"Last I saw him; he was with Mrs. Thompson in the bakery. I think he needed a break from the sun."
"I'm gonna go see him. I'll catch up with you later, honey."
"See ya, Dad."
The day starts winding down. The sun has set, and the moon is out. People are still walking around, talking and laughing. Mr. Thompson went home for a while to take a nap and come back when everything was ready to be announced.
"Alright so where are we at with everything?" Addie asks.
Ellie looks over her sheet before she goes back on stage to announce the winners of the bids. "Well, considering we got that surprise bid, we're well over our goal. I'm going to do the final count and then I'll go on stage."
"Who's it from?" Addie asks.
Ellie shrugs. "I haven’t had a chance to ask because I keep getting pulled in different directions. So, I’ll be finding out along with everyone else."
A gentle caress trails along my back and up to my neck. I close my eyes, resting my head against the chest that presses against my back.
"I've missed you," August whispers, his lips ghosting my ear.
Goose bumps cover my arms at the light touch of his hand, and the warmth of his gentle breath along my neck. I push into him, turning and looping my arms around his neck.
"I know it's only been a few hours, but it feels like months since I last saw you," August says, pressing his forehead to mine.
"Yikes, clingy already?” I fight off a smile. “I don't know if I can handle that."
"I have something else you can handle if you want to sneak away for a bit." He kisses my neck.
"August…" I laugh.
Ellie taps in the microphone again, drawing my attention back to the stage.
"You should be up there with her," I tell him.
He snuggles his face deeper into my neck. "Nah, she's fine. I want to stay here with you."
I turn toward him. His stormy eyes make my heart flutter, and my breathing quickens. Before turning my attention back to Ellie, I give him a quick kiss.
"Hello again," Ellie says into the mic.
The crowd hushes while music continues playing in the background. Mr. And Mrs. Thompson join Ellie on stage. The small ramp James built is sturdy as he pushes Mr. Thompson's wheelchair, with Mrs. Thompson in tow.
"Alright everyone, are you ready to hear the winners?"
Everyone claps.
“You should go up there.” I place a hand on his and peer at him. “Be with your family.”
“Yeah, I probably should.” He gives me a kiss on the forehead, and I give him a pat on the butt.
Ellie reads off the list of winners. There was a tie between two bidders for the surfing lesson from August. They decided they could share the lesson if August approves. He gave Ellie one nod.
"That's it for the winners of the bids! But there's one more surprise that my parents don’t know yet." She smiles eagerly at them.
Her parents look at each other in confusion and then back to her. Rowan joins them on stage, and we all look at each other.
"Rowan told me he'd like to do the honors for this one." She passes the mic to him.
He takes it and clears his throat. Rowan wasn't someone who liked being in front of large crowds. Every time he had a presentation in school, he talked fast to get through it, and we could never understand him. Lucky for him, he passed all his classes despite being a rambling baboon.
