Sarah rose and faced the committee. “It can be either fancy or casual. We can have different classes at the school or a softball team or any group of children donate baskets for the auction. It’s a great way for kids to give to other kids. The dinner can be a buffet or waiter service. We could use teenagers to be the servers.”
“Let’s vote. We have several choices,” Beatrice Miller said, sitting next to the mayor.
“Okay. A show of hands for a talent show.” Mayor Adams counted the few who voted. The garage sale got a couple of more raised hands for the fund-raiser, but the overwhelming majority wanted a silent auction/bachelor auction combo.
Pastor Collins stood. “We can use the church’s large hall off our kitchen for the dinner. At one end we have a stage where the bachelor auction can take place. The corridors and entrance would be a great place to set up the items for the silent auction. I would suggest myself, Sarah Blackburn, Liam McGregory and anyone else who is familiar with this type of event be on the planning committee. We can meet and come back next time with what subcommittees we’ll need, then you all can sign up to be on one or two of them.”
When Liam heard his name included, he wanted to shout no. I don’t know what I’m doing with my nieces, let alone a big fund-raiser! He couldn’t shake the sensation of being steamrollered, and he felt overwhelmed just thinking about it.
As several people raised their hands to be added to the planning committee, Liam leaned toward Brandon. “Is Pastor Collins always like this? He didn’t even ask me if I wanted to do this.”
“Yep, usually in a more subtle way, but this sounds big and with the potential of bringing in more money than we have in the past. We should have started last month. When he sees a job that needs to be done, he digs right in.” Brandon grinned. “You’ll be fine. So many of us have a job on the side when we aren’t at the fire station. You don’t, so you should have plenty of time for this. Look on the bright side, the kids are still in school so it will be easier.”
Liam chanced a look at Sarah. Her eyes were as round and large as the wheels on the ladder truck. For a few seconds that bond he’d felt before sprang up between them. They were in this together—reluctantly.
When Pastor Collins took his seat, Liam bent forward. “I’m new to town. I don’t know that many people. I may be more a hindrance than a help. You should get—”
“Nonsense. You and Sarah will be a fresh perspective for us. We need new people, otherwise some will take over and do the same old thing. We’ll make sure we meet on a night you’re free.” The pastor swung his attention to Brandon. “How about you? We could use another man on the committee.” He lowered his voice. “You know how Beatrice Miller can be.”
Liam glanced at the woman next to the mayor. She’d captured the ear of the man and was waving her hands around. Liam elbowed his friend in the side. “Yeah, how about you? We’re on the same shift.”
“Sure, I can do it if I don’t have problems getting a babysitter for Seth and Jared.”
“I don’t mind having the meeting at my house, and you can bring Seth and Jared over.”
Sarah’s invitation surprised Liam. He swung back toward her. “How about Madison and Katie?”
“Fine. I have a feeling the kittens and Gabe will keep the children entertained. If not, my mom and Nana will be there.”
“Then let’s meet Thursday night at six thirty. Is that all right with y’all?” Pastor Collins rose.
Sarah, Brandon and Liam all nodded.
“I’ll go tell the other members. I’ll need everyone there so we can plow through the details to bring before the whole group next Tuesday.” The pastor hurried off to talk to the others.
Brandon pushed to his feet and clapped Liam on the shoulder. “Ready to leave?”
“Yes, but I need to talk to Sarah for a moment.”
“I’ll be outside.”
When Brandon left, Sarah scanned the area then asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Are you sure about having the meeting at your house?”
“Positive. I’m hoping Seth and Jared will take one look at the kittens and want one. Besides, my mother loves kids and will get a kick out of watching them. We have a great floodlight, and they can be outside for an hour or so, then they can use our big den, where they can watch TV and play games if the meeting runs late. Nana will love it, too.”
“Okay. I was going to volunteer my house, but with your mom there it’ll be much better. And this way I can leave before it gets too late. With it being a school night, the girls will need to be in bed at least by nine.” Liam started walking toward the exit. “I still can’t believe Pastor Collins volunteered me. I wasn’t even sure when Richie asked me to be on the committee.”
“Notice we’re the only ones younger than thirty-five in the planning group. And Beatrice will definitely try to run the whole thing.”
“Good point.”
“Have you ever participated in a bachelor auction before?” Sarah stepped outside.
“Yes, once in my younger days. It was for a great cause.”
“How did it go?”
The memory of his ex-wife, Terri, standing up in the room full of women and putting in the last bid for him chilled him in the warm April afternoon. “I brought in two hundred dollars for the charity.” He glanced at Brandon sitting in his truck. “I’d better go. See you Thursday night.” Liam would never have suggested a silent auction if he’d known where it was going to lead the committee. Now he would see Sarah more often not less.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
* * *
Sarah sat behind her steering wheel, watching Liam and Brandon leave the parking lot at the restaurant. When she asked about his participation in the bachelor auction, she sensed she’d hit upon a touchy subject. The date must not have gone well. At least he’d only had to go out once with the woman and, as he’d said, it had been for a good cause.
She checked the clock on the dashboard and hurriedly started her engine. Her next appointment at the salon sometimes came early and hated being kept waiting.
Ten minutes later she pulled up at the back of the shop. Nana sat on the stoop, watching Sammy eating the food she’d put out for him. Her grandmother loved this part of the day. Maybe Sarah would talk to her mom about checking into the allergy shots and coming up with a way to keep at least one kitten. Having a pet was good for a person. She’d realized that when Peter died. Gabe had gotten her through some bad times.
“Hi, Nana. Is Sammy letting you pet him yet?”
Her grandmother tilted her head and studied the white tomcat. “Not yet. But I’m patient. Today I’ve got a treat on the step next to me.”
“Good strategy. Get him used to you. It might work.”
“You know the white kitten looks like Sammy except for that one smattering of black on his tail. I think I’ll call him Junior.”
Sarah leaned down and kissed Nana’s cheek. “I love you. If you need anything, I’ll be in the kitchen until my client comes.”
“That’s good. I came out here because Betty is here and complaining about her aches and pains. She’s younger than I am, but the way she’s been carrying on, you would think she was older.” Nana shook her head and held up the treat for Sammy to see where she placed it. “She might take one of your kittens. She saw the poster and asked about them.”
Great. If she could get Brandon to take one for his boys, Liam to take one for his nieces, one for the lady coming this weekend as well as Nana, that would mean all of them would have a home. Then she wouldn’t have to worry. As she entered, the sound of her mother and Liam’s aunt Betty talking drew her toward the main part of the salon.
“Why, Tina, you’re downright devious. What if your daughter finds out what you did?”
Sarah stopped and ducked back into the k
itchen before the two women saw her. What had her mother done?
“I made Captain Pierce promise he wouldn’t tell Liam I called and requested he be on the fund-raiser committee. I’ve got to do something, or Sarah will be an old maid.”
Old maid? Not possible. I’ve already been married.
“I want grandchildren, and she isn’t getting any younger.”
Embarrassment seared into Sarah’s cheeks. She was only twenty-eight not forty-eight.
She was about to interrupt their conversation when Betty said, “I don’t know how much longer I can care for the girls. It takes the two days Liam is around to recuperate from having them for twenty-four hours. Don’t get me wrong—they’re sweet kids. But for Gareth I would watch them a couple of hours until he came home from work. That was so much easier.”
Poor Liam. No wonder he was extra careful not to cause his aunt any more work than what she was doing.
“If we could get Sarah and Liam together, that would solve both our problems,” her mother said over the sound of the blow-dryer.
Sarah’s marital status was not her mom’s problem. She balled her hands, her fingernails stabbing her palms.
“Yes, hopefully by summer, when Madison and Katie are out of school.”
Her mother chuckled. “Then we have our work cut out for us.”
“I’m going to see if I can get the girls to help. Those poor children need a mother.”
The bell over the front door rang, indicating someone was coming into the shop.
While her mother greeted Sarah’s next client, she took several deep breaths to restrain herself from charging into the room and confronting her mom and Betty. A minute later she entered the shop as her client took the chair in Sarah’s booth. She decided not to let her mother know she had overheard her talking with Betty.
Not until she talked with Liam.
* * *
Late Wednesday afternoon Sarah pulled into her garage with Nana. Her last client had canceled, so she’d left the salon early. She needed to talk with Liam about what she’d overheard yesterday. She hoped he and the girls were still here. Her grandmother was functioning well and could keep an eye on Madison and Katie playing with the kittens.
All last night she’d kept tossing and turning, rehashing the conversation between Mom and Betty.
She wasn’t ready to date. Although she had dated a little in Tulsa, returning to Buffalo had made her feel as though the accident had happened recently. She didn’t know if she should have a talk with her mother or just ignore all her plotting. Maybe Liam could figure out what to do.
The sound of the car door opening pulled Sarah away from her dilemma. Nana swung her legs around to stand.
“Wait, Nana. I’ll help you.”
“Nonsense, Sarah. I’m perfectly capable of getting out of the car on my own. If I could just get Tina to understand I can, just at a slower pace.” Nana gripped the seat and door frame and pulled herself upright. “See. I’m not totally falling apart.”
“She doesn’t think that.”
“Hogwash. I haven’t forgotten how to walk. I can walk circles around her.”
Sarah pressed her lips together to keep from chuckling at the image popping into her mind. When she unlocked the door to the house, she let Nana go in first then followed her. She immediately hurried to the back window in the alcove and spied Liam and the girls. She sighed.
“Nana, can you watch Madison and Katie while I have a word with Liam privately?” She looked over her shoulder at her grandmother with her hat on and her purse hooked over her lower arm.
A twinkle lit her blue eyes. “I will, and I won’t even tell Tina you wanted to talk to Liam alone. It’ll just fuel her meddling.”
“Why do you say that?”
“My hearing is just fine, too. I heard her and Betty Colton talking about getting you and Liam together. Tina doesn’t realize how loud she is at times.”
Sarah closed the space between them and hugged her. “You’re the best. Thanks!”
Her grandmother set her purse on the kitchen counter, removed her hat and started for the door to the deck. “I’ll sit under the oak while they play. Those two are adorable, but something is bothering that older one. What’s her name?”
“Madison. And I think so, too.”
When Sarah stepped onto the deck with Nana, Liam swiveled around. Surprise widened his eyes as his gaze tracked slowly down her, as though making sure she was all right. His perusal left her slightly breathless.
“The youngest is Katie,” Sarah whispered in a raspy voice to her grandmother as they descended the stairs to the yard.
Liam checked his watch as he walked toward them. “You’re home early. I thought for a second we’d overstayed our visit, which, with those two, wouldn’t be that hard. They are masters at delay tactics.”
Nana smiled. “It’s nice to see you again, young man. I’m sitting over there.” She gestured toward the folding chairs under the big oak tree.
“I need to talk to you—” Sarah took his hand and pulled him toward the deck “—out of earshot of a couple of little girls.”
“This sounds serious. Have we been kicked off the committee?”
“In your dreams. No, this is about my mother and your aunt.”
“Oh.” He stretched his long legs out in front of him as he settled into a chair on the deck.
Too charged to sit, more from his look earlier, Sarah remained standing. “Nana is watching the kids while we talk, but to be on the safe side we should probably stay nearby.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Today was great. On Monday, Mom took her to the doctor. He sees Nana every three months. He changed her medication. Yesterday was a good day, too. Maybe this new medicine will help her.”
“So what’s going on with your mother and my aunt?”
Sarah glanced over her shoulder to make sure the girls were at the rear of the yard, playing with the kittens. Gabe stood nearby, keeping an eye on the babies, which he’d decided was his role in their lives. “When I went back to the shop yesterday, Betty was getting her weekly wash and set. I came in the back way, and they didn’t know I was there or I’m sure they wouldn’t have been talking about us.”
His eyebrows slashed downward. “Us?”
“We’re on the committee because Mom orchestrated it. Once she had me taking her place, she called your captain and asked him to assign you to be one of the firefighters working on the fund-raiser.”
Liam’s expression went blank for a few seconds, then storm clouds brewed in his eyes. “How does Aunt Betty fit in?”
“My mother was recruiting her to help get us together. She gladly joined forces to see us as a couple.”
The firm set of his jaw emphasized the tic in his cheek. “I should have hired someone to keep the girls rather than continue having Aunt Betty watching them. I didn’t—still don’t—want to disrupt their routine any more than I have to. What do we do?”
Sarah finally sat next to him. “I don’t know. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”
“We can’t quit the committee, and I really don’t want to. Once I make a commitment, I stick with it.”
“Me, too. I just hate being manipulated by Mom.”
“Okay. We’re on the committee and now know what’s going on. Just because they wish it, doesn’t make it true.”
“Right,” Sarah said, and yet for a few seconds she wondered what it would be like dating Liam. He certainly was good-looking. But the quality she liked in him the best was his caring nature. “Should I have a talk with Mom about this?”
“Beats me. I’m still trying to figure out my nieces. Madison’s birthday is in a couple of weeks, and I’m not sure what to do. I’ve never planned a birthday party for a little girl.”
“I’ll help you. I haven’t, either, but I was a little girl once. It’ll be fun. When is it?”
“April 23. It’s a Saturday and I’m scheduled to work. I’ll check to see if I can trade a shift with someone on the Friday before.”
“If you can’t, we can have the party on Sunday afternoon.”
“I don’t want to miss Madison’s birthday.”
“You won’t if we do it that way.”
He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I mean the actual day, especially the first one with her dad gone. Birthdays in my family were always important. I’m sure they were that way with Gareth. I’ve gotten photos of some of his productions.”
“Oh. Like what?”
“A bouncy house. A magician to do tricks for the guests.”
“This is how you celebrate your birthday?”
“Not anymore. I was never as big about it as my younger brother. How about you?”
“We went out to dinner and I had a cake. Occasionally, I had girlfriends over to spend the night. Mom doesn’t even want her birthday acknowledged.”
He laughed. “We were raised on two different planets.”
Sarah scanned the backyard. Nana was with the girls, holding the almost-all-white kitten. She was definitely going to talk to her mother about keeping that one. Once it was big enough, it could be outside most of the time. “What would you like to do for Madison?”
“Something a little different, but I’m not sure what.”
“Let me think about it.” She already had some ideas but didn’t want to say anything until she did some checking to see if she could pull it off. She would have to rebook her standing Saturday appointments, too.
“You know we still haven’t come up with what to do about your mother and my aunt.”
“Again, let me think about it. I don’t want her to think she can manipulate me in the future, but she’s always been one determined woman.”
“And now that we know what she’s up to, we can throw up roadblocks until she gets the message.”
“That might work, but my mom really wants grandchildren. She wanted a house full of kids, but couldn’t have any more after I was born. I could say I was brainwashed from an early age, but not really because I love children and want to be a mother.”
The Firefighter Daddy Page 7