The Bull's Bride Hunt (Holiday Mail Order Mates Book 3) (3 page)

He was her match. This couldn’t just be a coincidence. She’d been mooning over the bartender ever since she’d seen him for the first time all of one hour ago. And now here he was, matched with her on Lovely and Kind Brides.

Maybe they were supposed to be together. At the very least, it warranted going on at least one date.

“Are you kidding me?” Her mother glared at her. “You knew! You went on and on about the Brazen Bull just to get me to make a fool of myself. Nice job. You got your old mom. But Jack Keller is a nice man and very handsome. I stand by what I said earlier. You could have just told me, Macy. There was no need to be sneaky.”

Macy rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know. I really did stop in for a drink today. This is all a big coincidence.”

“Sure it is. And I’m the queen of England,” Shirley said, standing up. “Dinner will be ready soon. Jill, go wash your hands.”

Macy stared at the screen. Jack Keller.

She would respond to him after she had some food in her stomach. She didn’t know if it was the drink or staring at Jack’s picture for too long that was making her lightheaded.

Jack rubbed his eyes. He’d been staring at the computer screen for ten minutes. It didn’t matter how long he looked or how many times he reread it. The darn thing didn’t make sense.

He’d signed up for LK Brides’ mail-order bride service a few hours earlier. He’d been on his phone looking at his favorite websites and browsing the internet when he heard the familiar ping. He had a new email. He’d assumed it was another welcome from LK. But, nope, it was an email congratulating him on his new match.

He knew he should have waited until he was off work. He was so nervous it was ridiculous. He wasn’t sure how he was going to pour a drink with his shaking hands.

The last few hours of his shift were going to be torture. He had to wait until the woman agreed to initiate contact before he could view her profile. If she did it before he got off work, he was going to have to close the place down early. There was no way he’d be able to wait even an hour more.

Sure enough, half an hour later, he’d gotten another ping. And here he was, in his back room hunched over his laptop with the beautiful face of Macy Peach filling the screen.

What the heck? She’d said that she was married. Jack remembered how disappointed he and his bull had been when he heard that. It hadn’t even been six hours earlier. Her glass was still sitting in the sink waiting to be washed. He hadn’t imagined meeting the woman, and he was positive she’d said she was taken.

Yet she was his match, according to LK Brides. He didn’t know how to feel.
Cheated
was the first thought that ran through his mind. He was being cheated out of his real match. He wanted to know how this kind of thing could happen. LK had a fantastic reputation. This kind of thing didn’t happen often.

His second thought was, what kind of woman was Macy? She was a cheater or a liar, obviously. Peach… There was an older woman with the same surname who came into the bar on occasion. Gin and tonic drinker. She was a sweet old lady and was always talking about her sweet granddaughter. She had to be Macy’s mother.

Macy had talked about a daughter and said she’d lived in town when she was a child.  The Mrs. Peach he knew had a daughter and a granddaughter. The last he’d seen her, she had been saying that she didn’t get to see her grandbaby often enough. Jack even vaguely remembered where she lived.

If he was still wound up about it, he would drive by on his way to work the next morning and see. He would ask Macy directly what was going on. It wasn’t the kind of thing he wanted to talk about in an email. He found using electronics to converse less than ideal. They were cold, and you couldn’t see how the other person was reacting to your words. He was a face-to-face kind of man.

All that night, Jack barely slept a wink. He was feeling sick to his stomach by the next morning. He’d had such a good feeling about Macy. His bull had even liked her. He was usually a great judge of character and couldn’t believe he’d gotten this so wrong.

He had to speak to her. He didn’t live too far from her mother’s home, so he drove over with a heavy heart. When he got to the neighborhood where she lived, he had to look around. He remembered what Mrs. Peach’s car looked like, and he wanted to be sure before he knocked on someone’s door.

It turned out that Jack didn’t have to search at all. As he drove down the block, there on the front steps of one of the homes was Macy Peach. She was smiling at her little girl and a man who was standing on the doorstep. Jack’s heart clenched. That had to be her husband. He could tell by the way the man was holding the little girl.

Jack drove on, staring ahead resolutely. He was going to have to find a better time to talk to Macy, but he knew there was no more chance of her having lied. She did have a husband. Now the only question was, why had she signed up for a mail-order bride agency?

Macy had been ready to head out for another afternoon of job searching when she got a surprise. A familiar face greeted her on the doorstep when she tried to step outside. “Don? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to say I’m sorry.”

He took his hand from behind his back and held a gorgeous bouquet of flowers under her nose. He looked like the same old Don. His gorgeous, angular face with a jaw line that could cut glass and his taut, wiry body would still make many a woman gawk. He had nothing on brawny Jack, but Don had a tight swimmer’s body and he could talk the birds out of the trees.

But this was a new trick from her old flame. He had never brought her flowers before. She wondered if he knew that tulips were her favorite or if he’d just guessed.

She took the flowers awkwardly.  “Okay. Thank you. What are you doing here? I have places to go.”

“I know. I’m sorry for wasting your time, honey. I was hoping you would consider taking me back.” He looked at her hopefully. “I see you’re not wearing your ring, but we could change that.”

She shook her head. “The divorce is going to be final soon. We’ve been over for a long time, and pretty flowers aren’t going to change that.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” He looked down sadly. “Are you liking it here?”

“I am. I haven’t found a job yet, but it’s been really nice for all of us. You were right about this place. We should have come back here a long time ago.”

“It was probably the only thing I was right about,” he said quietly. “That, and having a child with you. I don’t think I could have asked for a better mother for my only child.”

Macy felt herself softening around the edges. He’d never said anything so nice to her the entire time they were together. Now he was giving her flowers and compliments, and he looked despondent that she wouldn’t take him back.

Maybe leaving Don had been the best thing for their relationship. Maybe he had finally realized what he was so close to losing. She’d been so excited when she’d seen that she was a match for Jack, but something had held her back. Maybe this was it. Maybe she was supposed to get back with Don and give her family another try.

“Thank you. How long are you in town?”

“I’m on my way to visit my cousins now, but I can come back later. Maybe around nine o’clock?”

Macy nodded. “That sounds good to…”

“Daddy!” Jill came running out and jumped into Don’s arms.

“Get back here!” Macy’s mother rushed out and tried to stop Jill from getting to Don, but she was too late. She glanced between Macy and Don angrily, glaring at her son-in-law. “What is
he
doing here?”

“I came by to say hi to my girls,” Don told her. “And how are you this evening?”

Shirley crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Thank you.” Then she gave her daughter a pointed look.

Macy knew the look well. She tried to say with her eyes, “I know, I know. Let me handle this.”

Jill looked so happy with her father. Maybe she had made a rash decision getting the divorce. It seemed like it had finally woken Don up and made him see what he had lost. They could always get remarried.

“It’s almost Easter! Did you know that, Daddy?” Jill asked her father happily.

Don hitched her higher on his hip. “I did know that. Are you excited about seeing the Easter Bunny?”

Jill nodded enthusiastically. “I’m gonna search for his eggs. Wanna come with me?”

“I would love to, baby girl. And I’ll even bring you a basket from the Easter Bunny. He asked me where you were staying, and I told him I’d bring you the basket for him. So, we’ll go hunt for eggs and you’ll get a basket of treats.”

Jill’s mouth dropped open. “Really? Mom, is that okay?”

Macy nodded. “That’ll be fine with me.”

“Did they start the Maple Creek Easter celebration back up?” Don asked her.

“No. We have to go two towns over, but that’s okay. They have some great prizes. Plus, we might be able to hit up two if we’re quick and have a plan.”

Don laughed. “Always trying to be efficient.”

“One needs to be if they’re an adult,” Macy’s mother said.

“Is Grandma coming too?” Jill asked.

“I think I’ll hold down the fort,” Shirley said. “Don’t worry. You’ll have a lot of fun.”

“Come on, Mrs. Peach. We’d love to have you along,” Don said. “In fact, we should make it a whole family affair. My cousins can come too. It’ll be a real fun time for us all.”

“Why haven’t I seen you in so long?” Jill asked. “Were you on an adventure?”

“Hasn’t your mother talked to you about this?” Don looked uncomfortable. He looked at Macy and shrugged.

She could see that he had no idea what to say. She had talked to Jill about the divorce, but it was hard for a three-year-old to understand something like that. It was hard for her to understand it herself, and she was a grown woman.

She didn’t want her daughter to get hurt if things went south again. Just because he’d brought flowers and said he was sorry, that didn’t mean everything was back to normal again. It was going to be a long, hard road before they would ever be able to be a couple again.

She was divorcing Don for a reason. He was unreliable, irresponsible, and just all wrong as a family man. He was selfish and immature. It would be hard for her to forgive some of the things he’d done, but she would try for her little girl.

If Don was being a new man, she’d be a new woman too. Everyone had to try their best. She was feeling hopeful again, but she had to be careful. They’d been down this road before, and she was so close to the divorce. She was already going by her old surname. If she let Don reel her in again and then he didn’t change, it would be disastrous.

“That sounds nice,” Macy said. “How’s your cousin doing?”

“She’s doing great. I may meet her at a bar for lunch. I think it’s called the Brazen Bull. It must have opened since I left town, ’cause I don’t remember that one. Have you heard of it?”

Macy’s mother looked at her out of the corner of her eye and smirked. What were the odds that Don was just coincidentally bringing up the place she had just met a wonderful new man?

Heat rose to Macy’s cheeks as she nodded. “I think I’ve been to that place. They have good drinks and a nice atmosphere.”

Don was surprised. “You like how it looks inside? I didn’t know you were going to bars.”

She blushed even harder. “Only to ask for some directions. Since I was already inside, I decided to have a drink.”

Don looked skeptical. “It’s pretty hard to get lost here. This place is so small, you can drive through town and if you blink you’re going to miss it.”

“I think it’s time for you to go. We need to get about our day,” Shirley said. She wasn’t even trying to be polite anymore.

Don nodded. “It was nice seeing you all again. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Want to come by tomorrow for lunch?” Macy asked before he could walk away. “I mean, if you can’t get back later tonight. We can always meet up for lunch.”

Don smiled from ear to ear. “That sounds great.”

“Great. It’s a date.”

Shirley scowled as Don walked away whistling. “What did you have to go and do that for?” she asked angrily.

“Having dinner with the father of my child?” Macy asked stubbornly. She knew exactly what her mother was talking about, but she didn’t want to admit it.

“You should make a date with Jack Keller, not this old song and dance. He’ll hurt you again.”

“Maybe,” Macy said quietly, and smoothed Jill’s hair. “But I have to try.”

Her mother said, “He always shows up when you’re happy again. You don’t have to do this, Macy.”

“I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.” Macy took her daughter and went inside.

This was a new beginning for her and Don. She owed it to her family to try her best. It didn’t matter that she had feelings for the sexy bartender, or if she had an ominous feeling about Don’s sudden appearance. What mattered was keeping her family together and giving her daughter the happiest childhood possible. If that meant she had to give her ex a chance again, she would.