Page 4 of My Mail Order Valentine

"Hi, I'm Captain Miller. Hunter's boss. He's not here today, but I can take you to him."

Finally. I shake his hand vigorously and give him a bright smile.

"I'm Elena, Captain Miller. It's so nice to meet you."

I frown at Marc and his buddies for laughing in my face and follow the captain to what I assume is a fire department truck. It is not the kind used for fire emergencies, but a normal two-cabin truck with the department's logo on it.

He opens the passenger door for me and takes my suitcase to put in the back of the truck. My nerves are still shattered, but I'm one step closer to finding my groom. When the captain turns the heat on in the car, I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Montana cold getting to you?"

"Yeah, I'm from Florida."

We make small talk during the drive, but that doesn't keep me from being a nervous wreck. When we get to Hunter's house, I see it's a nice-sized cabin. Captain Miller gets out of the car, takes my suitcase, and places it at the front door. Then, he vigorously knocks on Hunter's door with a huge smile on his face.

I let myself out of the truck and take a few steps forward. The captain passes by me on his way back to the truck and murmurs something I don't quite catch. When the door opens, I can't believe my eyes, and I have to grab hold of the mailbox so I don't fall down and make a fool of myself.

Chapter 2

Hunter

The past two weeks have been a nightmare. After two years of avoiding the feisty grannies in town and keeping them from meddling in my private life, they've finally done it. They've interfered. My buddies at work have been the worst, teasing me relentlessly about this bride I'm supposed to marry.

I keep telling everyone I don't need or want a bride, but no one will listen. They create a 'profile' and say I've got a match. Some poor woman out there thinks I've been searching for her. They're all insane.

To make matters worse, Evie has been sick the last few days, so I had to take time off from work to tend to her because her usual nanny was also sick and couldn't look after her. I don't mindtaking care of my daughter; she's the most important thing in my life, but I hate taking time off work. If there's an emergency, the team might need more hands on deck.

I can’t do anything about it now. Evie is feeling much better, with just a droopy nose and some sneezing. She had a fever for a couple of days, but thankfully I managed to treat it with the stuff in my medicine cabinet.

I hear a knock on the door and check my phone to see who is out there in the middle of a workday. I practically groan when I see who it is—Mrs. Brown, one of the town's older troublemakers. With Evie napping, I get up to go to the door and deal with this unwanted visitor.

When I get closer to the front door, I hear mumbling, and it looks like she's not alone. I brace myself for the inevitable and open the door.

"Ladies, it's an honor to see you out and about."

"Hunter! We heard your daughter is sick, so we brought some things to tide you over until she's feeling better."

"You didn't have to go to the trouble, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Callahan."

"Pish, posh. Do let us in, Hunter."

"Aren't you worried you might catch Evie's cold?"

"We've both had the flu shot, now move along."

They might look like little old ladies, but they're quite strong and stubborn. They push me aside and enter my house, leaving me standing at the door, perplexed. One of them goes to the kitchen and just starts making herself at home.

Mrs. Brown, however, sits down on my living room couch and looks a bit uneasy.

"Did you want to talk to me about something, Mrs. Brown?"

"Mmm, let's wait until the tea is served."

I nearly blurt out that I don't want any tea, but I manage to control myself before I hurt their feelings. They've beensupportive to me and Evie, stepping in as babysitters whenever I've had emergency calls. They have good hearts, except when they try to invade my private life.

Not knowing what to do with these guests, I take a moment to check on Evie. I adjust her blanket and wipe her nose. She stirs a bit but immediately goes back to sleep. The doctor said it was important that I get more liquids into her, so I leave as silently as I can, taking the baby monitor with me.

I see Mrs. Callahan setting up the tea on the coffee table. I see cream, lemon, and sugar. I know I don’t have some of those items in my cupboard, so they must have brought them along with the 'necessities.'

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