Page 68 of Smoke Show

Jo rushed up at my elbow. "Eve, we have a problem."

My stomach sank at her words.

"I only left the silent auction for a minute, to run to the bathroom and come back, but when I did, I noticed that most bidding had stopped."

I glanced at my phone. We were only a few minutes from pulling the bid sheets so we could announce the winners. Maybe everyone had already put in their final bids?

"Each sheet has an exorbitant bid."

"Under whose name?" I asked.

Maybe we had a very generous group?

"Yours. Mine. Gwen, Sophie, and Izzy too."

I glanced at Gwen. "I'm guessing this isn't your doing?"

"No," Gwen said, exchanging glances with Brady and Zander. "But someone here is behind it. We may finally get some answers."

"What do we do about the silent auction?" Jo asked.

I laid a gentle hand on my friend's arm. She looked crushed.

"It'll be fine, Jo. We'll just take the next highest bidder for each item."

Her face crumpled. "But we're missing out on the final competitive bids. That's when all the action happens."

"Then let's cross out our names, see if we can interest any last-minute bidders," I said, offering the only solution I could think of.

I followed Jo to the tables, swiftly marking out the false bids and encouraging the few townspeople lingering near the silent auction to return to the tables. Most took the scratched-out names in stride, but I saw more than a few irritated frowns. At least I could understand now why Gwen had wanted us to use proxies - to avoid just this: the perception that we'd somehow rigged the auction.

When I returned to the auditorium, Izzy and Sophie flagged me down. They were supervising the admin table, ready to take payments from bidders.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked, brow furrowed.

"Another trick. Someone put us down as bidders." I scrunched my nose. "I don't evenhavea driveway. What would I do with free plow service for the winter?" I asked.

Izzy grinned. "I dunno, maybe you're planning ahead?" She cast a meaningful glance to where Brady stood, looking handsome in his tux, as he spoke with Mrs. Nemitz and Mrs. Wise.

"I think we've salvaged things, but please offer our apologies if any of the bidders grumble when they come up to pay. I've got to get up front. Jo is pulling the bid sheets, then we'll announce winners and auction off our bachelors."

Sophie rubbed her hands together, eyes shining. "Those kittens are mine; I can just feel it."

Jo appeared with the bid sheets in hand, shaking her head over Sophie's claim. "It's your funeral."

"Didn't Davis volunteer for this?" Sophie asked.

"Not exactly…" Jo admitted.

Sophie straightened, brushing off Jo's warning. "No matter. I'm in it for the kittens, not Davis."

Somehow, I had a feeling that Davis would be okay with that. I spotted him, leaning against a far wall with his arms folded across his massive chest, watching the crowd mill around. He shifted and pulled at the collar of his tux, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Jo thrust the bid sheets into my hands.

I forced a grin. "Okay, gang. Wish me luck."

Izzy grinned back. "You've got this, Eve."

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