The Maverick's Bride-to-Order by Stella Bagwell

Author:Stella Bagwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

At five minutes past five that evening, Zach pulled his truck into a parking spot a few yards from the Gazette and jumped out, barely taking the time to shut the door behind him.

“Lydia! Wait! Are you locking the door?”

As he trotted down the sidewalk toward her, she glanced in his direction. From the look on her face, she was surprised to see him. But then he’d never shown up this late in the day before.

“Yes, we’re closing,” she told him. “Did you want to pick up your mail?”

Halting a few steps away from her, Zach noticed she was dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt, but today she’d pushed back her hair away from her face with a braided headband of tiny flowers. The pale yellow petals formed a halo around her hair and gave her complexion a golden glow.

The difference, even though small, had him staring at her in wonder. Garrett had called her pretty. Strange how Zach had never really noticed just how pretty she was, until now.

Clearing his throat, he answered, “Uh, yes. But I wouldn’t want you to go to a lot of trouble.”

Drawing her shoulders back, she gave him a smile, but the expression looked more forced than sincere. Apparently she was still miffed at him. Zach had spent most of the weekend wondering what he’d done and why it was so important that she forgive him.

“It’s no trouble,” she told him.

He smiled back at her. “Well, it would save me a trip into town tomorrow.”

“There’s no reason for that.” She stuck the key back in the lock and gave it a twist. “Come with me and I’ll fetch it for you.”

Inside the office, the overhead lighting had been turned off and the blinds closed on the windows, making the room dim and shadowy. Zach stood just inside the door and waited as she walked through the low, fence-like partition that separated the customer space from the work area.

Zach said, “I was trying to get here before closing time. But Garrett and I were out repairing fence and didn’t make it back to the ranch before late.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have it all gathered and ready to go.”

When she returned to him, she was carrying two cardboard boxes. Zach quickly took them from her and balanced the lot against his chest.

“Wow, I’m surprised there’s still so much of this coming in.” He sniffed at the top one. “Any baked goods in here?”

A faint grimace pulled her brows together. “No food this time. But plenty of letters. I didn’t think there were that many women in the state of Montana.”

Zach felt his face turning a hot shade of red. Which was ridiculous. The whole town was aware that hordes of women were chasing after him. Why should another box of letters put an awkward look on his face? Maybe because Lydia seemed so disgusted by it, he thought.

Lowering his head, he thumbed through the top box. “Well, some of the senders are repeats,” he said in an attempt to justify the indecent amount of mail.

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