The Maverick's Bride-To-Order. Stella Bagwell

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.”

       Chapter Three

      A short distance down the next street, Lydia guided him to a stop in front of a redbrick building with the words Gold Rush Diner painted on the plate glass front.

      “Here we are. It’s small, but good,” she promised.

      “Where did the name Gold Rush come from? Was gold ever taken out of this area?”

      “Not that I’m aware of. But I suppose anything might have happened back in the eighteen hundreds before the area was settled. Why do you ask? Are you thinking about prospecting for gold?” she asked impishly.

      “The only thing I’m searching for is a wife,” he told her. “And hopefully, that’ll be easier than finding a vein of gold.”

      Zach opened the door and above their heads the rattle of a cowbell announced their arrival.

      Several of the red vinyl booths were already taken with early lunch diners, but they managed to find one in the back of the room, not far from the kitchen.

      As Lydia settled herself on the bench seat and removed her coat, she could feel several sets of eyes turning in their direction. No doubt some of them had recognized Zach from the classified ad and were curious about him. Others were probably wondering what a plain Jane like her was doing with a walking dream like him.

      Lydia was wondering the same thing.

      When Zach had approached her on the sidewalk, the last thing she’d been expecting was for him to ask her to lunch. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. She only knew it would be foolish to think it might mean more than a friendly offer.

      Zach sniffed as he removed his hat and placed it next to him on the seat. “Something smells good.”

      Lydia chuckled. “I think that’s called fried food.”

      He grinned and Lydia’s heart fluttered in spite of herself.

      “Why is it that the things we want the most are the things that are bad for us?” he asked.

      He was a prime example of one of those bad things, Lydia thought. Just sitting there with him was messing with her mind and making her heart do ridiculous acrobatics.

      “I don’t know. But if I could figure it out, I might be able to stop my chocolate habit.” Resting her forearms on the edge of the table, she leaned slightly toward him. “So tell me—what did your family think about your ad?”

      He shrugged. “Well, after they ribbed me about it, my brothers mostly thought it was ingenious. Unfortunately my dad didn’t see it that way. He’s rather disappointed in my strategy to find a wife. I’m hoping as time goes by he’ll quit lecturing and mellow about the idea.”

      She could see that his father’s lack of support troubled him. Lydia could only wonder what it was like to have a father who even bothered to pick up the phone and say hello or drop a birthday card in the mail. At least Zach’s father cared enough to voice an opinion on his son’s future.

      “I imagine he wants you to take the customary route,” she suggested.

      A frown pulled his dark brows together, and as Lydia’s gaze slid over his handsome face, she figured there were already countless females who’d been sighing over his photo and plotting to become his wife. Poor guy, he was in for a bumpy ride. Unless this business of searching for a wife was just a ruse to create a dating pool for himself.

      No. Lydia didn’t want to think Zach was that calculating. As far as she could tell, there didn’t seem to be a conniving bone in his body.