A Bid for Love

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  “You never change,” she spluttered.

  “Neither do you,” Cassi countered. “We both get older, but we never change.”

  “I hope you never do. You could always make me laugh.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Long before Jared climbed out of bed Monday morning to get ready for the bidding, his cell phone rang shrilly in the stillness of his room. He jerked into consciousness from a deep sleep and reached for his phone with an unsteady hand, apprehension growing within him. No one called this early unless it was bad news.

  “Hello?”

  “Jared, this is Larry. Trudy Martin’s been rushed to the hospital. It looks bad. She asked for you. Can you come?”

  “Of course. Tell me what hospital, and I’ll meet you there.” Jared hung up and dressed quickly in jeans and a blue oxford shirt. Not bothering with socks, he slipped his feet into the leather loafers by the bed and ran a hand through his hair while the other reached for his car keys. In moments he was out the door, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  When he arrived at the hospital, he found Larry and April with Trudy Martin. “How is she?” Jared asked.

  Larry shook his head and said nothing.

  At Jared’s voice, Trudy opened her eyes. “I’m dying,” she said softly. There was pain in the heavily lined face, but the soft brown eyes were strangely animated. “I’m going to be with Lane and Karen.” Lane was her husband, and Karen the baby she had lost.

  There was something otherworldly about her now, so Jared wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Will you hold my hand until my children come, Jared, so I won’t be afraid?” she asked.

  Tears came to Jared’s eyes. “Of course. It’ll be an honor.”

  But as Jared sat down and took the fragile hand in his, a mature couple he recognized from photographs in Trudy’s house came rushing into the room and up to the bed.

  “Mother,” said the woman, “I’m here. And Anthony, too. Miriam and Rebecca are on their way.” The woman heaved a couple of sobs but quickly gained control of herself. “Please hold on, Mom.”

  “Gary won’t make it from Arizona,” Trudy said weakly. “Did you call him?”

  “Yes, Mother.”

  Jared released Trudy’s hand and began backing away. “Wait, Jared,” said Trudy. “I have something to say to you.”

  Jared hesitated, not wanting to intrude upon her time with her family. “What is it?”

  “See these children around me?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is why having children is so wonderful. Through the hard times and the good times, you’re not alone.” Her voice grew imperious. “Jared, you have been alone too long. Open your heart and let someone in.”

  “I will,” he promised hoarsely.

  Trudy said nothing further, apparently content with his promise. Her eyes turned to her daughter as Jared backed away from the bed and left the room.

  He waited with Larry and April at the hospital for the next few hours, exchanging stories about Trudy until nearly ten o’clock when she passed away. Then he bid the family farewell and left for the auction.

  The day didn’t get any better. By the time he arrived, he’d missed his opportunity to buy the Mother and Baby statue altogether, the one piece he’d planned to bid on that morning. The statue portrayed a mother dancing with a baby cuddled close to her chest, a piece that was singularly simple in its elegance.

  He felt irritable and out-of-sorts at the loss, though if he had to do it all over, he knew he’d make the same choice to go to the hospital to be there for Trudy Martin.

  By the time Sam Boader of the Stanton and Son Gallery came up to Cassi at the lunch break and used the thin pretense of the Mother and Baby statue to ask her out, it was all Jared could do to hide his annoyance—though why Boader’s invitation to her should annoy him, he didn’t care to examine.

  After she refused, Léon made a motion to Jared as if to say, “See, I told you she was a snob.” But from the way Cassi reacted, Jared wasn’t so sure Léon’s assumption was correct.

  When she and Renae started again toward the entrance, Jared suddenly wished he could reach out his hand to stop Cassi. But why should he do that? Besides, Renae’s face was pale and she looked tired. She obviously needed to rest.

  Boader grinned at the men, victorious. “Too bad you were late,” he said to Jared. “You missed some great pieces.”

  Jared told himself to be calm. “There’s always next time.” He regretted that the Mother and Baby had been sold before his arrival, but he was amazed to learn Cassi had bought it, that she had recognized the quality of the piece.

  Maybe I can buy it from her, he thought. He wanted it for his private collection, not for Laranda’s gallery. His elegant boss had never been capable of appreciating the value in such simple pieces; its beauty would have been wasted on her.

  “So, where were you?” Léon asked. At his side, Boader waited with an expectant grin on his boyishly good-looking face.

  Jared’s lips tightened as the memory of his dreadful morning came rushing back. “I was busy,” he said to both Léon and Sam Boader in a tone clearly indicating that his private life was not up for discussion. He felt the sorrow of Trudy Martin’s death wash over him, too fresh to be talked about casually.

  “Hey, it’s your life,” Léon mumbled.

  Sam gazed down the hall where Cassi, with her arm about Renae, was quickly retreating from view. “What should I bring her tonight? Chocolates? Flowers?”

  “Try both,” suggested Léon. “All women love flowers, and with an expectant friend, chocolates might make some points. My fourth wife loved to eat chocolates while she was pregnant.”

  Sam grinned. “Fourth, huh? Maybe I will try both.” With a nod of his head, he turned back into the auction room, leaving Jared and Léon alone.

  The crush of art dealers had swallowed Cassi and Renae, but Léon gestured in the direction they had disappeared. “Did you see how she turned him down flat? Cold, I tell you. Cold. If it hadn’t been for her friend, Sam would have been blasted out of the water.” He chuckled. “Lucky devil.”

  Jared let his anger loose. “She didn’t even realize he was asking her out. She thinks he wants the statue. Can’t you see that?” His anger surprised him, and he made an effort to curb it. His reaction was completely out of proportion, stemming from his own frustration in the matter. Too clearly, Jared recognized that he wanted to be in Sam Boader’s shoes that evening, and the fact didn’t sit too well with his ego.

  “Did she really not understand, or was it an act?” Léon said lightly.

  Jared wanted to tell Léon that Cassi was nothing like him. Maybe Léon, with his French flair, could carry off such a deception, but not her. Or could she? Jared remembered Laranda, a woman completely capable of deception. What made Jared think that Cassi wasn’t? Maybe her response had been an act, simply because she hadn’t wanted to go out with Boader. But then why the obvious relief when Renae arranged to have dinner with him?

  Jared shook his head and sighed. There couldn’t be any answers unless he knew her better, and that was out of the question—at least while that hideous Buddha stood between them.

  Abruptly, Trudy’s last words to him at the hospital whispered in his mind. “Open your heart and let someone in.” Jared shrugged the painful memory away.

  “You see? It’s not as easy as all that,” Léon commented, accepting Jared’s silence as agreement. “But you do have an advantage over Boader, you know.”

  “What?”

  “She noticed you weren’t here this morning. She said as much when she asked if you would have bid for the Mother and Baby if you’d been here.”

  So she had! For the first time since Boader had interrupted them, Jared smiled.

  Léon slapped him on the back. “I guess I’d better go make arrangements to pick up my painting.”

  “Yes, you did get your painting, didn’t you?” Jared returned. “An excellent piece.” As promised, he h
ad refrained from that particular bidding war. It had not escaped him that Cassi Mason had bid several times for it before stopping when she recognized Léon’s determination. “A gentleman’s word is always kept,” he added.

  This subtle hint was not lost on Léon. He bowed slightly. “I am also a gentleman, as you will see when you bid for the Buddha.”

  At least with Léon’s promise the morning had not been a complete waste. Jared had also made a few bids that served only to scare some of the other buyers and to evoke feelings of sympathy when he purposely lost. When he bid on the Buddha later in the afternoon, he wanted as little competition as possible. The more items he appeared to let people win now, the more those same people would refrain from bidding for the Buddha later. It was a strange system, but it worked more often than not.

  The Buddha would soon be his, regardless of Cassi Mason.

  When he arrived in his room, he found the note under the door. He had no idea how long it had been there. It was typed in bold black print on a sheet of untraceable white paper: If you want to live, do not bid for it.

  Despite the warmth of his suit coat, Jared shivered.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When it was time to go to the auction again, Renae still looked terrible. Cassi knew the false labor had eased, but she didn’t think her friend was ready to sit for two more hours in a straight-backed chair.

  “You go ahead without me,” Renae agreed.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes. I just get tired sometimes near the end. It’s not easy to carry around this extra weight. Besides, I think I have a plan to get you your Buddha.”

  “What?”

  Renae grinned. “I’ll make an emergency call to Jared Landine right at three o’clock. The hotel will have to go get him and, pronto, he’s eliminated from the competition.”

  “What if the Buddha isn’t auctioned while he’s gone?”

  “I’ll go down and make sure it is. I’ll be rested by then. The guard won’t let me in, but I bet he’ll tell me what’s being auctioned. Just before it goes, I’ll call the hotel from a pay phone and they’ll go get him. Simple.”

  It did sound simple. Too simple. And also wrong. Or was it? What about that horrid note? Jared might have been the one who sent it. The saying went that all was fair in love and war. And wasn’t this a war? Cassi’s conscience wasn’t so sure.

  “Don’t you think you ought to rest?” She hated how her voice sounded so hopeful.

  “I’ve been resting. I’ll be okay. But you’d better go, or you’ll be late.” Renae made shooing motions from where she sat propped up in her bed.

  “Okay. But I’m not sure about this scheme.”

  “Just go. Leave everything to me, would you? Go! You’re going to be late.”

  Cassi glanced at her watch and flew out the door, leaving Renae behind. I want the Buddha, she reasoned. Besides, Landine was insufferable. This was war.

  The seats were nearly full when she arrived at the auction. Sam Boader waved to her, and she slipped into the empty seat beside him near the inner aisle. With Renae’s insight, Cassi watched him carefully for signs of infatuation. She didn’t see anything overt, but he did seem more attentive than necessary. Maybe he did like her. The thought was novel, and not unpleasant; he was both good-looking and nice.

  “You know,” he said to her, his voice clearly puzzled, “this morning a note was slipped under my door. It said if I wanted to live, I shouldn’t bid on it.”

  Cassi stiffened. “On what?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know. But it bothers me.”

  Cassi forced a laugh. “It’s some poor fool’s idea of a joke.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  But Cassi noticed he didn’t bid on anything. Was he afraid? Should she be afraid? Maybe it wasn’t Jared who had sent the note, but Sam. Had he brought it up to test her?

  This is ridiculous, she thought. Next, I’ll start suspecting Renae.

  The auctioneer brought out a new item and Cassi listened intently, but despite her attention, her thoughts wandered back to Jared. Where was he? She couldn’t see him in front or to the sides, and she didn’t want to turn around in case he noticed her interest. He had to be in the room, though. He certainly wouldn’t miss bidding on his precious Buddha.

  Another interesting painting came up for auction, and Léon again outbid her. The next item was an intricate sculpture of a tree and a lion. She bid for it, against stiff competition from somewhere behind her. She allowed herself a glance over her shoulder to see that it was Jared who was upsetting her bid. Eventually she won out, paying slightly more than she should have, though the item would still bring her gallery a reasonable profit. She sighed with contentment. With the two items purchased, she had already more than compensated for her trip.

  Finally, it was the Buddha’s turn to be auctioned, with a starting bid of two hundred thousand dollars. Cassi allowed others to begin the bidding to see who was interested. It soon became apparent that Jared and another man she didn’t recognize were her stiffest competitors.

  Her thoughts flitted to Renae, and Cassi wondered if her friend had been serious about calling the hotel to get Jared out of the auction. Part of her hoped Renae would do just that, while the other part wanted to win in fair competition. But what if he had more money than she did?

  The bid was now at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. If Renae was going to act, she should do it soon. Cassi glanced behind her and saw that Jared had a thin phone to his ear.

  She jerked her face forward again and raised her number to bid two fifty-two on the Buddha. Had a hotel worker come in and given Jared notice of an emergency phone call? Was Renae even now on the phone with him? Cassi hadn’t seen anyone come in with a message, but she had been intent on the bidding. It was entirely possible that Renae’s plan had backfired, simply because they had overlooked the likelihood of him checking out the so-called emergency on a cell phone.

  Behind her, Jared bid again and Cassi raised her card to top him. The other bidder also raised his card. Next to her, Cassi could feel Sam watching to see if she would bid again.

  “Excuse me,” a voice at her side said softly. She looked up to see a hotel employee. “There’s a message for you. It’s urgent.” Cassi took the paper he proffered. It read:

  Your friend has gone into labor. She’s bleeding and we’ve called an ambulance. It will be here shortly to get her. Please come. She’s asking for you.

  Horror swept through Cassi. Renae in labor? Bleeding? She looked first at Sam beside her and then risked a glance at Jared, feeling suddenly faint.

  Could this be a joke? Jared had been on the phone. Had he arranged this note to get her out of the competition? Maybe Renae had called him, and this was his way of getting revenge. Or maybe he had come up with it all by himself.

  These thoughts raced quickly through Cassi’s head as she weighed the options. Her heart pounded, and she completely forgot about the Buddha.

  Renae is my friend, she thought, coming to a decision. If there was even a remote chance that she needed Cassi, she had to be there for her.

  Cassi arose.

  “But—” Sam began.

  Cassi shoved the note into his hand for explanation before running out the door. Her abrupt movements caused a slight stir in the audience, but she was beyond caring. Her only thought was for Renae.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Monday afternoon auction went quickly. Jared bid for a sculpture, only to quit bidding when the price lowered the potential profits below Laranda’s high requirements. For himself, he would have kept bidding because of the beauty of the piece. He felt a strange satisfaction when Cassi won the bid. The sculpture would not bring as much profit to her gallery but would most likely result in a satisfied buyer and repeat business. It was the way Jared would run a gallery, if he owned one.

  The Buddha finally came up for bid. As expected, Cassi was a strong contender, and Jared pulled out his phone to
call Laranda in New York.

  “There’s stiff competition,” he said, keeping his voice low.

  “Get it.” Laranda’s voice sounded strangely tense. “I don’t care what it takes, I need that Buddha. I’ve got a buyer waiting.”

  “Okay. Don’t I always come through? I just wanted to be sure how serious you are.” As he spoke, Jared raised his card to up the bid on the Buddha again.

  “I know, Jared. You always do what you can with what I give you. This is just very important to me.”

  “You’ll tell me later?”

  “Yes. And I’ll give you a bonus you won’t ever forget,” she added huskily. Jared couldn’t miss the romantic innuendo but chose to ignore her.

  “G’bye, Laranda.” Jared clicked his phone shut.

  The bid for the Buddha was now at two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. As Jared raised his card again to top the bid, he saw a uniformed hotel worker walk up to where Cassi was sitting and hand her a note. Her back stiffened, and her gaze swung around to meet Jared’s. Her face was stark white against the dark of her hair and eyes, seeming small and lost in the array of wild curls.

  She stood abruptly, pausing only to shove something into the hand of the man seated next to her. As the man turned his head, Jared saw that it was Sam Boader. Before Jared could decide how he felt about that, Cassi was running out the door, her hair streaming behind her. In her deep mauve dress, she captured almost every eye in the room.

  What’s wrong? Jared thought, amazed that she would leave the auction at this critical moment. His first urge was to follow her, but he wondered if she would welcome his interest.

  Another buyer bid on the Buddha, and the auctioneer was calling for higher bid. Jared raised his card without thinking. His mind was on Cassi. He could almost see her white face still staring at him. He remembered the innocence of her voice and the makeup-less face on the morning they had met. Since when do I have to be given an invitation to care about someone’s problems? He was human, she was human. That was all that mattered.