Patience

Wanted: Women with religious upbringing, high morals, and a strong sense of adventure, willing to marry decent, God-fearing men. Applicants may apply by mail. Must allow at least two months for an answer.

Patience Smith only intends to wear Lenore's wedding dress for a few minutes, but when a kidnapper snatches Patience in a case of mistaken identity, her life takes an unexpected turn. Lost in the mountains of Colorado, Patience manages to escape her captor only to stumble onto an abandoned mining dugout and a ragged orphan boy.

Denver City sheriff Jay Longer has been on Patience's trail since the moment she was taken. And he has no desire to force the hot-tempered young woman to return with him. Still, he can't just abandon her, not when her foolish plans to reopen this mine and find gold are exposing her to danger.

If Patience's dreams of striking it rich come true, it will mean a whole new future for her and her mail-order bride friends. But neither Patience nor Jay knows just how far someone will go to keep them from finding the treasure inside the mine.