Swooning for the Mountain Man (Mountain Man Mail Order Bride 2026 #9)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Mira

I stared out the kitchen window, a medium-sized window above the kitchen sink, that looked directly into the backyard.

My backyard.

A whole damn apple orchard.

What the actual fuck?

“Are you staring at the trees again?” My best friend, Kelly, peered at me in the camera of her phone over FaceTime. All I saw was her face talking to the whole screen.

I shook my head with a laugh. “And you’re making out with your phone again. Back up, weirdo.”

Kelly smacked her lips together before making a face at me. “I miss you. I want to get closer.”

“Aw, you’re sweet. I told you you’d miss me. You should come here. We’ll live together and figure out this orchard thing…” One could hope, right?

My distant father recently passed and while attending his funeral out of respect, his lawyer approached me and informed me he had left me something in his will.

Turned it out it was his apple orchard in a small mountain town.

So, I gave up my life in the city where I rented a tiny but cozy attic apartment with Kelly, my number one girl.

I worked from home as a freelance journalist, so I wasn’t worried about my career.

More like my lifelong friendship with Kelly and leaving the only place I knew.

My mother raised me in the city streets and when she passed the day after my twentieth birthday from breast cancer, Kelly was there for me like no one else was.

I desperately begged her to come with me, but she couldn’t leave her career or her recent boyfriend.

So, I packed my shit and moved into my father’s old, crumbling farmhouse featuring a dying apple orchard alone and kept asking myself- now what?

“If I could take my job and my boyfriend with me, I’d already be there. From the photos, it doesn’t look too terrible. At least the trees are standing.” Kelly shot me a wolfish smile through the screen.

I sighed in return. “Girl. I know absolute crap about gardening, especially not apple trees. Don’t they need special care?” My phone rested on the windowsill, but my eyes hadn’t left my dismal backyard. Ugh times a million.

My knowledge of apple trees was zilch, nada, none. I wondered if my dad’s was the same. By the looks of it, I’d say yes.

But then why own an apple orchard at all?

“Google it. Watch some YouTube videos. There are answers on the internet, I’m sure. Spring is only starting so you have plenty of time to get them ready for the fall harvest.”

“The fall harvest? Do you hear yourself?”

“What? It’s true!”

I grabbed my phone and placed it on the stand on my counter. Grabbing the kettle, I filled it with water and set it on the stove. I retrieved a mug from the cabinet and a tea bag. “I’ll figure something out.”

“I know you will. I can picture your orchard flourishing and filling with visitors who want to pick apples and buy them from you by the crate. You’ll make some extra money you can use towards the house.”

I tilted my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “There’s no way that’s happening. But thanks for the motivation, Kels. I can’t wait for my orchard to flourish.” I said the last word with a huge dose of sarcasm. It was nice to dream.

“It’s going to work. I believe in you.”

“At least one of us does.”

“I’ll visit as soon as I can get some time off work and help you.”

The kettle whistled and I lifted it off the stove while turning the dial to off.

I poured the hot steaming water over my tea bag before setting the kettle back down on the burner.

Using the string of the tea bag, I dunked it up and down a few times and stirred the liquid with a spoon. “I’d like that.”

“Me too.” Kelly said. “It totally sucks here without you.”

“I know, babe.”

Kelly’s eyes roamed the screen, and I could tell she was scrolling while on video call.

“What are you looking at?”

“Sorry, it’s just Facebook. I wanted to check on, wait, what?!” Kelly gasped.

“What is it?” I picked up my steaming mug and my phone and walked into the living room.

I settled into the recliner seat, an old ratty thing but worn in and comfortable and set my tea down on the end table, my phone in my lap.

I imagined my father spent many nights in this chair and I wondered what he was like and why he never wanted to meet me. Now it was too late

“This website! It’s called Mountain Mates and it’s for anyone looking for a mountain man. It mentions Appleridge.” Kelly explained, excitement in her voice.

“A website for mountain men? Are you serious?”

“Yes. You just need to make a profile and then you can search for people or swipe through profiles. I bet you’ll find someone who knows about apple orchards. There has to be, especially from this area where there’s a million of them.”

“Wait a second, slow down.” I lifted my mug to my lips and took a sip of tea, the liquid scalding my tongue. Ouch. “This Mountain Mates website. Is it a dating site?”

“Well, yes, but it’s for other things too. You could probably meet people for all sorts of reasons.”

I eyed her suspiciously. I needed to see this website for myself. I swiped my finger across my phone screen, moving out of the FaceTime call and into a blank website. I brought up Google and typed in Mountain Mates. The website appeared at the top and I clicked it.

“Are you looking at it now?

“Yep. It’s most definitely for dating. ‘Find your love match today!’ “ I read from the main page.

Kelly waved. a hand at me. “Who cares? Put a profile that says you’re specifically looking for farmhand help on an orchard. And mention you’re not looking for love in the ad. That way you don’t lead anyone on.”

“Kels, I hardly doubt I’ll be leading anyone on. I doubt these young studs want an old lady like me.”

“You…I mean, we, are not old. Late thirties are the new early twenties.” Kelly winked into the camera, and I laughed before picking up my mug and sipping on my tea.

“Ha! Far from it. If I felt like I did in my early twenties, I’d whip this orchard into shape.”

“Okay, but honestly, just try it. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone messages you for a date and you tell them sorry I’m not interested in dating. Just apple farming. No biggie.”

“I’ll think about it. I’m sure there are other ways to find help around here.”

“Maybe so. But not as good as mine.”

The clocked ticked ten o’clock pm. I flicked off the TV, turned off the lamp, and double checked I locked the house before heading upstairs to bed. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I climbed into bed, turned the bedroom TV on low, and picked up my laptop resting on my nightstand.

It was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Not after seeing how hot some of those mountain men were on the website. They caught my attention as soon as I landed on there.

But I wasn’t looking for love. That ship had sailed long ago.

I clicked on the web browser and typed in Mountain Mates. The website loaded a few seconds later. Looking around, I discovered more like how to add a profile and how to search for a specific location. It was all based around love, friendships, and dating.

My thoughts ran wild. I shouldn’t, but why not, but no it should be fine, but no it wasn’t right to use the website for another purpose, but then why not? Fuck it.

I was making a profile. I clicked on the button Join Today!

and filled out my profile. I was very clear what I needed and also asked if there was a better place to find this sort of help, I’d love to be pointed in the right direction.

I included a few pictures of the orchard to add to it and hit submit.

The next morning, my inbox was empty.

Not one response.

Over the next few days, I forgot about it as I dealt with paperwork from my father’s estate and lawyer meetings.

I made a list of everything I wanted to fix in the house with guesstimates of prices.

After doing some research about apple orchards, I bought some supplies online. I needed to start somewhere.

Kelly: Find any help yet??

Me: Not yet!

Her text reminded me to check the Mountain Mates inbox. Two new responses were waiting for me. One was a spammy ad about winning the lottery, but the other was an actual guy.

Ezra Chavez.

New Message from Ezra: Hi Mira! I’d love to help with your orchard.

I was on here looking for a date but a chance to make some extra cash is even better.

I grew up in Appleridge, have lived on an orchard my entire life, and know apple trees inside and out.

We can discuss rate of pay and the type of work you’re looking for, just shoot me a message back.

I read his message a couple of times. He sounded like a nice guy. I clicked on his profile and my jaw fell into my lap.

Holy shit, he was smoking hot. Like a model in a dirty calendar hot.

Clicking through his pictures had me squeezing my legs together.

His profile read: Hey I’m Ezra! I’m a chill guy looking for his lady.

I’m a twenty-four-year-old guy who grew up in Appleridge and worked on orchards my whole life.

My thumb is greener than green, and I love to grow all my own herbs and veggies.

I enjoy a morning run, a couple of showers a day, and I’m never afraid of getting my hands dirty. Hope to connect.

Twenty-four?

He was only twenty-four?

My God, he was just a baby.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I replied to his message.