“These are the touches that will make this event such a great success,” Kate added. “I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to be here.”
“Actually the timing was perfect,” she said. “Pepper and Sydney have been so kind to create a public-relations plan for the North American launch of Maya’s Chocolates. I can’t believe the kindness and generosity of everyone involved with Catering to Dallas.”
She was right; the timing was perfect. Catering to Dallas was a reality TV show in its second season, aired nationally on the Epicurean Traveler Network which chronicled the inner workings of the local catering company, Celebrations, Inc., which was owned by Pepper and her three partners, A.J., Sydney and Caroline.
When a couple planning to renew their marriage vows had backed out after discovering exactly what being on reality TV involved, the producers had agreed to feature the bachelor auction instead.
Just then Pepper’s phone buzzed with a text message. Since she was driving, she picked it up and handed it to Maya, who was riding in the passenger seat. “Would you be a sweetie and see who is texting me, please?”
“Certainly,” Maya said, opening the text. “It’s from Sarah Cosgrove. Would you like for me to read the text to you?”
“Yes, please,” said Pepper.
Sarah was the new Celebrations, Inc., event coordinator. Thanks to the television show and the great reputation the business had built, there were so many events on the books that the girls had been able to hire Sarah full-time to share some of the workload.
“She says, ‘Checking in to let you know that I have confirmed the final number of attendees for tomorrow night’s auction, and I have arranged for tables to accommodate everyone.’”
Those were two more things that Kate could cross off her list.
“The girl is heaven-sent,” said Pepper. “She’s an absolute angel. I don’t know what we did without her before she came on board. You’re just going to love her, Maya. Everybody does.”
“I can attest to that,” said Kate. “There is no way on earth we would’ve been able to pull off this event without her.”
“Well, honey,” said Pepper, glancing in the rearview mirror at Kate, “you just sit back and leave everything to Sarah because she has it all under control. You can enjoy your party and leave the minutia to her.”
“I don’t know about that,” Kate said. The thought of leaving the all-important details in someone else’s hands made Kate’s eye twitch. She was not a guest at this party. She would take a brief break during the auction to fulfill her promise to Liam and bid on him, but she wouldn’t be there to enjoy herself. There was too much riding on the evening.
“Well, we’ll see about that,” said Pepper.
Maya, who was riding shotgun, turned around in her seat and talked to Kate, who was in the backseat. “Are you married, or do you have a special someone in your life?”
Kate laughed. “Me? Oh, no. I’m so busy with work these days, I don’t have time to date, much less time for a special someone.”
For some odd reason, Liam’s face flashed through her mind. She saw him, the way he had looked last Saturday as he had leaned in for the kiss. She blinked away the memory. Thinking of him as anything other than a friend—or better yet, a business acquaintance—was a lost cause.
She sighed despite herself.
Why did he have to be so darned attractive?
He was uptight and unattainable, except when he was leaning in and invading her personal space.
“Pepper, would you mind turning up the air conditioner?” Kate asked. “It’s a little warm back here.”
“So you are unattached?” Maya said. Her green eyes sparkled. “What an opportunity this auction must be for you.”
“Oh, it is. It is exactly the type of project that’s a perfect fit for our foundation and my personal goals. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to our community.”
“Yes, it certainly is a good cause, but what I meant was, being young and single, it must be fun to be in the middle of a project with so many good-looking available men. Have you chosen yours yet? It’s rare that such an exquisite selection is delivered right to you.”
Maya smiled, and for a moment, Kate didn’t know what to say. Was she kidding? Kate didn’t think so.
Then Maya said, “Give me your hand.”
“What?”
Maya reached over the seat, extending her hand to Kate. “I know you might think this is a little crazy, but you do know I’m a matchmaker as well as a chocolatier, remember? I need to see something. Please give me your hand.”
Kate saw Pepper watching her in the rearview mirror. “Kate, don’t overthink it,” she said. “Just do what Maya says.”
Kate sensed a conspiracy. Pepper was so happily married to Rob that she made no secret of the fact that she wanted to find a man for Kate, too. For a moment Kate wondered if her sister-in-law had prearranged this with Maya. It had been a fun joke. Up until now. Kate really wasn’t in the mood.
However, Kate didn’t want to be rude to Maya or embarrass Pepper. What was the harm in playing along?
“I will do it as long as you promise to keep your eyes on the road, missy,” she said to Pepper. “I don’t want to end up in a ditch.”
“Touché,” Pepper said. But Kate caught her sister-in-law alternating between watching the road and stealing quick glances in the mirror, no doubt making sure that Kate was, indeed, complying with what Maya was asking.
Kate leaned forward, meeting Maya halfway, and put her hand in Maya’s. Holding Kate’s hand, the beautiful older woman closed her eyes and didn’t make a sound for a good thirty seconds. That was a long, awkward time to be holding hands with a woman she’d just met. But finally Maya gave Kate’s fingers a quick squeeze and opened her eyes.
“Just as I thought.” She smiled.
“What?” Kate asked, curious to know what this game was all about.
“You’ve already met your soul mate,” she said matter-of-factly, as if she’d told Kate it would rain tomorrow.
“I beg your pardon?” Kate choked on her words. She was still sitting on the edge of the backseat, and the seat belt was cutting into her collarbone. But that wasn’t as important as getting to the bottom of what Maya was talking about.
“You’ve already met your soul mate,” Maya repeated. The woman couldn’t have looked any happier if she’d delivered the news that Kate had just won the international lottery—if there was such a thing.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t think so. I haven’t even had time to go out on a date lately, and the last guy I went out with was definitely—definitely—not soul-mate material. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but sadly I haven’t even been within a one-hundred-mile radius of my soul mate. I don’t even know that I have one.”
Maya smiled serenely and listened patiently to Kate, as if she were used to dealing with skeptics.
“Aah, my sweet girl, as the old saying goes, ‘There’s a lid for every pot.’ You may not be aware of it yet, but you have already met him—and recently. I have a strong hunch you met him through the auction. So think about it.... Is there anyone in particular who stands out in your mind?”
Maya’s words knocked Kate’s breath out of her. Or maybe it was the image of Liam as it crowded its way into her head. For a moment it edged out all other thoughts, until good sense finally reminded her that it was ridiculous to think about Liam Thayer and the words soul mate in the same context. The guy had made it very clear that getting involved with anyone was the farthest thing from what he wanted.
Good grief, if he ever did decide he was ready to jump back into the dating pool, Kate felt sorry for any woman who would fall for him. Not only was he emotionally unavailable, but Joy Thayer would be one heck of a hard act to follow. The thought made Kate shudder.
“Aah, so you’re thinking of him now.”
Kate shook her head. “No, I’m not. I was thinking about one of the more difficult bachelors
I’ve been working with, trying to get everything smoothed out for him so that he feels comfortable participating.”
“And you’ll bid on him for yourself?” Maya asked.
What the heck? Was the woman a psychic, too? She hadn’t told anyone of the deal she’d struck with Liam. How did Maya know? Probably just a lucky guess.
“Yes.”
Maya’s eyes widened, and Kate could see Pepper peering at her in the rearview mirror again.
“Uhm, how come this is the first I’ve heard of this?” Pepper asked. “Lucy, I think you have some ’splaining to do.”
Kate suppressed a smile. “Eyes on the road, Ricky. If you have a wreck, there may not be a bachelor auction.”
The thought brought Joy Thayer to mind, and Kate quickly blinked it away. Pepper was a good driver. They would be safe and sound.
“It’s not what you think,” Kate said. “It’s a business arrangement. Do you know Dr. Liam Thayer?”
“I do. He’s gorgeous. Don’t tell me that he’s your soul mate. Is he? Is he?”
“Why?” Kate asked. “Would you not approve?”
“Hell, yes, I’d approve, but he’s a little...” Pepper paused. “How do I say this without ruining it if he does end up being the great love of your life?”
Kate leaned in toward the front seat so that she could better hear Pepper. “Just say it. He’s not going to be the great love of my life, as you put it. The only reason I’m bidding on him is because I’m helping him get out of hot water with his boss.
“Liam is a widower with two kids. He says he’s not ready to date, but his boss wants all the staff doctors to participate in the auction. You know, it’s a teamwork thing. It’s not a personal thing. It’s a business arrangement. He’s making a sizable donation to the auction on the down-low and I’m going to use that money to kiss him.”
“You’re going to do what?” Pepper shrieked.
Maya’s eyes widened as if Kate had just spilled the best secret they’d ever heard.
“I’m going to bid on him,” Kate said. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
Pepper was gaping at her in the rearview mirror. Kate couldn’t see her sister-in-law’s mouth, but based on the giddiness in her eyes, Kate knew Pepper’s mouth was shaped into an excited O.
“You said you were going to use the money to kiss him,” Pepper insisted.
“I did not.” Kate’s cheek’s flamed. “I said I was going to bid on him.”
“No, you didn’t. You said ‘kiss.’”
Oh, my gosh, did I say “kiss”? I couldn’t have said “kiss.” Please, dear God, I didn’t say “kiss.”
Kate bit her bottom lip to rid herself of the phantom feel of Liam’s lips on hers. She shouldn’t have told them about bidding. See, it was only causing trouble. She should’ve kept her mouth shut. And she shouldn’t have kissed Liam Thayer.
Wits. She needed to gather her wits, but that was difficult to do with Maya staring at her, scrutinizing her every expression.
Kate turned and gazed out the window to preempt her face from belying her as her tongue had.
“Did I say ‘kiss’?” She tried her best to sound blasé. She even gave an indifferent single-shoulder shrug. “If I did, it was probably just a slip.”
“A Freudian slip,” Pepper said, glee still flowering her voice.
“More like the power of suggestion stemming from Maya’s soul-mate comment. Soul mates kiss. I’m definitely not bidding on Dr. Thayer so I can kiss him.”
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. You’re just digging yourself in deeper the more you talk.
“Besides, weren’t you going to say something before we got off on this dead-end track? Oh, and by the way, you all can’t tell anyone about my arrangement with Dr. Thayer. My bidding on him.”
“What about your kissing him?” Pepper was only teasing, Kate could tell by the tone of Pepper’s voice, but her words made Kate’s heart race to rival the time she actually had kissed Liam.
Dear God, she didn’t want to care for him. Why, then, was her body reacting the way it was? And why did she have a feeling that Maya was reading her like front-page headlines on the Dallas Morning News?
“You’re very funny,” Kate said. “Don’t say a word about any of this. To no one. Now what were you going to say?”
“Well, he’s a little damaged,” Pepper said.
“Why do you say that?” Maya asked.
Pepper recounted the story of Joy Thayer’s fatal accident and how the entire town of Celebration had mourned her loss right alongside Liam and his two daughters.
“That’s part of the reason I’ve agreed to bid on him,” Kate defended. “So it’s not really fair to call him damaged. He’s simply a man grieving the loss of his wife.”
Pepper had exited the highway and was stopped at a red light at the bottom of the off-ramp. She turned around and looked at Kate with large brown eyes. “So what’s the rest of the reason you’re bidding on him?”
“Green light.” Kate nodded toward the front, and Pepper turned back around and eased the car into a left turn. “This guy’s heart is completely unavailable. Plus he has two teenage daughters. He’s not what I’d call damaged, but he does have some baggage, including a failed relationship because apparently someone—some woman here locally—got a little predatory and tried to get her claws in him right after Joy died. He didn’t go into details, but he said it didn’t end well.”
“Kimela Herring!” Pepper shrieked. She’d come to another red light and had turned around again. This time her eyes were wide and brimming over with wanting to tell.
“Who is Kimela Herring?” Kate asked.
“Oh. My. Gosh. She’s a disaster. A pushy, overly spray-tanned, anorexic bleach-blonde broad who is an accident waiting to happen. I’m surprised you don’t know her but lucky for you that you don’t.”
“Green light,” Kate said, filled with a mixture of unease and curiosity. Once again Pepper turned around and drove on, watching the road, as she told the story of how Kimela Herring, a neighbor of the Thayers, had put the moves on Liam shortly after Joy had passed away.
“I don’t know all the details, but the way the story supposedly goes, she was already doing her best to worm her way into his bed at the reception following Joy’s funeral. She was very obvious. Didn’t even have the decency to wait a while. I know this isn’t the Victorian era but seriously. Show some respect.”
“Obviously it takes two to have a relationship,” Kate said. “We can’t necessarily call Liam the victim here.”
Pepper made a disgusted noise. “You don’t know Kimela Herring. That woman is so transparent that everyone can see her agenda. She’s been married four times.” Pepper held up four fingers. “To be fair, the first husband, a man who was a lot older than she was, passed away and left her quite a bit of money. She supplemented that nest egg with tidy divorce settlements from the other three marriages. Apparently Liam was in her crosshairs to be number five.”
“He mentioned that she didn’t always have the girls’ best interests at heart. Do you know anything about that?” Kate asked.
Pepper shook her head. “I had heard she was trying to ship the daughters off to some kind of a ballet residency program, but that’s all I know. I’ll do a little reconnaissance and see what I can find out.”
If anyone could dig around and not tip her hand, it was Pepper. The woman had a Southern charm that had people spilling national secrets before they realized what they were doing.
Even though Kate knew she shouldn’t pry into what had happened between Liam and Kimela, she wanted to know.
Kate watched as downtown Celebration whizzed by in a blur of bricks and awnings, but her gaze picked out Luigi’s Italian Kitchen where she’d met Liam for lunch last week.
“He’s a good guy even if he is a bit uptight,” she volunteered. “He’s very protective of his kids. Can’t blame him for that.”
Pepper sighed. “Sounds like he has a loneliness complex.�
��
“A what?” Kate asked.
“A loneliness complex. It’s when someone chooses to be alone.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Kate. “It’s not as if he’s choosing loneliness. He’s just choosing not to date until after his daughters are out of the house. And since when did you become the resident psychoanalyst?”
“You know me,” Pepper said. “I have to try to figure out everyone. Especially if there’s a chance they might get close to my sister-in-law.”
“Well, don’t bank on that,” Kate said, but she wasn’t sure her friends up front heard her.
“What kind of a doctor is he?” Maya asked, looking up from her phone. She’d been silently reading something since they’d gotten off the highway. Even so, Kate could tell Maya had been listening.
“He’s a pediatric hospitalist,” Kate said.
“Pardon?” Maya asked.
“He is in charge of pediatrics at Celebration Memorial Hospital,” Kate said.
Maya held up her phone, on which she’d called up the bachelor auction’s homepage on her internet browser. “I am looking at the auction’s website, and I do not see your Liam. His full name is Dr. Liam Thayer, no? How am I missing his photo and biography?”
Kate blanched, suddenly very self-conscious about the confession she had to make. “He’s in the auction, but he’s not on the website.”
“Why not?” Pepper and Maya asked different versions of the question that called for the same answer.
Maya added, “I have the strongest feeling this might turn out to be more than just a business deal.”
Kate pretended she didn’t hear her, and Maya had the good grace not to push the issue.
“Since I’m bidding on him, I decided—well, we decided it would be better to leave him out of the publicity.”
That wasn’t exactly how the story went, but it was close enough. Liam had asked her if there was a possibility they could leave him off the website. At first she’d said no, but this week she realized it would probably make things easier in the long run. The women who had purchased tickets to the auction and were going to bid had been encouraged to peruse the auction’s website. Why drum up business for a bachelor who preferred to fly under the radar?
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