Page 92 of Suddenly Entwined

The room isn’t dim any longer. Anybody could see. I squirm under the weight of his arm, but I’m pretty sure it weighs as much as my leg, so I stop trying.

“Let’s start the bidding at, er.-”

“Onehundred dollars.”

I gasp. “Berg!”

Tamara squints, scanning the crowd to see who the dummy is.

“Mr. MacMillan?”

Berg nods like being willing to pay a hundred bucks for a clump of sugar doing its best rendition of dying, Wicked Witch of the East style, is totally normal.

“The previous cake has already been awarded to the Hanson family.”

Her tone is cool and I wonder how butt hurt she is about being turned down by Berg on the dance floor. Probably a lot.

“One hundred dollars for that cake, please.”

Berg's cheeks are hot but his voice is steady, and he’s standing stock still next to me even though I feel like toppling over like my cake.

“One hundred and ten!” shouts a familiar female voice.

I whip my head toward the source of the sound and see my brother in the doorway with Anna, who just made a bid by his side. Natalie said she asked them to come to the dance.

“One hundred and twenty,” says Chris.

Tears are welling up in my eyes. My stupid little cake has a new lease on life, even if it’s silly. I spent hours on it, trying to impress the girls and raise some money for their school.

Berg turns, an eyebrow arching with amusement. “Back off my cake. Two hundred dollars!”

My knees wobble.

“Suit yourself. Two hundred dollars to the MacMillan…family.”

Oh, the way she said the word family makes my heart race. It was dripping with disdain. She’s lucky as hell that she clicked the mic off and stormed off the stage. At that moment, twin blurs of motion run straight at my legs.

“Your cake got the most money, Caro! You won!” Natalie exclaims.

“It’s not a contest,” I laugh, feeling like celebrating all the same.

Lou envelops my thigh with impressive strength as Anna and my big brother come over to join us. My anger over Tamara’s not-so-subtle jab fades away as we greet them and Anna wraps me in a big hug. I’m taken aback for a moment, hands hovering.

Screw it.

I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. “Thank you,” I whisper against her perfectly curled hair.

“Of course.”

She says that so naturally, like saving the day for your friends is the most normal thing in the world. Maybe because I’ve been so preoccupied, but it occurs to me for the first time that Anna and I could be sisters one day, and the idea makes my eyes sting.

“I better go claim my cake,” Berg says, slipping away.

My brother takes each of the girls by hand and leads them onto the dance floor to rock out to some Lady Gaga.

“Okay, that’s adorable,” I say.

“He loves those little girls.”

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