Page 48 of The Feud

Teeth gritted in anger over the mischaracterization, I set the record straight. “I didn’t break up with you because we were not a couple nor were we committed. I told you yesterday that I no longer wanted to see you anymore.”

Diane lifts her hand, studies her fingernails before saying, “Like I said. You broke up with me.”

I want to tell her she was nothing more than a convenience. An outlet. But my mother would beat the tar out of me if I ever said that to a lady, even if it was true. So I merely incline my head at her. “I hope you have a good evening, Diane.”

I’m relieved when, as I walk away, Marcie easily walks by my side. She glances over her shoulder, and waves to her sister, calling out, “We’ll talk later.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, glancing down at Marcie as we wind around the tables. “That was ugly and you shouldn’t have had to witness it.”

Marcie stops, forcing me to do the same and then angles her body toward me. Tipping her head back, her blue eyes lock with mine. “Ethan, your past is your past. I can’t fault you for that, not if it doesn’t affect me.”

“That just affected you,” I mutter.

“That was a spiteful woman lashing out. You broke things off, I presume because you asked me out. That was the right thing to do.”

“Actually, I’ve been wanting to break things off for a while, but I never got around to it. Asking you out made it a priority.”

“Then don’t apologize,” she says softly.

“It wasn’t serious, Marcie.” I let out a breath of frustration, twisting to look over at my family who have caught sight of us before turning back to the beautiful redhead before me. “Diane was… there. It wasn’t often and we weren’t serious. It was just easy, and now it’s not.”

“Duly informed. Can we move on?”

The weight on my chest releases and I smile at her. I jerk my head toward my family’s table. “Let’s get this part over with. I’m sure my family are crazed with the need for information.”

Brand me the luckiest guy in the world, but it helps that my parents and siblings are the best anyone could hope for. We might squabble and rail at one another at times, but we always have each other’s backs. On top of that, we all only want what’s best for each other, and there’s been no higher wish on my parents’ agenda, or my siblings, for that matter, than for the eldest son to settle down.

Not that Marcie represents a permanent future, but the fact I’m actually showing interest in a woman and that I think enough of her to bring her to a function to sit with my family speaks volumes.

A five-course meal is served before the auction and I do nothing but sit back, enjoy the food and watch as Marcie charms every single person at the table. While she and I talked about a lot of different things that night I bought her dinner and again at the show barn, our time was limited. It’s a joy to sit back and have my family pepper her with questions, eager to know more about this woman who not only grabbed my intense interest but helped Sylvie to push past her distrust to give us all a shot.

By the time the auction is ready to start, I’m relaxed and have forgotten all about Diane Turner confronting me in front of Marcie. It’s been a long damn time since I’ve been truly at ease, even letting go of the long list of tasks I have to accomplish tomorrow to keep the Blackburn machine running.

The emcee for the auction is Harry Hagen, a lovable real estate agent here in Shelbyville who has his face plastered on every billboard in the county. He hams it up to the extreme but he gets the ladies to open their pocketbooks and spend.

There’s a stage set up at one end of the ballroom and the lights are turned down low as he takes the mic and strolls out. A warm light illuminates him, making the bald spot on top of his head shine.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome to the twenty-third annual Shelbyville Bachelor Auction. We are here tonight to raise money for literacy awareness and funding for underprivileged kids so that they can share in the wonderful world of books.”

I tune him out as he prattles on, having heard this speech every year since I started attending. I glance across the table at Wade and Trey, both of my brothers with wide grins on their faces. They have fun with this and there are times I wish I could be as carefree as them. It’s sad to say, but the burden of responsibility has made me quite dull. It’s a sacrifice already made.

“I’m going to call the bachelors up here and give you a little information about each one, and once the lineup is set, we’ll start bidding from left to right. Now, first up, we have the gorgeous, well-muscled and if I don’t say so myself, the most charming bachelor in the county. You all know and love him as a horse trainer extraordinaire and he’s been known to make single ladies faint with those crystal green eyes of his. Let’s welcome to the stage, Wade Blackburn.”

My brother pushes his chair back, he and Trey fist bump, and he struts up on the stage like a peacock. He takes off his suit jacket and dangles it over one shoulder, does a flashy spin when he reaches Harry, and then suavely slides a hand in his pocket before striking a pose.

The women go nuts and start cat-calling. A shrill whistle from the back of the room makes everyone laugh.

I lean left, nudging my shoulder into Marcie’s and whisper, “Sure you don’t want to bid on my bonehead brother? You could probably get him for cheap.”

Marcie giggles and nudges me back. “I’m happy with the current Blackburn, thank you.”

That pleases me immensely. We all watch as the bachelors are called up and our family gets in on the cheering action. It whips the crowd into a frenzy, the fun and hilarity of it all, which will only drive up the donations.

The stage is filled with nine bona fide, single Kentucky male specimens. Harry looks down at his card and says, “And the last entry of the evening is a doozy, folks. It’s a rarity and I’m thinking he’s going to drive the price up really high. Let’s hear it for the king of the saddlebreds, Shelbyville’s own Ethan Blackburn.”

Hearing my name called out sends a shockwave through my body and for a split second, I go almost entirely deaf. The room freezes and when motion starts again, I hear a thunderous roar of cheers.

I whip my head to look at my mom, thinking she’s trying to pull one over on me, but I can see she’s as surprised as I am. I look at Kat who also seems dumbfounded and up to the stage to see my brothers clearly had no hand in this.

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