Bachelor's Puzzle — Judith Pella

He never intended to stay... The women of the Maintown church ladies society eagerly await the arrival of the new circuit-riding preacher--a bachelor, they've been told. To welcome him, they and their eligible daughters decide to make him a "welcome" quilt. The project turns into a fierce competition as each young woman tries to outdo the other in creating a quilt block so exquisite that it--and she--will gain the young minister's attention. Zack Hartley is unlike any preacher the church has ever seen. He bumbles about in the pulpit, and when he visits the sick, instead of praying for them he hangs laundry, washes dishes, tends children--does whatever needs doing. His inexperience and humorous blunders, however, eventually prove endearing and only further encourage the young ladies in their obvious attempts to snare him. But Zack is hiding something, and if his deception is found out, disappointing the Maintown ladies may be the least of his worries.