Perrie sighed inwardly. It did sound a little silly. "Actually, I'm not a big proponent of destiny. I think a person determines their own future. Fate doesn't have anything to do with it."
"Have you ever been in love, Miss Kincaid?"
Perrie paused, not sure how-or whether-to answer the question. What did her love life have to do with the story she was writing? She was the one asking the questions. Besides, she wasn't sure she wanted a complete stranger to know that Perrie Kincaid, a highly intelligent thirty-three-year-old woman, wasn't even sure what love was.
"Why don't we stick to your story?" she said lightly. "Why are you so sure you want to get married?"
"Because I know I'd be really good at it. I want someone to share my life with, I want to fall in love and have children and grow old with a good man."
"And you expect to find that man here in Alaska?"
"Why not? He could be here. The odds are good."
Perrie smiled. "But the goods are kind of odd, don't you think? Besides, how do you know your destiny isn't waiting for you in Newfoundland?"
Linda smiled. "Well, if I don't find him here, I'll just have to keep looking."
"There are other things in life besides marriage, aren't there?"
"Sure there are. And I'm not necessarily set on marriage. But I'm never going to give up on finding love."
Perrie considered her words for a long moment. Was she missing something here? She'd never considered love very important at all. In fact, she considered men more trouble than they were worth. Was that because she could put such a crazy emotion in perspective? Or was it because she'd never come close to feeling that emotion?
"So you hope to find love here in Muleshoe? And what will you do if that happens? Are you going to give up your career in Seattle and move up here?"
Linda smiled. "I don't know. That's what's so exciting about this whole thing. I'm not really sure what's going to happen until it does. I'm enjoying the journey as much as the destination."
Perrie stared down at her notepad. All of this sappy stuff was not going to make a story, unless she was writing it for one of those romance magazines. She glanced around the room, then back at Linda. A long silence grew between them, broken suddenly by the sound of the front door opening.
The other two brides stumbled inside, laughing, their jackets covered with snow. Perrie stood and watched as they tugged off hats and mittens. They both turned to her and regarded her with curiosity until Linda stood and made the introductions.
The tiny brunette, Allison Keifer, spoke first. "I didn't know we were going to be interviewed again. We would have been here earlier but we've been practicing."
"You have to practice finding a husband?" Perrie asked, leaning forward. Maybe there was something to this story.
"No," Mary Ellen Davenport replied, giggling. She was a prettily plump woman with pale brown hair and a sparkling smile. "We're practicing for the Muleshoe Games. They're having a brides' competition next weekend, on Valentine's Day. We compete in all sorts of things-snowshoeing, dogsledding, wood chopping."
"I suppose it's so these men can see what kind of wives we'll make," Allison said. "But we're just going to have fun. And there's a nice prize for the winner. A weekend up at the resort at Cooper Hot Springs. Everything's included, the room, the flight, the-"
"The flight?" Perrie asked. "Someone's going to fly the winner out of Muleshoe?"
Linda nodded. "And after the games, there's a dance at Doyle's. Are you interested? The brides' competition is open to any single woman."
Another plan began to form in Perrie's mind. She could train with the brides and win the event and at the same time get a nice angle on the story. And once she escaped Muleshoe, she'd be able to find her way back to Seattle and finish a story that really mattered. "Sure," Perrie said. "I think I'd like to enter the games. Tell me more."
"You'll need to practice if you want to win," Mary Ellen said. "There are a few single women from town who are entering. Ringers, I say. They'll be tough to beat You can practice with us."
"Or you can get one of those dishy bachelors from Bachelor Creek Lodge to help you," Allison teased. "You're staying there, aren't you?"
Perrie nodded.
"Lucky girl."
Perrie arched her eyebrow. "Lucky?"
"That's bachelor central. Three of the dreamiest guys in Alaska and they live up there."
"If you're counting Burdy as a bachelor dreamboat, you've definitely been in the wilderness too long."
"Oh, no. Not that Burdy fellow. I'm talking about Joe Brennan and Kyle Hawkins. And there's another one, but he just got married-Tanner is his name, I think. Linda had a date with Joe Brennan the night we arrived here."
Perrie tried to look indifferent but her interest was piqued. Leaning forward, she asked, "He didn't waste much time, did he?"
"He took Allison out the night after that," Linda countered.
"He asked me out, too," Mary Ellen admitted, "but I had a previous engagement."
"He was really charming, but not the marrying type," Linda commented.
"Charming," Perrie repeated.
"He's just so sweet and attentive," Linda continued. "And funny. And cute, too. He has this way about him. It's hard to explain, but it makes you want to tear off his clothes and drag him into bed."
"Mel Gibson eyes," Mary Ellen observed.
"A little boy in the body of a man," Allison added.
"But definitely scared of commitment. A one-date wonder."
"Then you both went to…" Perrie couldn't finish the question, a strange surge of jealousy stopping her words.
"Of course not!" Linda cried.
"Though I was tempted," Allison added. "Those eyes of his could melt a girl's panties."
Perrie scolded herself silently. What right did she have to be jealous? Or envious? She'd pegged Joe Brennan as a ladies' man from the moment she'd met him. A confirmed bachelor who used his charm and good looks to make women weak in the knees and breathless with adoration. Even she hadn't been immune.
At least she was smart enough to see Brennan for what he was. And clever enough to keep her distance. Though it hadn't been too hard, considering she hadn't seen much of him lately.
Linda laughed. "It took Allison about three days to evaluate every bachelor within a twenty-mile radius. She's got this down to a science."
"I believe in being thorough," Allison said. "After all, I'm the one who has to look at him across the dinner table. I only want the best."
"The only one she can't figure out is Hawk," Linda teased.
Perrie glanced up from her notes. "Kyle Hawkins? Brennan's partner?"
"They call him Hawk. And he's the only man who hasn't said a single word to her," Mary Ellen said. "He reminds me of Gregory Peck in that old movie… I can't remember the name."
"Mary Ellen never remembers the names of movies. And if you ask me, that Hawk is a little too quiet," Linda said. "Maybe he's hiding a tortured soul."
"I haven't met him yet," Perrie admitted. "I'm not sure I want to. Brennan is enough to deal with."
"You're a reporter," Allison said. "Find out all about him and then tell us."
Perrie slowly closed her notepad. "I'll make you a deal," she said with a conspiratorial grin. "You teach me how to chop wood and walk on snowshoes and drive a dogsled, and I'll report back on the mysterious Mr. Hawk."
Mary Ellen giggled. "This is going to be so much fun! Just like that old movie where the three girls go to Rome and find love. The one with the fountain? Only this is Alaska and there are four of us… and no fountain."
"I'm not in this to find a husband," Perrie quickly explained. "All I'm interested in is the trip out of Muleshoe."
Joe pulled the front door of the lodge closed and dropped his sunglasses over his eyes against the sundrenched snow. The days were getting longer and the bitter cold that had marked all of January was beginning to release its grip. It would be months until the river broke up and spring came, but they were halfway through winter now and there was an end in sight.