as you like apples.”
Once dinner was finished, it was time for the auction. When she’d been married to Harold, the auction had been a source of tension for them. He’d always felt as if he needed to bid on several items and buy at least a few as befitting his position as a vice president at the college. Unfortunately, he usually got caught up in the bidding and ended up spending more than they could comfortably afford. In the years since her divorce, Terri had more or less ignored the auction, not being willing to spend her hard earned money on things that were being sold for more than they were worth, even if it all was for charity.
Now she sat back, a glass of wine in hand, and waited to see what Lucas would do. He smiled at her. “You’ll have to let me buy you a few things,” he said as the mayor introduced the auctioneer.
“I don’t need or want anything,” she countered quickly.
“I’m sure we can find something you’ll appreciate,” he said.
The smaller items always went first. At her first auction, Terri had been shocked to see gift certificates for local restaurants auctioned off for more than twice their value, but now she expected it and she wasn’t disappointed. If anything, things seemed to be selling for even more than normal.
“Do you think everyone is being extra generous because Max and Lucas are here?” Camille whispered after a television worth less than two hundred dollars was bid up to five hundred and fifty.
“Maybe. Or maybe everyone is more drunk than normal,” Terri replied.
“You’re more drunk than normal,” Camille said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m not driving, which never happens.”
Camille nodded, but she still looked concerned.
“Do you like that?” Lucas asked when a gaudy gold and gemstone bracelet was displayed as the next item for bids.
“Not even a tiny bit,” she shot back.
He grinned at her. “My mother will love it,” he said, opening the bidding at a thousand dollars.
Some minutes later, the bracelet was his.
“I hope no one thinks he bought that for me,” she whispered to Camille.
Camille laughed. “I wouldn’t even let Max bid, just in case he won.”
Some time later, the final item came up for auction.
“Our last item is a two-week, or rather a fortnight’s vacation, or should I say, holiday, to the United Kingdom,” the auctioneer announced. “This trip includes airfare and hotel accommodations as well as transportation between cities within the United Kingdom. After arriving in London, you’ll visit Stonehenge, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Manchester, Leeds, York, Hadrian’s Wall, Edinburgh, and Glasgow before returning back to the US. The trip is for four people and includes some meals.”
Terri took a sip of her drink and tried to block out the excited ripple that was going through the room. This was far beyond any item that had ever been auctioned off at the Harvest Ball since she’d lived in Ramsey. Of course, it would go for a ridiculous amount of money. Determined not to look at Lucas so that he wouldn’t see how badly she wanted the vacation, she put her drink down slowly.
“One thousand dollars,” Max said as the auction began.
“Five thousand,” Lucas countered.
Max laughed. “Six.”
“Ten,” Lucas retorted.
“Eleven,” Karen Henderson-Archer shouted from her table a few feet away.
Her husband, Donald, looked shocked and then leaned over and whispered something in her ear.
“Twelve,” Lucas said, sounding slightly bored.
“Thirteen,” Karen yelled, earning herself another angry look from Donald.
“Fifteen,” Max said quietly.
“Sixteen,” was Karen’s next bid.
Lucas opened his mouth to reply.
“Don’t,” Terri whispered.
He looked at her. “Why not? I thought it would be the perfect vacation for you and Thomas.”
She nodded. “But I can’t let you pay that sort of money for it,” she said. “I already feel guilty about how much you’re paying me for all of this.”
“Seventeen,” Max said, his eyes on Lucas and Terri.
Karen said something to Donald who nodded before she bid again. “Twenty.”
Max laughed. “Twenty-five.”
Camille put her hand on his arm and the pair had a whispered exchange while Donald and Karen were doing the same.
“Thirty,” Karen said loudly.
Lucas stared into Terri’s eyes. “I’m more than happy to outbid her,” he said softly.
“Let her have it. I wouldn’t feel right taking it if you won.”
He shrugged. “I only donated it so I could bid on it,” he told her.
“You donated it?” she asked.
“Because I wanted to do something for you,” he explained. “But it isn’t worth thirty thousand dollars.”
“Thirty-five,” Max said, winking at Terri.
“Forty,” Karen snapped.
Max shrugged. “I’ve probably already won enough,” he