The Maverick's Bride-To-Order

Was she just as guilty as her mother about giving up and giving in? What would happen if she tried to doll up her tomboyish image? Everyone in Rust Creek Falls would probably laugh and point and say she was trying to be something she could never be.

Turning away from the mirror, Lydia sat back down on the couch and opened the laptop. The screen had gone black, but once she instructed the computer to wake up, the endless emails to Zach Dalton popped into view.

As she began to read the mushy lines, pleading for a chance to become Zach’s bride, she promised herself that someday she would meet a man who would love her just for being her and no other reason. And until that day happened, she wasn’t going to fret about Zach Dalton and his endless female admirers.

* * *

As soon as Zach had finished his allotted share of the morning chores on the Circle D, he didn’t bother changing clothes. He jumped in his truck just as he was and drove straight to Rust Creek Falls and the Gazette office.

When he stepped through the door, a bell above his head jangled and he looked across the wide space to where Lydia Grant’s desk was situated. At the moment she was busy with a customer. A tall, older man with a bald head and an unlit cigar protruding from the corner of his mouth.

“This will take care of it, Mr. Tuttle. Your subscription is paid up for two years and will be delivered to your post office box.”

“You don’t plan on going up on the price between now and then, do you? I don’t want to have to come back in here and give you more money,” the man said bluntly. “I’m getting sick and tired of all the businesses around town going up on prices. They like to use the flood as an excuse, but if you ask me, it’s just downright greed.”

Zach didn’t know how Lydia did it, but she gave the customer a bright, easy smile. “Don’t worry, Mr. Tuttle. Once your subscription is paid in advance, that’s it. You won’t be charged more.”

“Darned good thing,” he muttered, then snatched the receipt from her hand.

As he stalked toward the door, Lydia called out cheerfully, “Thank you, Mr. Tuttle. And be sure to tell your lovely wife hello.”

The customer acknowledged her with a faint grunt before he walked out the door. As Zach watched him go, it was all he could do not to grab him up by the collar and toss him onto the sidewalk. But Zach was a gentleman and had been taught to respect his elders, no matter how rude they chose to be.

When the door closed behind the man, Zach sauntered over to her desk.

“Nice guy,” he said with wry sarcasm.

She laughed. “If he didn’t have something bad to say, he’d be silent. How his wife deals with him is a mystery to me.” She leaned back in her chair and gave him a bright smile. “So how is your day going? Ready for your mail?”

Zach felt his cheeks go warm. Even though he believed in what he was doing, there was something about Lydia that made him question his strategy. “That’s why I stopped by. To see if anyone had replied to the ad.”

She gestured toward the hard plastic chair in front of her desk. “Have a seat and I’ll grab everything for you.”

Zach eased his lanky frame into the chair and watched her walk over to a row of file cabinets lined against the back wall. Today she was dressed basically the same as yesterday, he noted as his gaze swept up and down her sexy figure. The only difference today was an army-green vest zipped over her white T-shirt.

“I’ve printed out all the emails that have come in so far, but since I’ve not looked in the past hour, there could be more. And you’ll also find a few letters that were hand delivered here to the office.” She placed a stack of correspondence in front of him. “That should give you a good start on your endeavor.”

Zach was amazed. “All of this stuff? It’s only been one day! I wasn’t expecting this sort of reaction.”

Her blue eyes twinkled with something like comical disbelief. “Are you for real?”

“Excuse me?”

Shaking her head, she said, “Sorry. I—Well, I’m getting the idea that you’re not prepared for what you’re getting into. When it comes to eligible bachelors around here, women are piranhas. I’m fairly certain you’re going to be swarmed with hopeful females.”

His gaze dropped to the stack of correspondence. From the looks of it, Lydia could be right. But he felt certain he could filter through them in an intelligent way until he landed on the woman of his dreams. “I think I can handle it.”

She started to say something when a tall redhead somewhere in her early thirties appeared through the open doorway leading to the back of the office building.

“Sorry I’m a little late, Lydia. Tack on another ten minutes to your lunch hour. I’ll handle things here.”

The woman acknowledged Zach with a nod of her head, then suddenly seeming to recognize him, she walked over and offered her hand.

“You’re the one! The man advertising for a wife!”

Zach shook her hand. “That’s right. I’m Zach Dalton.”

“I’m Jolene Sanders. I work in Proofing. I just want to tell you I think it’s great to finally see a man being honest about what he wants in a woman before he ever ties the knot.”

Behind Jolene’s shoulder, he could see Lydia rolling her eyes.

“Are you married, Ms. Sanders?”

She smirked. “Divorced. That’s why I like your style. I only wished I’d known what was on my ex’s mind before I ever married him. The wedding would’ve never taken place.”

Lydia lifted a lightweight jacket off a standing coatrack. After tossing it over her arm, she stepped around the desk.

“I’m off. See you in an hour,” she said to Jolene, then cast Zach a perky smile. “Nice to see you again, Zach. Happy hunting to you.”

She started out the front door, and before Zach realized his own intentions, he grabbed up the pile of correspondence and hurried after her.

“Lydia! Wait up!”

She paused on the sidewalk and looked back at him. “Did you need something else?” she called out.

He needed his head examined. That was what he needed. But he’d worry about that later.

Trotting up to her, he tried not to stutter. “I, uh, overheard you say you’re going to lunch.”

“That’s right. I usually go at twelve. Someone has to take over the front desk while I’m away. And Jolene would rather eat later.”

The bright sunshine gave her skin a golden sort of glow and made her blue eyes sparkle even more. The evocative scent he’d noticed the first day he’d met her drifted around him like a warm, hazy day. Zach didn’t understand it, but something about her just naturally perked his spirits. And since the wildfire, his mother’s death and the family’s move here to Rust Creek Falls, he needed to grab what little pleasures he could find.

“I see. Well, would you like some company? I’ve not eaten since very early this morning. A hamburger would sure go down good right about now.”

Surprise flickered across her face and then she happily looped her arm through his. “A burger sounds great to me. There’s a nice little place just around the block,” she said, pointing behind them to a side street that crossed Main.

“Works for me. My truck is parked right down here. I’ll lock my mail in the cab and we’ll be on our way.”

The weather had turned cooler overnight, and as they walked, Zach helped her into the jacket she’d carried. The leaves on the trees growing out of dirt squares in the sidewalk were beginning to turn to shades of yellow and red. In the far distance the mountain peaks were still shaded in green, but it wouldn’t be long before white caps of snow would remind everyone of the long winter months to come.

“It’s cool today, but beautiful,” she exclaimed as her jaunty walk kept up with his longer strides. “I love this time of year. When the air turns brisk and the fall is just around the corner. I start getting visions of hot chocolate and pumpkin pie. Not necessarily together, that is.”

“Are you a good cook?” She was still holding on to his arm as though it was a natural thing and Zach realized he liked her easy manner. A man wouldn’t have to pretend to be perfect around this woman, he decided.

“Are you interviewing me as a candidate for your wife?” she asked with a saucy laugh.

Zach felt himself blushing. He would never see Lydia as wife material. Not when she was the absolute opposite of the kind of woman he wanted. “No. Just curious.”

“Okay, Mr. Curious. I can’t cook. But I can open cans and pop things into the microwave.”

She obviously didn’t wear pretty lace or have straight hair, either. But that hardly mattered to Zach. He wasn’t taking her out for a hamburger because he wanted to marry her. He simply wanted a bit of company for lunch.

“That’s about all I can do, too,” he said. “So we’re even with the cooking.”

Laughing, she said, “Yes, but we don’t have much else in common. In fact, you’re not like anyone I’ve ever been friends with.”

He glanced down at her. ”I don’t think I’ve known anybody quite like you, either. But we do have one thing in common and that’s The Rust Creek Falls Gazette. I need the newspaper to help me find a wife. And it’s your job to sell ads. So we’re helping each other.”

“Hmm. You’re right. Finding you a wife is our common ground. Let’s hope we succeed.”

He grinned at her. “Right now I’d be happy to get a good lunch.”

She chuckled. “I might not be able to find you a wife, or even cook, but I can promise you a good meal. Follow me.”

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