Cranberry Point (Cedar Cove #4)(55)

"Seven hundred and fifty dollars, going once, going twice, going—"

"Eight hundred dollars," Olivia shouted, startling Grace.

Barry pointed the gavel at Margaret White, who shook her head.

"Sold for eight hundred dollars." He punctuated the sale with a bang of the gavel.

Barry Stokes's eyes narrowed as he peered into the audience. He placed both hands on the sides of the podium and leaned forward. "Is that you, Judge Lockhart?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Last I heard, you and Jack Griffin were married. Now, don't tell me there's trouble between you newlyweds already?"

"Nope," Olivia called back. "And I want Cliff and the dog. The dog's for my daughter, Justine, and the bachelor is an early birthday gift for my best friend, Grace Sherman."

"I can't let you do that," Grace insisted in a harsh whisper.

"You can and you will," Olivia said out of the side of her mouth. "Besides, Maryellen and Kelly went in with me." She smiled. "My orders were to bid on Cliff if you didn't—or if you dropped out. I had to bid on the dog, anyway. Justine met her backstage and fell in love with her."

"Maryellen and Kelly?"

"Me, too," Charlotte whispered, leaning across the table. "I did it for Cliff as much as you. As far as I'm concerned, you two belong together."

Grace did look in Cliff's direction then. Although he was relatively close, she couldn't gauge his reaction. All she could hope was that he agreed with Charlotte.

Twenty-Seven

Rachel Pendergast was sweeping up her station at Get Nailed. Her appointments were finished for the day, and she was ready to head back to her house. When the phone rang, she looked up to make sure Valerie, the receptionist was around to answer it. She wasn't, but Tracey grabbed it and then held up the receiver for Rachel.

"It's that little girl," Tracey said. "You cut her hair not too long ago."

"Jolene?"

Tracey shrugged. "She says she has to talk to you."

"All right." Rachel walked over to the desk, where Tracey handed her the phone. She'd been meaning to call Jolene, anyway. "This is Rachel," she said cheerfully.

"You didn't bid on my dad." Jolene sounded as though she was on the verge of tears. "I thought you were going to bid on him at the Dog and Bachelor Auction."

"Hello, Jolene," Rachel said.

"Hi." Her voice was small and sad.

"I think your dad's very nice, but I don't think he's ready for another relationship. Remember how we talked about that? You said you need another mommy and I asked if I could be your friend instead."

"I remember."

"Is your dad there?"

"Yes, but he's in the other room and he doesn't know I'm calling you."

"Let me talk to him, okay?"

"Okay—only I want to know if you bought a dog and a bachelor at the auction."

"I did, but my friend Karen took the dog. And I'm not meeting my bachelor until Friday night."

"Who is he?"

"Well, I don't know much about him except that his name is Nathan Olsen and he's in the navy."

"Is he in love with you?"

She wished! "No, I barely had a chance to talk to him." After the auction, the restaurant had been chaos. Rachel had only a few minutes to speak to Nate before it was time to leave.

"Oh."

"How about if you and I get together next week?"

"Will you paint my fingernails again?" Jolene asked eagerly.

"If you like."

"Can we talk about girl things?"

"Sure."

Jolene sounded happier now. "I'll get my dad."

A moment later, Bruce got on the line. "Jolene phoned you?" he said in a curt voice.

"Yes, but I was planning to get in touch anyway. She saved me the phone call. I'd enjoy spending another afternoon with Jolene. It seemed to do her good—and me, too, for that matter."

He hesitated. "I thought you might bid for me."

Now Bruce was going to harass her about that, too? "You told me you weren't interested in dating," she said as calmly as she could.

"I'm not—just forget it, all right?"

Gladly! Talk about mixed messages. Bruce couldn't have made his feelings any more obvious; he didn't want to get involved—and that was fine with Rachel. "Can I see Jolene?"

"Yeah, sure, that would be great."

They set up a day and time, and Rachel hung up the phone, more confused than ever. She must have had a puzzled expression on her face because Terri came over to stare at her.

"What's with you?" she asked, one hand on her ample hip. "You look like a feather would bowl you over."

"Bruce Peyton wants to know why I didn't bid on him." Even as she spoke, she was astounded that he'd brought it up.

"Don't worry about it," Terri advised. "You choose your own dates."

Rachel made an effort to put Bruce out of her mind. As far as she could tell, he was a lost cause, and she was through with throwing her life away on dead-end relationships.

That Friday night, Rachel arrived at The Lighthouse ten minutes before she was meeting Nate. She sat on the bench in the foyer, waiting nervously.