Male Order Bride by Carolyn Thornton Read Free Book Online Page A

didn't feel like
reading anyway.
    She could always polish the brass. That sounded
sophisticated, but it wouldn't take long with the two candlesticks she
owned. The same thing applied to her crystal.
    The buzzer on the oven went off. Lacey jumped. Her initial
response to any sound was to expect it to be the telephone. She went
into the kitchen and took the bagels from the oven and brought them,
with the cream cheese, to the table. Lacey chose a chair at the table
that gave her a view of the phone. She tried to tell herself that a
telephone, like a watched pot never boiling, wouldn't ring if she
looked at it. But in this instance, after Rafe Chancellor's
persistence, she knew it was merely a matter of time before the phone
rang.
    She spread the cream cheese over the warm bagel and turned
her back on the phone. She needed to rehearse what she would say when
he called. She wanted to give him the proper first impression of who
she was when he heard her voice. What first impression should she give
him? Enthusiasm to let him know how excited she was to have a date
after the past months of solid work?
    Not too much enthusiasm, she decided, or he might get the
idea she was unable to get dates on her own. Maybe she should act
surprised, as if she had forgotten she had mailed back the card and
wasn't expecting anyone to call tonight. Gracious-ness, in her best
business voice, might produce the proper tone for a first meeting via
Ma Bell. But she didn't want him to get the impression she was stuffy
and all business, no play. True, she had acted that way lately, but
only because there had not been any better alternatives for investing
her time. And the business had demanded her full attention.
    It had been hectic, but well worth it, she decided, taking
a bite of the bagel. If Rafe Chancellor turned out to be as exciting in
person as he seemed on paper, she might treat herself to a fling.
Nothing serious, just a break from the fast pace of the boutique,
especially now that the Bride-To-Be's designs were in the easy stage.
    Lacey glanced over her shoulder at the clock. After six.
Surely he was home from work by now, no matter what his job entailed.
And he should have gotten his mail and read her reply by now. What if
the postcard had gotten lost in the volume of thicker and more
important pieces of mail traveling through the local post office? What
if he didn't get the card for a week or longer? Was she just going to
sit here eating bagels and cream cheese night after night, waiting for
the phone to ring?
    Probably, Lacey decided, taking another bite from the
bagel. When it came right down to it, she didn't have anything better
to do.
    She needed a hobby. She'd been telling herself that for
months, but hadn't yet made up her mind what it was she wanted to do.
There were times when she became so saturated with the boutique, buying
trips and hours of designing that she needed something to totally
divorce herself from the business. A hobby would come in handy on
nights like tonight when there were no phone calls.
    Living so near the water, Lacey had considered taking
sailing lessons. But she had enough friends who had sailboats and
yachts and she had discovered she enjoyed being a passenger. It was
much better than being a sailor with the hassle of upkeep and ownership.
    She did enjoy taking crabbing nets and dropping them from
the old causeway pier in the bay, but she had been too busy to spare a
day for that lately. Besides, it was always more fun when there was
company… and a picnic basket.
    As much as she enjoyed the coastal views and walks in the
moonlight, she didn't like basting in the sun. She preferred tanning by
sitting in the sun sketching or playing volleyball on the sands with
friends. As a hobby, the sketching was too closely related to her
designs; and she hadn't even spared the time for get-togethers with
friends since the round of Christmas parties five months ago.
    Lacey thought she would prefer an active hobby. She