Page 29 of Holly, Jolly, and Oh So Naughty

“Now, you all, of course, are allowed to bid on anything that you see here on stage, or any of the vouchers down the front on the tables. If you’re not here in person and joining us via webcam link, you place your bids on the website and Taylor here will be your voice.”

Website?

Digging out my phone, I have to ask the man next to me for assistance in finding what she is talking about. The man brings up the auction website and pats my shoulder sympathetically.

“Technology, eh?” He chuckles.

I laugh back politely and focus on my phone. Lily’s gone above and beyond by partnering with an online auction website to bring more eyes to her project. Many of the online items are free cake designs and an option for people to purchase anything they can see via the livestream.

This is clearly incredibly important to her.

The auction starts with a painting of the town from the local gallery. I’m not much of an artist, but the painting is gorgeous. It depicts the town square with all of the well-known local shops in the background, including Sweet Noel.

However, as the bidding starts, the numbers are low. I glance around and watch as the amount creeps up ten, twenty dollars at a time. In the end, it sells for $250.

It’s a good amount, but pennies compared to what the clinic needs.

Next is one of Lily’s vouchers, which goes for $500, sold to someone online. Again, that’s a decent amount, but it’s not enough. I glance around, taking in the faces of the townspeopledesperate for change, but there’s no one here with that life-changing amount to spare.

I immediately scroll to my contacts. There’s not a lot I can do personally since I’m certain Lily won’t appreciate my trying to buy most of these things, but I have friends. Friends with deep pockets and a penchant to go crazy at an auction.

One thing about the world I grew up in is that money doesn’t impress, so most spend their time trying to buy the right thing that will impress the wrong people. As luck would have it, a small town auction in a picturesque town like this will be like heroin to the people I know.

I send off a few greetings with a link to the website and wait.

Most don’t message me back, and those who do merely express shock that I’m reaching out after vanishing off the face of the planet. I ignore those ones, knowing that anything I say will likely make it back to my mother.

The tide changes within minutes. The numbers watching the livestream take a jump, and as Lily presents the next item, a lovingly hand-carved otter statue, the money starts to roll in. The starting bid is a hundred dollars, and it immediately jumps to five thousand.

Lily stares in shock as Taylor stumbles around saying the number, and a cheer rises from the crowd.

“Is that real?” Lily gasps, staring down at the tablet in Taylor’s hands.

Taylor nods frantically. “Some lawyer from San Francisco.”

“Oh, my God.” Lily’s cheeks flush red as she confirms the bid, and then the number keeps climbing. The hand-carved otter statue sells for seventy-five thousand dollars.

You could have knocked Lily over with a feather. And it doesn’t end there. Every other piece of artwork, statue, and carving is sold for over a hundred thousand dollars, and the dance hall goes wild with cries and cheers of celebration.

By the time the last tier of Lily’s cake sells for two hundred and fifty thousand, she’s in tears that turn into shaking sobs when Margret hurries up to her and confirms that the money is being deposited at the same time.

My friends are never tardy. I imagine if I ever go back to one of the functions my mother hosts, I’ll hear all about the authentic, one-of-a-kind, hand-carved otter statue that no one else in the world can own.

Lily meets her goal of getting the clinic off the ground and funding it for one year. In fact, from the number whispered against the microphone, the clinic is funded for a minimum of three years.

Pride swells in my chest as I watch her hug Margret tightly, then Taylor. Lily’s closing speech is a stumbling, weeping mess of thank yous and love. Then she stumbles off the stage and runs directly toward me.

“Did you see?” she cries. “We did it! We actually did it!” Lily crashes into me with an excited squeal and throws her arms around my neck. “We did it!”

“You did it,” I correct, hugging her tightly. “Congratulations!”

In the flurry of excitement that bursts out of Lily with her giggles, she suddenly cups my face with one hand and kisses me.

11

LILY

Stepping through the front door, I slowly close it behind me and lean against it with my keys dangling loosely from my fingers.

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