Gabriels discovery, p.14
Gabriel's Discovery, page 14
“Who is your aunt?” Colleen said, though she already knew the answer.
“Lidia. Lidia Vance. Do you know her?”
“Yes.” But Colleen was having trouble concentrating as she listened to that voice. She wondered what her own name might sound like in that distinctly European accent.
“Would you care to dance?” he asked. Several people were already on the dance floor. The music had been lively, but now the band played an American standard, maybe Cole Porter or Gershwin.
“I don’t believe that’s possible,” her brother Jake interrupted before Colleen could say yea or nay. “My little sister promised this dance to me.”
Jake then started half dragging her away. “My name is Colleen,” she called back to Alessandro.
He blew her a kiss. “Until another time, Colleen.”
Despite the manhandling from her brother, Colleen thought she might melt right there on the floor. Her name on his lips sounded even better than she’d thought it might.
Jake pulled her forward, clasped a strong arm at her waist and whirled her away from where Alessandro stood.
“What’d you do that for?”
“You’re swimming with the sharks, little sister. I’m just rescuing you before you get a limb chewed off.”
“I am not a child,” Colleen said. But a childlike pout spoiled the delivery.
“No,” he said. “Even a child would know not to play with fire like that.”
“I can handle myself,” Colleen said. “I’m all grown up. And I’m a journalist. I was merely investigating a hunch.”
“Uh-huh,” Jake said.
“You can’t baby me forever,” she said. “You and Adam act like I can’t take care of myself.”
She thought he was just overreacting—as usual. But the laugh lines at his blue eyes, the ones that always crinkled in amusement at most everything she did, weren’t in evidence.
Jake was a bit of a playboy himself, so maybe he did know something about Alessandro. Takes one to know one. She looked up at her brother. At six foot two, he was taller than Alessandro. She knew women found him attractive, though for the life of her Colleen didn’t see it.
“Don’t you have a date or someone you can go harass instead of me?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Jake said. “I see my assistant Holly over there. I need to have a word with her.”
“Good,” Colleen said, disengaging from her brother’s arms. Before she could turn to search the crowd for Alessandro, another man took her hand and led her right back on the dance floor. “Daddy! Come on, guys. This is too much.”
“Shush, and dance with your old man.”
By five minutes to nine, the crowd was well wined and dined. Excitement buzzed in the air. Susan hoped it was a portent of good things to come.
Jessica had outdone herself in securing the bachelors. In addition to doing her own petitioning, she’d convinced board members to call in favors with their friends and business acquaintances. As a result, fifteen of the region’s most eligible bachelors stood ready to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Each man, sometimes with Jessica’s assistance, had set up a fantasy date for a special lady—the bidder with the biggest number on a check made out to the Galilee Shelter Foundation.
“It’s show time,” Susan told Jessica. The two squeezed hands, then Susan stepped into the middle of a semicircle the men had made. They were dressed in everything from tuxedoes to outfits that clearly indicated how their fantasy date would be spent.
“Are you all right in all that?” Susan asked the adventure sports reporter for one of the local television stations. He was outfitted in full ski apparel, including a parka, gloves and boots. A pair of skis were propped up near the entrance to the stage.
He gave her the thumbs-up sign, but clearly looked overheated.
Susan snagged the attention of a hotel employee. “Would you get him a glass of ice water, please? We don’t want anybody passing out.”
“He’ll be fine,” one of the other bachelors called out. “He’s just going for that pity bid. He wants the ladies to feel sorry for him so his bidding will be fast and furious.”
Susan grinned. “That’s the kind of thinking I like.”
She turned, holding out her hands and making eye contact with each man. “I just want to thank all of you for giving of your time tonight and for arranging the dates. I think this will be a lot of fun, and I hope we raise a lot of money as well.”
Someone let out a “whoo-hoo” and the men applauded.
Out on the stage, they could hear the evening’s auctioneer getting the crowd revved. Priscilla Patterson, the lead anchorwoman for the WFOL evening news, had volunteered to emcee the evening.
“Well, this is it,” Susan said. “I’m going to go get a good spot to watch.”
“And will you put in a bid for me?” the city’s assistant fire chief said. Rex Brown would give even Denzel a run for the money in the handsome division. That his job was to run into burning buildings and rescue people only added to his appeal. But he was seriously worried that no one would bid on him.
“Don’t worry. You’re going to get lots of bids,” Susan said, patting his arm.
“You two owe me big for doing this,” Travis Vance said before Susan could escape.
She laughed and patted his cheek. “You’ll be fine, too, Travis,” she said. “And who knows, you just might end up with someone who knocks you off your feet.”
“I doubt it,” Travis muttered.
“Cheer up,” Jessica said, tucking her arm in his. “At the very least, you’ll get away from AdVance for two nights. Tonight and the evening of your date.”
“And what if it’s with someone who is, er, not exactly a…well, not pretty.”
Jessica poked him in the side. Susan laughed. “I’m sure her personality will dazzle you,” Susan said. “Thanks for doing this, Travis.”
“For you, Susan, anything.”
“Oh, but I get a hard way to go?” Jessica intoned.
He nodded. “You’re family now, so yeah.”
Susan saw Jessica’s eyes mist. She knew how much it meant to her friend to be welcomed into the Vance family. As Jessica hugged Travis, Susan headed back out to the ballroom where she would enjoy the evening from the floor.
The first few closing bids had her worried. Dinner, dancing and a limo ride with a local actor who had a couple of walk-on roles on two sitcoms only went for two thousand dollars. Front-row seats and backstage passes to a rock concert with a radio station personality fetched four thousand, and a wine festival date only garnered thirty-five hundred.
She and Jessica had been through the figures so many times, Susan knew exactly what they needed to reach their goal for the evening. She didn’t count the silent auction items like her quilt, since the live bachelor auction would bring in the most money. Each bachelor would have to average a closing bid of six thousand for them to reach the figure the shelter needed.
“Ladies,” the auctioneer said, “I think you need to pack your weekend bags with something warm and toasty for this next date. May I introduce you to WFOL’s own Brian Boxley!” The sports reporter sauntered out, the skis over his shoulder, a pair of dark sunglasses on. The crowd went wild.
So did the bidding.
The ski weekend went for eight thousand four hundred dollars to a tanned, athletic woman who looked like she spent a lot of time on the slopes. She tucked her arm through Brian’s and the two headed to the station where final bids were being processed.
Susan grinned and turned to Liza Montgomery, who’d found her and now stood at her side. “Now, that’s more like it.”
“I was getting a little worried, too,” Liza confessed.
After a few more bachelors, Priscilla paused to read from a list of volunteers who had either helped put the gala together or who gave of their time to the shelter.
“We’d also like to recognize some people who have put in more than a thousand hours of volunteer time,” she said. She then called off several names, including that of Liza Montgomery, who waved from where she stood next to Susan and Holly Vance.
Backstage, Jake Montgomery’s brows lifted. He knew about his mother’s extensive involvement at Galilee, but he had had no idea that his executive assistant Holly Vance volunteered with them as well. He’d been working with Holly for two years and had had no clue.
Maybe he needed to spend a little more time on his people skills.
“Hey, Rex. You’re up next,” Jake called.
The two men slapped palms, and the assistant fire chief went to stand at the curtain to wait for his cue to head out.
“This next date,” Priscilla said, “is one I think I’m going to have to bid on myself.” The anchorwoman leaned forward, lowering her voice as if conspiring with the women in the audience. “I saw this guy backstage and decided he could put out a fire at my house anytime he wants. I might set one myself just to get him to come on over.
“How does an afternoon at Garden of the Gods sound to you?”
A couple of the women in front, who were actively bidding, sort of shrugged.
“Yeah,” Priscilla said. “That was my thought, too. I can go there anytime, right? But, ladies, what about an afternoon at Garden of the Gods, followed by a picnic lunch for two, then a romantic ride through the city with this fabulous bachelor.”
The assistant fire chief made his entrance. The bidding went much higher than anticipated, mostly due to Rex’s mugging and smiling. Susan, pleased, finally relaxed.
She mingled some more, chatting up potential bidders, encouraging them to have fun. The night was going well—very, very well.
As the bachelors were auctioned she tried not to think about what the entire process represented—couples pairing off for fun evenings. These dates were way out of her own price range. The most she had by way of disposable income was a couple of hundred dollars, and any spare cash she had always went for the girls—rarely for herself. Susan knew the value of a dollar and wished she were in a position to be able to do something frivolous like bid on a fantasy date.
Priscilla’s introduction of the next bachelor caught her attention. “This next bachelor isn’t in your program. He’s a late addition that I think you’ll all find just heavenly.”
Susan snagged a strawberry dipped in chocolate and turned to see what was going on.
“Our next bachelor calls his date Best of Colorado Springs. And I can tell you, I’d sure like to call this one mine. It includes a ride on the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad, a tour of Seven Falls, which is just lovely at night, and then dinner and the theater. Does this guy know how to set up a date or what?”
Cheers went up. “Who is it?” someone called out.
“I’m getting to that part,” Priscilla said, laughing. “But there’s another little part of this date you all aren’t going to be able to resist. This very special bachelor wants you to feel special, too. So before your date, you’ll get to spend an afternoon being pampered at the Lily Pond Spa. Manicure, pedicure, facial and massage.”
Priscilla pointed to a tuxedoed older man in the crowd. “Excuse me. My purse is right over there. Could you pull out my credit card and bid on this for me?”
The crowd laughed; even Susan chuckled, though she wondered about the evening’s mystery man. Getting Priscilla Patterson had been perfect for this evening. Susan would have to think of a special way to thank her for her efforts.
Susan lifted the strawberry to her mouth to take another nibble, careful not to drip any of the juice on her dress.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Priscilla said, “let’s give a warm applause and hefty bids to our next bachelor—the Reverend Gabriel Dawson.”
Chapter Fifteen
Strawberry juice spurted in every direction. Susan quickly wiped her mouth.
Gabriel! What was he doing up there?
“Ah, I see that Dr. Samantha Hardy is interested in dating a minister,” Priscilla said as she called out the opening bid. “Don’t be shy, ladies.”
Susan didn’t even want to address the shot of jealousy that hit her. She’d heard the older Mrs. Hardy bragging at church about her granddaughter the pediatrician.
Before she could register that the baby doctor was serious in her intent, other bids were being called out and cheerfully accepted by Priscilla. Apparently, quite a few people realized just what a catch Gabriel was.
“Who’d have thought a minister would fetch so much?”
“Indeed,” Susan muttered, wondering just when he’d agreed to be one of the bachelors. She’d gotten the distinct impression—from him, no less—that he wouldn’t be able to attend the gala and had no desire to, even if he were available.
And now, instead of being at home writing a sermon on a Saturday night like a minister should be doing, he was standing on stage managing to look shy and scrumptious and sexy in a white Nehru-cut tuxedo. Unlike the other bachelors, Gabriel didn’t make any boasts and declined to comment when Priscilla offered him the microphone.
When the bidding finally slowed, Priscilla looked out over the crowd. “Whew, ladies. You have been fast and furious.” She called out the last high bid. “Going once, going twice. Reverend Gabriel Dawson, for nine thousand six hundred dollars, you’re headed out with none other than Susan Carter.”
“What?” Susan shrieked.
The audience cheered. Susan whirled around, shaking her head. “There has to be a mistake. I didn’t bid anything.”
“Yes, you did, dear,” Liza said. “The bids were on your behalf.”
Ninety-six hundred dollars. Where in the world was she going to get that kind of cash? A moment later, Liza’s words registered. “Come again?”
Jessica ran up to her then. “I hope you’re not mad.”
Susan eyed her so-called friends. “What’s going on?”
Liza gave her a little push forward. “Go claim your date and then we’ll tell you.”
To cheers and catcalls, Susan walked to the stage. Priscilla handed her the microphone.
“I had nothing to do with this,” she said. The crowd laughed. “Really,” Susan insisted. “I think I’ve been set up.”
“Are you upset about it?” Gabriel asked.
She turned and looked into his eyes, saw there affection and something else. Then she gazed out over the audience, saw Liza smiling. Jessica gave her the thumbs-up sign. Fiona Montgomery was grinning from ear to ear.
“Not in the least,” Susan said.
Gabriel kissed her on the cheek and looped his arm so she could tuck hers inside. Together, they exited the stage to applause from all of the onlookers.
“I knew there was something between them,” Susan heard someone say.
“It’s always the quiet ones.”
Backstage, she turned to Gabriel. “You’ve just ruined my reputation.”
He smiled. “I guess I’ll just have to make up for it by making sure you have a terrific fantasy date.”
“Now all I have to do is figure out how to pay for this joke someone’s played on me.” Susan eyed him. “Is that part about the Lily Pond Spa for real?”
Gabriel nodded.
“When he suggested it, I thought that was a fabulous idea,” Jessica said as she and Liza approached. “Please tell me you’re not mad.”
“I’m just trying to figure out where I’m going to get nine thousand-some dollars and how many years it’s going to take me to pay it off,” Susan said. “Maybe payroll deduction or something.”
“That’s not necessary,” Liza said. “This night, the fantasy date with Pastor Gabriel, it’s my gift to you. I’m so proud of everything you’ve done, Susan. Everything you’ve become. You never take time for you. So when Jessica approached me about doing this for you, I couldn’t resist this time.”
“This time?”
Liza blushed a bit, then glanced at first Gabriel then Jessica. “Well, let’s just put it this way. A certain benefactor is pleased to see that things have turned out so well.”
Dawning came slowly for Susan. Her glance roved among the three people. Both Jessica and Gabriel were relatively new on the scene. But Liza Montgomery had been there all along.
Liza had been there when Susan was a battered woman with two little kids and no future. She had been around when Susan got a mysterious package containing diapers, formula and other items she needed for the girls along with an envelope with a cashier’s check made out in her name. And she had been in the picture when “scholarship” money appeared out of nowhere, allowing Susan to get an education.
“It was you,” Susan said, admiration and awe in her voice. “You were my fairy godmother all those years ago.”
Liza laughed. “Well, I’ve never thought of myself in quite that way, but yes. It was me.”
Susan clasped Liza’s hands. “Why? How? Thank you. Oh!” Overwhelmed, she hugged Liza, not minding the tears that streaked down her face.
Jessica beamed. “I told you it would be okay,” she told Gabriel.
Susan and Liza clung to each other. “Why?” Susan asked. “Why me?”
“Because,” Liza said, wiping a tear from Susan’s face. “Because in you I saw so much potential. So much promise. All you needed was a helping hand. You’ve done all the hard work. All I did was plant a seed.”
“Oh, Liza.” She faced Gabriel. “But how did you get involved?”
“Jessica asked if I’d participate. I told her only if you were the guaranteed winner of my date.”
Jessica took a look around, then consulted the list she held. “Travis,” she said, calling him over. “Looks like you’re up soon.”
“And you,” Susan said, pointing to Jessica.
Gabriel took her free hand.
Seeing the intimate gesture, Jessica grinned. “I knew I was on target.”
The two women hugged. “Thank you, Jessi,” Susan said.
“Just have fun,” Jessica said. “And who knows,” she added on a whisper for Susan’s ears only. “Maybe a wedding will come out of this.”
