Jenna Riley from Jenna’s General, which Nora had learned was a cute, semi-high-end general store on Main that sold maple fudge and homemade dog treats along with the usual Gatorade and newspapers. Nora had no idea what the going rate for a bachelor or bachelorette in Moonflower Bay was, but everyone oohed and aahed when Jenna “went” for eighty bucks to a guy Nora didn’t know who reported that his hamper contained homemade macaroni and cheese made from his mom’s famous family recipe, Greek salad, and lemon bars.
Next up was someone named Charles, who Nora didn’t know but who was apparently a teacher at the elementary school. A merry bidding war broke out between Maya and Elena Gardner, whom Nora had seen at the clinic. Elena won him for 120 bucks and “Pesto and grilled chicken pressed paninis, asparagus, and, for dessert, peak-of-season fresh Niagara peaches, which you can’t argue with because I have type 1 diabetes.” Everyone applauded, including Nora, who, as Elena’s doctor, heartily approved. She thought again how nice it was to actually be able to follow the same patients over time, to keep tabs on their progress and their lives.
“And now we have Moonflower Bay’s newest bachelorette,” Eiko said. “Please join me in warmly welcoming Dr. Nora Walsh to her first Anti-Festival.”
Nora’s nerves fired as the crowd cheered. What if no one bid on her? Maya, who was sitting on an aisle near the front, let out a wolf whistle as Nora walked by.
“We’re so glad to have you in town, Dr. Hon,” Eiko said to Nora as she ascended the stage, and not into the microphone. She seemed to really mean it, and Nora couldn’t help returning her warm smile, even though she was still wary about this whole thing.
Well, it was only lunch. It wasn’t like whatever happened in the next few minutes was going to alter the trajectory of her life.
That’s what she told herself, anyway. In truth, she was suddenly so nervous, her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest.
Eiko lifted her microphone. “All right, my friends! This one is a catch, isn’t she? Let’s open the—”
“Five hundred bucks and a Hawaiian pizza.”
What. The. Hell?
Jake. That was what the hell. Who else would it be? Hadn’t she just been thinking he was always there when she needed him?
She got over her confusion faster than the crowd, which was rippling with murmurs and exclamations. He was standing at the back of the seating area, so everyone had to twist around to see him.
She had a clear sight line, though. She could see him, and he could see her. He was staring at her, in fact, and, unlike her, he appeared completely unruffled.
When Eiko raised her mic again and said, “Well, my goodness. We have five hundred dollars on the table. Do I hear any other offers?” the crowd went dead silent. You could hear the seagulls cawing. Nora felt like she could hear her own heart beating. It was still going faster than it should have been, but from a different kind of nerves from before.
The silence went on.
Nora had come to understand that Jake was an almost-mythic figure in town. He was the damaged hermit who never spoke. That didn’t accord with Nora’s experience with him, but she’d watched him in social settings and had heard people talking about him enough to understand that he occupied a certain role in the collective imagination.
So she supposed that was why, when he suddenly appeared at the auction with a too-high bid—when he suddenly appeared at the auction at all—it literally struck people dumb. They didn’t know what to make of this version of Jake Ramsey. They hadn’t known this version of Jake Ramsey existed.
Certainly none of them were going to bid against him. He hadn’t needed to bid five hundred dollars. He could have said five dollars, and that would have been that.
Nora had the idea that Jake didn’t like public scrutiny. She didn’t blame him. Who did, really? Or maybe it was more that he didn’t like public pity, and for him, scrutiny always came with pity. He had once told her he liked that she didn’t walk on eggshells around him.
“Going once…”
As Eiko stretched out the last few moments of the bidding, the silence intensified, became painful. Nora was a little afraid she might expire on the spot before Eiko finally said, “And Jake Ramsey is our winner!”
There had been no instructions regarding what to do after