No kids, no pets, no everlasting love.

Growing up an Army brat Elijah Drycinski swore that one day he would find a place to call home. When he moved to Pine River, Wisconsin, Eli knew he had found it.

While talking to a squirrel, Eli meets Gwen Bartelt. Though kids teased him for his love of animals, calling him Dr. Doolittle, Gwen understood and the shy Eli fell in love with her. However Gwen always saw Eli as her best friend. When she leaves town for medical school, she breaks Eli's heart.

Eli becomes a veterinarian, Gwen an ER physician. They don't see each other for years, but Eli never forgets the girl he loved.

When Gwen's dad, the town doctor, falls off a roof and breaks his leg, Gwen returns home. Circumstances have hardened her and she now has three fast rules for her life: No kids, no pets, no everlasting love.

Will Eli be able to teach her the joy in breaking the rules?