Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 28

SERENA

After my last customer left the shop, I flipped the sign to CLOSED and locked up. I leaned my back against the door and took a deep breath. What a day! I was grateful to have so many holiday shoppers. My shop needed the business. But, boy, was it tiring.

I glanced up at the clock. Just enough time to make it to the school before the auction started. I was assigned to the payment table, so it wouldn’t matter if I was a little late. But I didn’t want to miss anything. Hopefully, the brisk walk would re-energize me, because after being on my feet all day, my body was begging for a nap or a hot bath. I’d sell my soul for a foot massage—if only that was on the auction block.

The air was crisp, below freezing, and the sky was dark, but the Christmas lights along the streets and on every building illuminated my path. The snow crunched beneath my boots with every step. Cars were parked along the streets and the parking lot was full as well, indicating a good turnout for our event. I hoped it would raise a lot of money and allow the town to move forward with plans for the community center. We had other donors lined up, but we needed to raise a certain percentage before it could proceed.

It was probably my overactive imagination and paranoia, but I still felt like I was being watched. The hair on my neck bristled. Maybe I should have accepted Storm’s offer to pick me up—too late now. I kept scanning the streets as I walked, and nervously checking over my shoulder. I saw someone dressed in black that might have been following me, but they could have just been walking down the street. I couldn’t be sure, so I quickened my pace, moving as fast as I could on the slippery sidewalk without biffing it.

As soon as I stepped inside the building, I ducked behind the Christmas tree in the entryway to catch my breath and slow my heart rate. If anyone was looking for me, they’d never notice me behind the trembling tree.

Yeah. Right.

I reached up to keep an ornament from falling, but my hand was shaking so much, I thought I’d probably rattle them all off their branches.

You’re safe, Serena. Nobody can hurt you here with all these people around.

I took another deep breath and pulled out my phone to call Honey and Sadie. Knowing my baby was safe would make me feel a lot better.

“Hello?” Honey answered.

“Hi, Honey. It’s Serena. I just wanted to check in on Sadie before the auction starts. I feel bad I couldn’t come home in between, but it was super busy at the shop today.”

“No problem. We’ve had a great day together. She’s such a delight. Thank you for letting her stay here with me. I haven’t had this much fun since I left teaching, and didn’t realize how much I missed that.” She sounded cheerful but nostalgic. “I’ll hand the phone to Sadie. She’s dying to talk to you.”

Not a second later, Sadie’s animated voice took over the phone with unrestrained excitement. “Hi, Mommy!”

The tension in my body began to loosen. I let out a relieved breath. My baby was safe.

“Hey, Sweetpea. How was your day?”

“It was the best! We fed the goats and one of them ate food right out of my hand, and didn’t even bite me. His lips tickled. And I got to brush the goats too, but they didn’t sit still, they kept jumping around. They’re really silly.”

“I bet they are. What else did you do with Honey?”

“We made cookies, and we made a super secret project that I can’t tell you about.”

“Ooo… now I’m extra curious. You even won’t give me a hint?”

“Nope. My lips are sealed, locked, and I threw away the key.”

I chuckled, envisioning her doing the motions as she talked. “Hmph. I guess I’m out of luck.”

“You’ll have to wait until Christmas,” she sing-longed into the phone.

“Okay, I guess I can wait that long.” I feigned disappointment with a sigh. “Hey, the auction is about to start, so I have to go. I’ll come in and kiss you good night when I get home. But you need to go to bed good for Honey, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy. Love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetie.” I kissed into the phone and ended the call with a smile on my face.

Talking to her brought me a sense of peace that I so needed. It warmed my heart to hear my girl had a fun day at the farm and was safe and happy. I stowed my phone and walked into the atrium where the auction was being held.

The place was packed. AJ and Larisa were at a table just inside the door, assigning numbers to anyone who wanted to bid.

I sidled up next to AJ and asked, “Hey, how’s it going?”

AJ handed a woman her stick with her bidding number on it and smiled at me. “Great. We have way more bidders than we expected. We’re almost out of numbers. Should be a great event. Gina and Samantha are in the other room with the bachelors. Last I heard, fourteen guys had checked in, and they were only waiting on the last one. Apparently, Evan had a police emergency he had to take care of, but he should be here shortly. I can’t believe we got that many to agree to this.”

“Not all were happy about it,” I said, giving AJ a knowing look.

She nodded, unapologetically. “Yeah, I know, but Storm still showed up, and I bet he brings in some high bids. It’s good for him to get out of his comfort zone once in a while. Hey, is that tinsel in your hair? Is that why you were late? Some holiday shenanigans under the tree?”

“Did Santa come early for you, Serena?” Larissa teased, waggling her eyebrows.

“I wish. No, nothing like that, I assure you.”

“If you say so.” Larisa stood up and motioned for me to take her chair. “Now that you’re here, Serena. I’ll go see if they need any help with the bachelors. Gina should be getting on stage to emcee soon. You and AJ will continue to assign numbers until it starts and handle the payments when it’s over.”

“Sounds good to me.” I sat down next to AJ, ready to jump right in. “Enjoy the view, Larisa. Too bad you can’t bid on any.”

“I know, right? Not a bad job to have to handle them—I mean, line them up.” She winked and headed backstage.

AJ bumped her shoulder against mine. “I don’t have to ask who you’d bet on, if you could. I hear things are pretty cozy over at the farm lately.”

My face flushed, and I couldn’t even deny my attraction to Storm. “He’s been surprising me at every turn. I’m still not sure what to make of him most of the time.” I sighed as dreamy memories of our sleigh ride passed through my mind. Best date I’d ever been on. But then we agreed to not date, exclusively. The whole thing had my head spinning, and I didn’t know what end was up. “Who knows where this is headed, if anywhere? But I’m grateful for all he’s done for me and Sadie lately.”

“I told you he was a good guy.”

“And tonight someone else will get to find out.” I motioned to all the women gathered here tonight.

“Ach. So one person will get one date with him.” She brushed her hand away. “Not a big deal. Really.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if someone paid hundreds of dollars for a date with Jasper?”

Her expression sank as she envisioned that. “Good point. I know it wouldn’t mean anything, and that I can trust him. But it would still make me crazy sitting at home, knowing he was out with someone else.”

“Exactly.”

Gina stepped onstage and grabbed the microphone. The crowd was still buzzing loudly, and didn’t quiet down until she started speaking. “Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our very first Bachelor Holidate Auction. I’m so excited to have such an amazing turnout here tonight. I was just backstage with our bachelors, and my oh my, are you in for a treat?” She fanned herself, and the crowd started cheering. “I want to remind you that the money raised here tonight will go towards funding a Moonlit Lake Community Center, one that we’d be able to hold events like this in the future, along with many other events and activities. So get your wallets ready and think of this as an extremely fun way to contribute to a much needed and worthy cause.

“Throughout this auction, you will be bidding on one holidate with one of our bachelors. It could be to accompany you to an office Christmas party, go to a community event, or a family gathering. The agreed upon holidate is to have one of these fine, and I mean, fine , gentlemen escort you, that’s all.”

This sparked some heckling from the audience, a section of elderly women, if I’m not mistaken.

Gina ignored them, introduced the auctioneer, and explained the bidding process. “Now, without further ado, let’s bring on our bachelors.”

The crowd roared with excitement as the first bachelor, Logan, one of the firefighters I recruited for the event, came out in his turn-out gear. When he got to center stage, he opened his coat to show off his bare and very ripped chest. Screams erupted from all the ladies in the house. And so the bidding wars began.

By the time it was Storm’s turn, they were already warmed up and raring to go. “Ladies, our next bachelor is all class. Don’t let his broody, serious expression fool you. He knows how to let loose and have fun when it counts. Storm Rhodes is a hometown boy, who made a name for himself as a big-city attorney and just moved back to town to open his own law practice right here in Moonlit Lake. Brains and good looks, ladies. Wouldn’t Storm be an impressive holidate to bring to your Christmas party? We’ll start the bidding for Storm at fifty dollars.”

Storm stood with one hand in the pocket of his black dress pants. He wore a classy gray button-down shirt and a black sports coat. And, of course, his trademark broody scowl on his face. Clearly, he was not happy to be there. But that didn’t stop the bidders from going crazy. It got up to four hundred and three women were in a bidding war. I wished I could bid to save him from them.

Agnes Miller, a septuagenarian, was well known around town for pinching men’s butts or copping a feel whenever she got a chance. Belinda Bonet, a recent divorcee who wore leopard print tube tops and miniskirts even to PTA meetings, and made it no secret she was angling for husband number four. And Tiny Malone, a six-foot tall tattooed biker babe, who owned the rough biker bar outside of town. She probably wanted Storm’s legal help, as she was not only the owner but also the bouncer of the bar. And some of her patrons didn’t take kindly to being brought down or tossed out by a woman.

The bidding continued with these three neck and neck. When all of a sudden, someone called out, “Six hundred dollars.” I couldn’t see the bidder, but I knew that voice. “And I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. Hubba hubba.”

The crowd gasped and then began murmuring. When the auctioneer got no other bids, he banged his gavel on the podium. “Sold.”

Oh. My. Gosh. My mom just paid six hundred dollars to go on a date with the man I’m falling for. How could she do this to me?

AJ leaned over to me and muttered, “I sure didn’t see that coming.”

“Neither did I.”

I wanted to crawl under the table until everyone was gone. I didn’t want to face my mom or Storm. Or the people who would certainly be commenting on my mom buying him. How humiliating. But no, I was committed to stay to the end to collect all the payments after the bidding was over.

When the auction concluded, Gina expressed her gratitude on behalf of the committee and the town. “We want to thank all of our bachelors, our volunteers and, of course, all the generous bidders. We appreciate your support and know the rest of the community appreciates it, too. If you were one of the lucky winners, be sure to checkout at the back table before you go and provide your contact info, so your bachelor can contact you to set up the holidate. Thanks again, everyone. Have a wonderful holiday!”

The crowd slowly filtered out. By the time my mom came to check out, most people had already left.

I let out an exasperated sigh and rested my head on my hand. I did not have the energy to deal with her tonight. “Mom. What were you thinking?”

“Well, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, but I couldn’t find the right time, and I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.” She dug her credit card out of her purse and handed it to me. “My friend, Jessalyn, leads yoga retreats. She called me a few days ago that one of her instructors fell on the ice, broke her leg, and can’t lead the retreat. She asked me to fill in. I’ll have to leave in two days, and I won’t be back until New Year’s Eve.”

“Okay. What does that have to do with you buying Storm in the auction?”

“I didn’t want you to feel like I abandoned you, and I didn’t want you and Sadie to be alone on Christmas. But I couldn’t pass up the chance to lead this retreat, since it’s been something I’ve wanted to do for years. So when the opportunity arose for me to get Storm to be your holidate while I was gone, I snatched it up.”

“You bought Storm for me?”

“You didn’t really think I’d try to steal your man, did you?”

“I, uh?—”

“I may seem flighty and impulsive, but I’m not oblivious. And I’d never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I love you, Serena. And I want you to be happy.” She came around the table and put her hands on my shoulders. “The last couple of weeks, you’ve seemed happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. If my bid will give you a chance to keep that going long-term, it’ll be six hundred dollars well spent.”

I stood up and wrapped my arms around her. “I love you, Mom. I’ll miss you at Christmas, but I’m glad you’ll be doing something fun.”

“And so will you,” she said with a wink.

I looked up, and Storm’s eyes met mine. A whole flock of butterflies stirred in my stomach. Are they called flocks? Probably not. But they were going crazy, anyway. Those intense dark eyes I was becoming so fond of had my nerves jumping in a whole different way. Then he smiled, a rare smile just for me, and my heart melted with a happy sigh.

Yes, maybe I would be doing something fun on Christmas after all.