Her Christmas Cowboy (The Wyoming Cowboy #5) - Jessica Clare Page 0,107
from secondhand embarrassment that the yarn was losing all tension. She set it down on the table for now and let Amy squeeze her hand in support.
“Five dollars,” someone called out.
Garvis clapped his hands with delight, startling the dog at his side. It barked at him, and the crowd laughed once more.
Amy buried her face in her hands.
“Surely someone can bid more than five dollars?” Sage asked, a worried smile on her face as she gazed out at the crowd.
“Two dollars,” Cora called again. No one laughed this time.
Oh god. Here was where Layla took one for the team. She squeezed Amy’s hand and then raised her free one into the air. “Two hundred dollars,” Layla called.
The room erupted with noise. Layla thought Sage was going to come over the podium and kiss her with gratitude.
“All right,” the mayor called happily. “We have a bid for two hundred dollars! Sounds like someone needs a big, handsome farrier to come over for an afternoon!”
Onstage, Garvis flexed.
“Two hundred fifty,” called another voice, and Layla breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t even sure what a farrier was, but if it had something to do with horses, he was out of luck. Layla had a house cat and that was it.
Luckily, the bidding started to rise in earnest, and there was a lot of laughter and good spirits as the money slowly escalated. When it hit seven hundred fifty, the bidding came to a standstill, and an elderly woman jumped up with glee when she was announced the winner. The people at her table cheered, and even Garvis looked thrilled. Layla remembered that Amy had mentioned something about most of the bachelors being “bought” by their girlfriends anyhow. Even so, it looked like everyone was having fun. Garvis bounded off the stage and handed off the wiener dog’s leash, exchanging it for a bouquet of bright red roses, which he presented to his new date.
That was a little disappointing. Layla had kinda been rooting for the wiener dog. He looked so small and confused up on the stage next to the cavorting cowboy.
“Okay,” Amy breathed. “Seven hundred fifty isn’t bad. That’s not bad at all. If they all go for that much, we just might hit our goal.”
Layla leaned over, the accountant in her taking over. “Actually, you’d still be seventeen hundred and fifty dollars short—uh, never mind.” She bit off her own words at Amy’s frustrated glare. Boy, nobody had a sense of humor when it came to this auction.
At the other side of the table, poor Cora looked depressed and Layla felt so bad for her. Maybe she hadn’t heard the rules and that was why she’d bid so low. Layla reached out and touched the other woman’s arm. “Don’t you worry, Miss Cora. We’ll get you a bachelor today, I promise.”
Cora giggled. “I was bidding on the dog.”
A woman after Layla’s own heart.
* * *
* * *
The auction rolled a little more smoothly after that. The next few bachelors all sold for several hundred dollars each, though not as much as Garvis. Each man came out with a cute dog, strolled around the stage while Sage extolled their virtues, and then the auction would begin in earnest. Cora bid a dollar each time, and Layla wasn’t sure if Cora was just the world’s oldest troll and having fun at their expense, or if she genuinely thought her dollar bid was legit.
Layla bid two more times herself, when no one was quick to bid right out of the gates. The first time, it was for Mr. Johnson, who she always ran into at the grocery store. And then she bid for old Mr. Hill, who mowed lawns, because he got peed on by the puppy he was holding, and because, well, Layla’s lawn could use a little work. And it was all for charity anyhow.
She figured if she was having to buy her love, she might as well get some weeding out of it. But she was quickly outbid on him, and really, that was fine.
Cora turned and looked at Layla with a pitiful expression. “You and I aren’t having much luck today, are we?”
“It’s okay,” Layla told her reassuringly. “We’re bound to get lucky at some point. Did you have your eye on someone in particular?”
“Well,” Cora thought, and sighed. “I still keep thinking about the fat wiener from before.”
Layla blinked.
“The dog,” Amy whispered behind her hand, trying to hold her smile.