She’d said before she wasn’t going to bid on any of the bachelors tonight, but would she stick to her word? Would she perhaps bid on him? They certainly had a lot to talk about.
“Okay.” Leeann’s voice once again came over the sound system. “As you know, ladies, those of you who have already won a date this evening aren’t allowed to bid again. Our minimum bid for each bachelor is fifty dollars.... Do we have any opening bids?”
“I bid fifty dollars.”
Dean jerked his head, looking over his right shoulder at the row of ladies sitting there. Why did that voice sound familiar? And why did it sound so young? Almost like a kid’s voice? Thankfully, the spotlight was gone and the house lights were raised a bit, making it easier for him to see out into the crowd. Before he could zero in on the bidder, another feminine voice filled the air.
“Fifty bucks? Oh, we can’t let such a hunky prize go for such a measly amount.”
Dean looked back toward the end of the runway, easily spotting Priscilla’s sister, who stood right in front of him with a cocktail in one hand and a numbered paddle in the other. She raised her glass at him in a salute and the flash from the photographer filled the air with more bursts of light.
“I bid five hundred dollars.”
* * *
Five hundred dollars? What was her sister thinking?
Priscilla had come out from the backstage area and tried to get to Jacqueline, but the place was just too crowded, and too many people had stopped her, wanting to talk. As soon as Dean had stepped out from behind the curtains, Priscilla made her way to where Holly sat with her mother, just as she had promised. She’d hoped Jacqueline didn’t have any other stupid antics up her sleeve.
She’d been wrong.
A collective gasp had gone out from the crowd at her sister’s outrageous bid. Only one of the other bachelors tonight had gone for more than that amount—Liam Murphy and his helicopter ride to Jackson Hole, of all places, had been won for the grand total of six hundred and twenty-five dollars.
“What does that mean, Mommy?”
Priscilla looked down at Holly and then at Bonnie, reading the confusion on the little girl’s face and the disappointment on her mother’s.
“Remember when I explained to you how an auction works?” Bonnie asked her daughter. “Whichever person bids the highest amount wins.”
“But I only had ninety-two dollars and thirty eight cents in my piggy bank,” Holly said, before looking down at the tiny purse in her lap. “I guess that means I won’t get to go for the buggy ride or the balloon ride with Mr. Dean.”
Priscilla clenched her hands tightly in her lap, wanting nothing more than to get ahold of her sister and shake some sense into her. It was bad enough she’d shown up with members of the press in her back pocket, but to place a bid? At the moment, Priscilla couldn’t remember if she’d ever told Jacqueline about Holly and Dean and the plan to let the young girl win the auction. Not that it mattered. Deep inside, Priscilla knew her sister would’ve gone ahead and placed the extravagant bid anyway.
“We have a very generous bid of five hundred dollars for our last bachelor.” Leeann spoke into the microphone, but when Priscilla looked up, she found Leeann looking right at her. “Do we have any other bids?”
Priscilla reached for Holly’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Let’s get you that date.”
Holly nodded with enthusiasm, but it was her mother who spoke. “You don’t have to do this. That’s a lot of money.”
Yes, she did. Yanking off her headset, Priscilla held out her hand to the young girl, who grinned up at her and quickly placed her bidding paddle in Priscilla’s palm.
Priscilla raised the paddle into the air and called out, “Six hundred dollars.”
The crowd started cheering again, but all Priscilla could focus on was the shocked look on Dean’s face as he stared back at her. Then she stole a glimpse at Jacqueline, who had one hand on her hip and the other one curled around the glass at her lips.
Six fifty. Jacqueline mouthed the amount, knowing full well no one could hear her, but Priscilla had been able to easily read her sister’s lips.
Did she think this was some sort of game? There was no way her sister could know all that had happened between her and Dean over the past month. If she did, she wouldn’t be doing this now. Not after the remorse she’d shown over her involvement with Priscilla’s ex. Priscilla desperately wanted to believe that, but deep inside she just wasn’t sure. She shook her head in warning. Would it work?
“Six fifty,” Jacqueline repeated, this time loud enough to be heard above the noisy crowd.
Priscilla stood. “Seven fifty.”
“Eight fifty.”
A hush settled over the room except for a few muted whispers here and there. Priscilla could only guess the townspeople were trying to figure out who these two strangers were that were battling for a date with one of their own. And bidding such crazy amounts. Although most people probably recognized her from the past month she’d spent in Destiny, Priscilla was still an outsider. An outsider who was determined not to let her spoiled sister have her way.
An outsider who wanted to make a little girl happy.
Priscilla glanced up at Dean again, who stood there, arms crossed over his chest, not looking very happy with the bidding war that was going on. She would explain everything to him. After she won.
“One thousand dollars.” She gripped the bidding paddle tightly in her hand. There was no need to raise it in the air. Not with everyone in the room staring at her and Jacqueline.
“Heck, for that amount of money, Dean can go out with both of them,” a man called out from somewhere deep in the crowd and everyone laughed.
Everyone except Dean.
“How about it?” Jacqueline move forward a few steps, the photographer and the reporter on her heels. “You ready to take on the Lennox sisters? Twelve hundred and fifty dollars.”
The revelation that these two women were siblings carried through the crowd like a storm cloud racing across a leaded sky. Mortified at being the center of attention, Priscilla struggled not to meet anyone’s direct stare, but in the process her gaze clashed with Dean’s again and held for a long moment.
He then turned away. Dropping his arms, he held them out as if he was surrendering and addressed the crowd. “I don’t know about taking on the two of them. I might not have the strength.”
Laughter filled the air.
“Hey, you better make sure she likes dogs, Zippenella. Or should it be that your dog likes her?”
Dean laughed along with everyone else, but Priscilla had heard his husky chuckle often enough in the past month to easily deduce it was forced this time.
“Well, we all know that Daisy has gotten better at making friends lately thanks to Miss Lennox.” Dean turned and gestured at Priscilla. “What’s that song about sisters? You know, how they think and act as one?”
The laughter and applause was loud again, but Priscilla could hear in Dean’s voice that he hadn’t been teasing. Did he really believe what he’d said? It didn’t matter. She had to end this and it had to be now.
“Two thousand dollars.” The laughter faded enough so that Priscilla could easily hear Dean swearing under his breath about her high bid, but she kept her gaze on Leeann, willing her to finalize things and put them out of their misery.
“We have a bid of two thousand dollars. Going once...going twice...” Leeann paused, as was the standard practice, but when silence filled the air she banged her gavel on the podium. “Gone!”
A cheer rose from the crowd as everyone got to their feet, applauding. “Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our auction,” Leeann continued, her voice strong as she spoke into the microphone. “Bobby and I would like to thank everyone for your generous contributions to Camp Diamond. Please stay an
d enjoy yourselves for the rest of the evening.”
The noise level in the bar grew even louder as the crowd began to disperse. Priscilla released the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding and then was grabbed around the waist in a pint-size hug.
“Oh, thank you, thank you! I can’t believe you did that for me.”
Priscilla dropped to her knees and returned Holly’s exuberant hug. “You’re most welcome, sweetie. I’m sure you’ll have a good time with Mr. Dean.”
“Can I tell him how excited I am? And ask him when we’re going to have our date?”
Priscilla looked up at Holly’s mother. “Maybe I should explain things first—”
“You can talk to Dean another time,” Bonnie said to her daughter. “Besides, it’s Saturday morning where your daddy is and we don’t want to miss our video chat with him, do we?”
Getting to her feet, Priscilla gave Bonnie a quick hug and whispered, “Thank you. I want to explain everything to Dean before Holly talks to him.”
“It’s me who should be thanking you. The amount of money you spent—”
“It’s all going to a very worthy cause.” Priscilla waved off Maggie’s gratitude and then watched as the two gathered their things and disappeared into the crowd.
She should find her sister and corral her before she caused any more trouble tonight, but she had to talk to Dean first. Looking around, she tried to find him, but there were too many people. Then she spotted him near the far-stage area. It took her a few moments, but she finally reached him.
“Dean.” She put a hand on his arm to get his attention. The tightness of his muscles and his jerky movements spoke volumes of his mood. “Dean, please, I need to speak with you.”
He didn’t even look up from where he was stacking the metal folding chairs onto a rolling cart. “I think you’ve said enough tonight.”
“I want to explain what happened.”
“I know exactly what happened. I was the tennis ball in some sort of back-and-forth game of one-upmanship you and your sister were playing.” Another four chairs joined the growing pile. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You won the prize.”
Priscilla’s heart ached at his tone, but he had every right to be angry with her. Perhaps when she explained why she had done it... “You don’t understand. I didn’t win anything.”
“Thanks a lot.”
She shook her head at his sarcastic tone. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you to take me out—”
Dean turned to face her. “Too bad. The whole town knows you won me tonight. We’re going to have that date whether either one of us wants it or not.”
“Dean—”
“Are you busy this Sunday?”
His question confused her. “Sunday? No, I don’t think so, but—”
“Good. Leeann didn’t get a chance to mention it, but decent weather is required for the carriage and the balloon ride. I’ve made arrangements to have both on Sunday evening. I have on-site duty this weekend at the veterans’ center, but I’ll be back in time to pick you up around five. Dress casual.”
Priscilla looked around, noticing they were starting to get some unwanted attention, including that of the photographer. “If I could just talk to you privately, please?”
“Oh, if I’d known private time was included, I would’ve bid more. Much more.”
Jacqueline’s voice flowed over Priscilla’s shoulder and Dean narrowed his gaze, the dusky brown of his eyes going even darker. He opened his mouth to speak, but then pressed it closed and said nothing as he went back to work on clearing the chairs.
Priscilla spun around and came face-to-face with her sister. And her entourage. Ignoring the flashes from the photographer’s camera, she sank her fingers into the thick, furry pelt of Jacqueline’s coat, pulling her away from Dean. “What were you thinking?”
“Just having a little bit of fun and supporting a local charity.” Jacqueline yanked free from her hold. “Not as much fun as you’re going to have, of course.”
Priscilla looked closely at her sister, this time noticing the glazed expression in her eyes. The strong smell of alcohol on Jacqueline’s breath had her taking a step back.
“Hey, listen, these guys are going to do a story about you.” Her sister waved a hand at the two men standing next to her. “And the camp and the auction. You might want to talk to them.”
Priscilla sighed. Talking with a reporter was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had enough experience with these people to know if she didn’t tell her side of the story, they’d print what they’d learned from other sources, namely her sister. Still, she looked back over her shoulder, suddenly thinking perhaps Dean could sit in on the discussion to talk about the camp, but he had disappeared into the crowd. “Fine. I’ll talk to them, but not here and not now.”
“We need to do this soon, Miss Lennox.” The reporter stepped forward. “My editor wants me to file the story as soon as possible.”
“May I ask what outlet you’re with?”
“The Jackson Hole Star. It’s a weekly magazine. I met your sister at the Mountaintop Resort and Spa, and when she mentioned what you were doing here in this small town—”
“Yes, of course, but I still have things I need to finalize here concerning the auction.”
“They’re staying at the inn. Isn’t that convenient?” Jacqueline said with a tight smile. “You can talk to them when you get back to your room.”
* * *
The headache that had threatened from the moment her sister had shown up tonight finally fractured into a thousand pieces when Priscilla walked into her room at the inn. Snake greeted her from the comfort of his pillow with the rapid beating of his tiny tail.
“It’s always nice to have someone happy to see you, isn’t it, buddy?”
She kicked off her shoes and placed the cashbox from the auction on the bed. She’d kept it with her since leaving the bar, but now that she was back here for the night, she was thankful there was a safe in the room where she could lock up the cash, personal checks and credit-card receipts. When all was said and done, they’d raised more than ten thousand dollars for the camp.
Priscilla got a water bottle from the tiny refrigerator and quickly downed two aspirin, fearing they weren’t going to help very much. The headache had started during the half hour she’d spent in the front parlor talking with the two people from the magazine. She’d used her years of experience to downplay her sister’s involvement in the auction and steer the reporters away from pursuing the story angle that the two sisters were fish out of water slumming it so far from Beverly Hills. She’d tried to keep the focus on the camp and the wonderful work Bobby and Leeann were doing as owners, suggesting the reporters contact them to be interviewed, as well.
Thankfully, according to Minnie Gates, her sister had already gone up to her own room by the time Priscilla returned, but she still had no idea how and why Jacqueline had gotten those reporters to the auction.
And she wasn’t waiting until tomorrow morning to find out.
She retrieved her cell phone from her purse and dialed Jacqueline’s number. While she waited for her sister to answer, Priscilla looked at her dog. “Fair warning, she’s coming over.”
Snake jumped off his pillow, grabbed it with his teeth and dragged it into the bathroom. Priscilla couldn’t blame him one bit.
“I guess you want to talk to me now.” Jacqueline’s voice didn’t sound quite so animated when she finally answered. Perhaps her liquid courage was wearing off. “Is the queen requesting my presence?”
Priscilla rolled her eyes, but only said, “Would you please come over?”
“Your wish is my command.”
Tossing her phone on the bed, Priscilla stripped out of her dress and slipped into a pair of leggings and a baggy T-shirt ju
st as Jacqueline knocked on the door. Priscilla let her in, noticing the elaborate makeup had been washed away. Jacqueline had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wore a similar outfit.
Determined not to be swayed at how young her sister looked, Priscilla motioned for her to take a seat. Then she remembered the cashbox and turned back to the bed.
“Do we really have to do this tonight? I’m tired.”
Grabbing the box, Priscilla opened the oversize armoire and knelt in front of the safe. “Yes, we really have to do this tonight. What in the world were you thinking when you showed up at the auction and caused such a...disturbance?”
Silence filled the air. Priscilla leaned back and looked over at the love seat to make sure her sister was still awake. She was—in fact, she was staring at Priscilla with an almost stricken expression on her face.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Jacqueline blinked hard and shook her head, as if she was waking up from a trance. “Nothing. Other than my usual lack of decorum and manners.”
Priscilla went back, entering the four-digit code to ensure the safe was locked. She stood again, closed the armoire door and joined her sister. It was hard to believe it had only been five days since they had sat in these very same positions while Jacqueline poured her heart out. Priscilla had wanted so much to believe in the sincerity of her sister’s words, but now...
“I asked you to come over so I could find out why you bid on Dean tonight.”
“Oh, are we a bit jealous? Don’t be. You won.”
Priscilla decided it wasn’t worth the effort to explain the connection to Holly, but she did make a mental note to get in touch with Holly’s mother tomorrow to make sure that Sunday was okay for Holly’s date with Dean. She also had to get ahold of him to explain what he wouldn’t let her say tonight. His earlier words of praise filled her head, including how he’d initially been worried she’d somehow turn tonight into something overblown and dramatic but then came to trust her. Did he believe her when she’d told him she had nothing to do with her sister’s antics?
Focusing her thoughts, she looked at Jacqueline and asked, “Why did you leave town without telling me? And why did you bring those reporters back with you?”
Destiny's Last Bachelor? Page 16