“Two thousand!” Owen calls out.
It’s easily the lowest bid of the evening. The others have generally started out with at least ten thousand. But two thousand is pushing it for Owen. He still has that Ferrari to pay off.
Dana turns as red as Owen’s car. She starts to shake. It might’ve been better if he hadn’t made his bid.
“We have two thousand.” The emcee pauses. She isn’t showing an overt sign of embarrassment, but her tight and lackluster tone betrays her discomfiture. “Do I hear three?”
The loudest sound in the hall is glasses clinking as the waiters remove them.
“Come on, people, let’s hear it. Anyone…?”
Still nothing.
“Um. Going once… Going twice… Sold!” She says the last part with more relief than excitement.
Dana gets off the stage, her face scarlet and her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Owen stands up to hug her, but she pushes him away and stalks off.
“So much for love,” Nicholas mutters.
“I can’t believe she didn’t get more bids. What happened?” I whisper.
“She probably pissed off the wrong people.”
I remember how annoyed Ted was with Owen and Dana. And he insulted them so loudly that everyone heard him. But that can’t possibly be the reason people decided to sit this one out…can it?
“I still wish the winning bid was higher than two thousand dollars,” I say. “Not that I expected Owen to manage more than that, but it’s terrible that the food bank isn’t going to get much.”
“Food bank? I thought she was doing it for the animal shelter.”
“No. Brenda said she changed her mind earlier today.”
“What a shitty thing to do.” Nicholas brushes the spot between my eyebrows. “Stop worrying. I’ll send the food bank a big check in your name. Will a hundred thousand do?”
“You don’t have to.” The casual way he throws that kind of money around is stunning. It’s flattering, of course, but also unsettling to hear him offer to do something that grandiose for me. I just…don’t know how to deal with it.
“I insist. Besides, it’ll make you feel better, right?”
“Well…yes.”
“Okay. Settled.” He smiles and takes my hand. As he does, his fingertips run along the inside of my wrist, where my pulse leaps at the electric touch. “That’s all that matters.”
I search his face. See the sincerity in his eyes. My heart skitters. When he looks at me and speaks like this, I feel like I’m the most important person in the universe. It’s such a special gift, elevating and humbling at the same time. I don’t feel like I deserve it—
“…big round of applause forMolly Greene!”
I flinch. I didn’t expect the emcee to be so exuberant when she announced my name. Nicholas’s head whips toward the stage, then back at me. “You’re getting auctioned?”
I nod. “Brenda asked me.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. An hour ago?”
Realization dawns in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me before agreeing to fill in for Dana?”
“I don’t know…I—”
“Is Molly Greene here?” The emcee’s tone says,Please, please, please. She probably doesn’t want to deal with another awkward moment.
