Page 79 of Fake-Off with Fate
When I reach my dad’s side, I find my voice and tell him, “I may have started the ball rolling, but it’s Maple Falls who deserves the applause tonight.” Then I face the crowd and join them in praising our efforts.
When the celebration dies down, I step up to the podium. “What do you say we auction off some hockey players?” Hoots and whistles fill the air in support.
Looking down at the list in front of me, I don’t see Jamie’s name. Alarm fills me like a bad case of food poisoning. Why isn’t he being auctioned off like he promised? I search the crowd in hopes of spotting him, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
There’s only one thing to do. I read the first name on the list and robotically start the proceedings. “Jackson Flint is our first player on the block! Will you please join me, Jackson?”
A tall and exceptionally handsome man stands up and makeshis way toward the stage. When he reaches my side, I ask the crowd, “Who would like to spend a couple of hours with Jackson?”
The room erupts again, and two women immediately jump to their feet and start waving their paddles in the air. “We’re starting the bidding at five thousand dollars.”
The blonde woman in the black leather corset shouts, “Eight thousand dollars!”
The other woman, who looks old enough to be her mother, calls out, “Ten!”
They go back and forth until the price tag reaches twenty-five thousand. The corset gets him.
The next several players go for varying amounts, but none of them come close to Jackson Flint. I take a short break when I notice a waitress has brought a glass of water for me. After assuring the crowd I’ll be right back, I move off stage. Reaching for the glass, I tell her, “Thank you so much. I’m parched.”
“This is fun, huh?” she responds. “I wish I had the money to get in on the action.”
“What about that first guy?” I ask. “That was incredible.”
She leans in close to me and whispers, “The two women bidding on him were his mother and sister.”
Shocked, I ask, “How do you know that?”
“I heard them chatting in the ladies room. Jackson told them what to spend. According to the mom, his agent told him to make sure he went for a lot so they could try to negotiate more money for him next year.”
“I don’t think that’s how it goes,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “Who cares? We got another twenty-five grand in the kitty.”
I feel a little relieved as I go back out on stage. But then I scan the audience and see Jamie. He’s sitting with Allegra.
White hot jealousy with a chaser of fury hits me hard. Why is he here with her? Are they back together? I want answers and I want them now, but I have to keep on with the auction.
Looking at the next name on my list, I call out, “It’s time for Clément Rivière to find a date! Clément, please join me.”
The tall Frenchman stands up, looking extraordinarily uncomfortable. His gaze shifts around the room like he’s considering running to the nearest exit. “This way, Clément,” I encourage him while pointing to my side.
Once he’s standing next to me, I tell the audience, “That’s right, ladies—the accent is real, and so is his talent on the ice. On top of that, Clément Rivière is also restoring one of Maple Falls’ most beloved properties to its former glory, the old MacDonald place."
“A man who can play goalie, bake soufflés, and is bringing back a bit of Maple Falls history. What more could you want? Shall we open the bidding?”
“Five thousand,” Bernadette Huckle, the town’s librarian, calls out. I suppress raw laughter at the thought that our mind-mannered town librarian is so eager to help out.
“Eight thousand!” another voice rings out.
“Eight thousand, one hundred!” The bids are slowing down a bit, but they keep coming.
“Eight thousand, two hundred!”
With every offer, Clément seems closer and closer to jumping out of his skin. When the price tag reaches nine thousand dollars, he leaves the stage and walks out into the audience. There, he grabs a paddle before rejoining me. “Nine thousand!” he shouts.
Covering the microphone, I tell him, “You don’t bid for yourself.”
“Nine thousand five hundred!” he yells.
