An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [90]
He reached for his car keys and was ready to leave when a knock sounded at the door. When he opened it, he discovered a newswoman and a man with a camera on the other side.
“You’re Chase Goodman?” the woman asked. She was slight and pretty and he recognized her from the newscast the night before. She was a TV reporter, and although he couldn’t remember her name, her face was familiar.
“I’m Chase Goodman,” he answered, eyeing the man with the camera. “What can I do for you?”
“The same Chase Goodman who rented the billboard off Denny Way?”
“Yes.”
She smiled then. “I’m Becky Bright from KYGNTV and this is Steve Dalton, my cameraman. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions? I promise we won’t take much of your time.”
Chase couldn’t see any harm in that, but he didn’t like the idea of someone sticking a camera in his face. He hesitated, then decided, “I suppose that would be all right.”
“Great.” The reporter walked into his hotel room, pulled out a chair and instructed Chase to sit down. He did, but he didn’t take his eye off the cameraman. A series of bright lights nearly blinded him.
“Sorry,” Becky said apologetically. “I should’ve warned you about the glare. Now, tell me, Mr. Goodman, what prompted you to advertise for a wife?”
Chase held up his hand to shield his eyes. “Ah…I’m from Alaska.”
“Alaska,” she repeated, reaching for his arm and moving it away from his face.
“I’m only going to be in town a few weeks, so I wanted to make the most of my time,” he elaborated, squinting. “I’m looking for a wife, and it seemed like a good idea to be as direct and straightforward as I could. I didn’t want any misunderstanding about my intentions.”
“Have you had any responses?”
Chase shook his head, still incredulous. “I just got off the phone with the answering service and they’ve been flooded with calls. They said there’ve been over five hundred.”
“That surprises you?”
“Sure does. I figured I’d be lucky to find a handful of women willing to move to Alaska. I live outside Prudhoe Bay.”
“The women who’ve applied know this?”
“Yes. I left the pertinent details with the answering service as a sort of screening technique. Only those who were willing to accept my conditions were to leave their names and phone numbers.”
“And five hundred have done that?”
“Apparently so. I was on my way to the agency just now.”
“How do you intend to interview five hundred or more women?”
Chase rubbed the side of his jaw. This situation was quickly getting out of hand. “I’m hoping to hire an assistant as soon as I can. This whole thing has gone much further than I expected.”
“If you were to speak to the women who’ve answered your ad, what would you say?”
Chase didn’t think well on his feet, especially when he was cornered by a fast-talking reporter and a cameraman who seemed intent on blinding him. “I guess I’d ask them to be patient. I promise to respond to every call, but it might take me a few days.”
“Will you be holding interviews yourself?”
Chase hadn’t thought this far ahead. His original idea had been to meet every applicant for dinner, so they could get to know each other in a nonthreatening, casual atmosphere, and then proceed, depending on how they felt about him and how he felt about them. All of that had changed now. “I suppose I’ll be meeting them personally,” he muttered reluctantly. “A lot of them, anyway.”
Becky stood and the lights dimmed. “It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Mr. Goodman. We’ll be running this on the noon news and later on the five o’clock edition, if you’re interested in seeing yourself on television.”
“So soon?”
“We might even do a follow-up report after you’ve selected your bride, but I’ll have to wait until I talk that over with my producer. We’d appreciate an exclusive. Can we count on you for that?”
“Ah…sure.”
“Great.” She beamed him a game-show-host smile.
“Before you go,” Chase said, gathering his wits, “how’d you know where to find me?” He’d purposely made arrangements with the answering service to avoid this very thing.
“Easy,” Becky said, sticking her pad and