    He wished Melanie didn’t look past him all the time, although he knew it was because she was afraid to make eye contact with him. Damned if he’d make it easier for her. The same bug that bit her had got him, and he was handling it, wasn’t he?
    “Ms. Sparks.” She looked at him then, and he felt his heart take a tumble. “Can you figure out a way to work forty hours a week, including Tuesday and Thursday evenings? Then, you won’t need to take any other work.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “When do you study?”
    “On the bus, the train, while I’m eating, whenever I can. But that’s okay. It gets done.”
    “Do you want to work with me full-time?” Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to ask if she wanted to work for him, and that didn’t make sense. “Melanie—” He hadn’t addressed her by her first name before. “Look at me. I am not going to change into a pumpkin.”
    She looked at him, straight in the eye. “It might be a good thing if you did.”
    “What?”
    “If I worked for you, Dr. Ferguson, my life would be easier. Much easier.”
    “Then so