The Maverick's Bride-to-Order, page 6
He swallowed another long drink of wine. “May I ask why you sent your information to me? Why you agreed to this date?”
Her face reddened. “Well, I saw your photo, Zach, and I was—uh—intrigued. I thought it would be fun to date a cowboy just once.”
Yeah. Just once. If Zach’s brothers heard about this, they’d never let him hear the last of it. But his brothers weren’t going to hear the truth about this date, he promised himself. Nor was anyone else.
* * *
Naturally, the very next morning at the breakfast table, the first thing out of Cole’s mouth was a question about Zach’s date.
“So how did it go, brother?” he asked between bites of pancakes and sausage. “Are you headed to the jewelers today to pick out an engagement ring?”
“Don’t be crude, Cole,” Aunt Rita reprimanded her nephew. “Give Zach a chance.”
Determined to keep his cool, Zach gave his brother a sly grin. “Don’t worry, Cole. I’ll let you know when it’s time to get out your wedding duds.”
“Cole doesn’t have any wedding duds,” Garrett teased. “All of his clothes are stained with bull—uh, manure.”
“Seriously, Zach. Did you enjoy your date?” Booker asked.
About as much as a man enjoys being bit by a rattlesnake, Zach thought grimly. Reaching for his coffee, he gave his older brother a wide smile. “Sure. It was nice. She was very beautiful. But I don’t think I’ll be dating her again.”
Everyone at the table was suddenly staring at him. The only saving grace was that his father and uncle Charles had already eaten their breakfast and left the kitchen.
“Why?” Booker pressed him. “Not your type?”
At least that was one question he could answer honestly, Zach thought. “No. Too much of a city girl for my taste.”
“Then send her my way,” Cole spoke up. “My specialty is taming city girls.”
Clearing her throat in a disapproving way, Aunt Rita rose from the table and carried her plate over to the sink.
Across the table from Zach, Garrett let out a loud chuckle.
“Cole, you little squirt,” he said with a wicked grin. “You’ve never dated a city girl in your life. Now me, I can make her forget about all those bright lights.”
Zach had no ambition in changing or taming a woman into his ideal. No, he wanted her to be herself, someone who would fit just right in his arms and in his life.
* * *
A week later, Lydia was sitting at her desk trying to work on a cartoon for tomorrow’s edition, but her attention wasn’t cooperating. It continued to stray to the newspaper lying to one side of her desk. Zach Dalton’s Search: Love or Marriage?
The provocative headline of the Rust Creek Ramblings column had grabbed Lydia’s attention the moment she’d opened the paper yesterday. Now, a day later, she still couldn’t get the opinion piece out of her mind.
Even though Lydia was the assistant manager at the Gazette, she had no idea who’d taken over as the anonymous Rambler since Kayla Dalton had married Trey Strickland and retired from the job. The writer could be male or female and possibly an in-house coworker. Or it could very well be an outside contributor. Either way, he or she considered Zach’s advertisement for a wife clever, but lacking all romance.
Was love and romance really unimportant to Zach? Lydia didn’t know why the question continued to pester her. If he was willing to settle for a loveless marriage, it wasn’t anything to her. And yet the idea left her feeling totally bummed. Zach was too nice and too warm to marry a woman just for the sake of having a wife and kids.
A loud tapping on the front door of the office had Lydia suddenly looking up, and she groaned as she spotted the mailman motioning to her.
Leaving her desk, she went over and pulled open the plate glass door. “What’s wrong, Barney? The door wasn’t locked.”
“Sorry, Lydia,” the balding, middle-aged man apologized. “I thought I’d better ask you about this mail before I brought it into the front.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s a lot of it,” he explained. “Boxes of it.”
“Then Curtis must have ordered supplies for the printing department.” Unconcerned, she waved a hand down the sidewalk, toward the back of the building. “Just take the boxes around to the back entrance and knock on the door. Some of the guys there will help you with them.”
Annoyed now, Barney shook his head. “This stuff isn’t supplies for the newspaper. It’s all going to that Dalton fellow. The one advertising for a wife. What the heck was that guy thinking, anyway? He’s sure causing me a big headache.”
Sighing heavily, Lydia joined the mailman on the sidewalk. “Where is the mail? I’ll help you carry it in here.”
Barney pointed to a mail jeep parked a few feet away. Next to it was a dolly cart stacked with two big boxes and a smaller one on top.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” she exclaimed. “You brought in a big box of stuff for him yesterday. All of that came into the post office this morning?”
“Yep, there’s at least fifty pounds of it. I was hoping these women would slow down with the letters and packages, but instead of letting up, it’s growing!”
“So I see,” Lydia told him while wondering what Curtis was going to think of this fresh batch of mail. He was already grumbling about it taking up too much room in the office, along with too much of her time.
“Well, maybe the guy will get hitched soon and all of this will come to a stop. That’s what I’m hoping for,” Barney muttered as he headed toward the loaded dolly.
Zach soon married? Lydia didn’t want to contemplate that idea.
She trotted after the mailman. “That would be sort of quick, don’t you think? The advertisement has only been running for a week and a half.”
“Not in my opinion. The first day I laid eyes on my wife I knew she was The One. Been wedded bliss ever since. That was ten years ago. See, I didn’t need Homer Gilmore’s punch to make things happen or a newspaper ad, either.”
Bully for you, Lydia wanted to say. Instead, she bit her tongue and proceeded to help the mailman maneuver his load through the doorway.
“Just put them over there in the corner, Barney. By that other box of mail. I’ll move them later.” To where, Lydia didn’t have the foggiest idea. She’d not seen Zach since the day he’d taken her to lunch and his absence had surprised her. She’d expected him to show up on a frequent basis to pick up his mail. Now, as she looked at the stacked boxes, she could only wonder if he’d changed his mind about the whole endeavor.
With several grunts and groans, Barney dumped the boxes and was on his way out when Joanna Walters, a longtime friend of Lydia’s, pushed her way through the door. Both her arms were wrapped around a white box, emitting the delicious scent of just-baked pastries.
Joanna stepped out of Barney’s way and carefully made her way over to Lydia’s desk. “Can I set this next to your computer? I hate to put it on the floor.”
Lydia walked over to the young woman, who worked at Daisy’s Donut Shop over on North Broomtail Road, a few blocks from the Gazette office.
“What is this? Did Curtis actually order something from Daisy’s to treat his employees?” She lifted the lid to see rows of assorted doughnuts, bear claws, apple fritters and fried pies. “Mmm. Smells delicious. I hope I’m not inhaling calories.”
“Sorry, Lydia. Don’t let your mouth water. These aren’t for you or anyone at the office. Some woman ordered them to be delivered to Zach Dalton in care of the Gazette.” The tall blonde pulled a sealed envelope from the back pocket of her jeans and thrust it at Lydia. “This goes with it. I don’t know who the woman was, but she looked like she’d just stepped out of a spa. You know the kind. Perfect nails, skin as smooth as cream and hair with more shine than a polished shoe.”
“Doesn’t sound like anyone from Rust Creek Falls,” Lydia said while wondering what Zach would think about the woman. He might be impressed with her looks, but he wouldn’t appreciate the fact that she’d purchased the desserts from a bakery rather than baking them herself.
Joanna groaned. “How can you tell anymore? There’ve been so many women flocking to Rust Creek Falls lately. What with the Gal Rush going on a few years back and then Travis going on The Great Roundup, and now Zach advertising for a wife, it’s like they think this is the only place in the universe to find a husband!”
“Zach’s search for a wife has caused quite a stir,” Lydia agreed. “Every place I go around town people are talking about it. Females from eight to eighty seem to have an opinion about Zach and his idea to find a wife.”
She carried the box of pastries over to the cartons of mail and added it to the stack.
“Mom thinks it’s wonderful,” Joanna said. “She wishes Dad had been that forthright about what he wanted in a wife. It took her a long time to learn what made him happy. And by the time she figured it out, she didn’t care.”
Like Lydia, Joanna wasn’t married, but a few years ago she’d come very close to walking down the aisle. That was, until she’d discovered her fiancé had cheated on her with multiple women. Understandably, Joanna now had a major trust issue with men.
Walking back over to her desk, Lydia asked her childhood friend, “What do you think about it?”
Shrugging, Joanna said, “Well, I don’t suppose he could do any worse than I did. I dated for years before I finally became engaged. And look what all that slow, careful thinking got me!” She let out a cynical snort. “If you ask me, no matter how you go about it, getting a spouse that really loves you is a crapshoot. I go home to my cat and count myself lucky.”
She waggled her fingers at Lydia. “I’ve got to get back to work. We’re shorthanded today and I’ve already been here too long.”
Joanna hurried toward the door and Lydia called out, “Let’s have lunch one day soon.”
Joanna waved in agreement, then hurried on.
The bell over the door had hardly quit jingling when Curtis appeared from the back. He sniffed, then looked straight at the box of pastries.
“Did someone just deliver food?”
“Joanna brought some things from Daisy’s Donut Shop. Unfortunately they aren’t for us. I mean—anyone here at the paper.”
Trying to ignore his scowl, she sat down at her desk and reached for the sketch pad she’d been using to image a cartoon character.
“Oh. So why are they here?”
Even though she’d had nothing to do with this overflow of mail and presents to Zach Dalton, she felt herself wearing a guilty blush anyway.
“Zach Dalton. They’re from a want-to-be bride. And so is all that stuff in the boxes Barney just delivered.”
Behind his black-rimmed glasses, Curtis’s eyes widened. “Have you looked to see what’s in those boxes? For all we know, some scorned lady might have sent him a snake!”
“No, I haven’t looked. That’s rather private—don’t you think?”
“If Zach Dalton wanted his personal life to be private, then he sure as heck wouldn’t have put his wants and wishes in the newspaper!”
Seeing Curtis was getting more than a little annoyed, Lydia jumped to her feet and began to sift through the items in the cardboard boxes.
“Just tons of letters and a bunch of baked goods. It appears these women are trying to show off their cooking skills.” Lydia placed a foil-covered pie to one side and reached for a small clear plastic container. “Oh, here’s something interesting. A pair of knitted baby booties. A surefire way to convince him she’s sincere about motherhood, I suppose.”
Curtis snorted. “Ridiculous! I’ve never seen so many women making fools of themselves over a man. Why, just this morning when I was eating breakfast at the Gold Rush, I had a woman approach me and ask if I could introduce her to Zach Dalton. I don’t even know the man!”
Her boss wasn’t a man with a short temper. But the tone in his voice said it was quickly becoming stretched to the breaking point. Turning to him, she reasoned in her most placating voice, “They associate him to the newspaper, which is a good thing. Don’t you think?”
Curtis threw up his hands in surrender. “All right, I’ll admit paper sales have gone up in the past few days. But that doesn’t mean we have to turn this office into a dumping ground for the man’s mail! Load up that stuff and get it out of here. And I mean everything.”
Her mouth fell open. “But this is US Mail. We can’t just throw it away.”
“Lydia, don’t be daft. You’re not going to throw it away. You’re going to deliver it to the...the wife hunter.”
Curtis started out of the room and Lydia dared to call after him. “But Zach lives out on the Circle D Ranch. You want me to drive all the way out there?”
He waved a backward hand at her. “Whatever. I don’t want to offend the man by demanding he come after the stuff. Just take the afternoon off if you need to and get the junk out of here.”
Curtis might consider the letters and messages and gifts as junk, Lydia thought, but Zach saw it all as his future.
* * *
That morning when Lydia had dressed for work, the outside temperature had been rather cool. So she’d opted to wear a long-sleeved button-down shirt with her jeans, rather than her usual T-shirt with a slogan scrawled across the front. But now as she drove toward the Circle D, her car loaded down with Zach’s mail, she couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious about wearing the pale blue Oxford. The day had warmed into summerlike weather and she could only hope Zach didn’t get the idea that she was trying to gussy herself up to catch his attention. She couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing.
Have you lost your mind, Lydia? Zach Dalton isn’t going to notice what you’re wearing. He isn’t going to see anything about your appearance. Willing women from all over creation are sending him stacks of mail and gifts. He’d never consider you as bride material. He’d never even think of you as a date. Much less a wife!
As Lydia drove along the rural road toward Charles and Rita’s ranch, she did her best to push the demoralizing voice from her mind. She heard enough of that kind of talk from her mother. She didn’t need more of it. And anyway, she wasn’t secretly pining for special attention from Zach. No, indeed. He was merely a friend and nothing more.
Eventually, Lydia passed through the entrance of the Circle D and continued to drive along a narrow road bordered on both sides with barbed wire fence. The road cut through open meadowland dotted with a mixture of hardwood and evergreens. Along the way, herds of Black Angus cattle could be seen grazing on the short grass and dozing beneath the shade trees.
She was taking in the landscape and wondering how much farther it was to the ranch house, when she spotted a truck up ahead. The vehicle appeared to be parked on the side of the road, and as she drew close enough to discern the color and make, she decided it closely resembled the Ford Zach had parked near the Gazette the day they’d had lunch together.
Slowing the car to a crawl, she spotted a bare-chested man near the fence. Sweat glistened on his broad shoulders as he plunged a set of posthole diggers deep into the earth.
Was that Zach? The height and dark hair resembled him, but she hardly knew what Zach looked like half-undressed. The man could very well be one of the other Dalton men.
Deciding the only way to find out was to stop, Lydia parked a few feet in front of the truck and climbed from the car.
As soon as she started in the man’s direction, he looked over his shoulder toward her and Lydia immediately recognized Zach’s face. All at once, her heart leaped with unexpected pleasure.
She waved at him and he waved back.
“Hi, Zach!”
While she walked over to where he was working, Zach jammed the diggers into the partially dug hole. Once he joined her at the fence, he propped an arm atop a fat cedar post.
“Lydia! What in the world are you doing all the way out here?”
Even though she was silently ordering her eyes to focus on his face, she was staring at a bare muscled chest sprinkled with dark hair and tiny rivulets of fresh male sweat.
Clearing her throat, she said, “Actually, my, uh, boss sent me out here to the Circle D to see you.”
One brow arched with surprise as he lifted the straw cowboy hat from his head and raked a hand through his damp hair. “That sounds ominous. What’s wrong? He wants to quit running my ad?”
Lydia felt her face growing hot and the sensation had nothing to do with his questions. It was the rugged hunk of man standing in front of her that was doing incredibly strange things to her vital signs.
“No. He would never do that.” At least, Lydia didn’t think Curtis would go that far. Unless the mess of mail being delivered to the newspaper office got worse. “It’s your mail. You’ve received quite a bit of it and Curtis thought it was beginning to get in the way.”
“There’s actually that much of it? Gosh, I’m really sorry about that, Lydia,” he quickly apologized. “I’ve been planning to go into town and collect it, but things have been extra busy here on the ranch.”
And what about all those women who were breathlessly waiting and hoping to receive a call from him? Lydia wondered. Had he already been dating a few of them? A part of her wanted to know, while the other part revolted against the idea of knowing anything about Zach’s romantic life.
“Don’t worry. I’ve brought it all with me. But I’m sure there will be more coming. In case you haven’t guessed, you’re a popular guy.”
Instead of looking smug or pleased at the news, Zach’s expression turned rueful. “Listen, Lydia, if this whole thing is causing you problems, I’ll figure out some other way. I can rent a separate post office box in town and—”
