Always and Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

look back to see Ryan’s eyes get huge because Mike won and now I chuckle. Good for
     her. This could be the start of something for them. She moves off the stage going
     behind the curtain, opposite from where I’m now walking onto it, then suddenly turns
     and looks at me before doing a happy dance, excited that Mike “won” her which cracks
     me up. And then I choke on my laugh because when I look out to the crowd, I see that
     Mike’s approached the table to the side of the stage to pay Zelda Matthews, the town’s
     treasurer, and he clearly sees Ryan do her jig which makes him raise an eyebrow. When
     I look back at her, she’s all kinds of embarrassed, face red, eyes huge and the mortification
     of getting caught apparent on her face and I again have to laugh.
    So now it’s my turn to be auctioned. I find I’m feeling somewhat confident because
     I haven’t seen Brody anywhere which actually makes this easier. I’d thought I kind
     of wanted to stick it to him by doing this, but somewhere between yesterday and today,
     I decided to be an adult and don’t really want to hurt him anymore. I walk over to
     where Mr. A is standing at the podium in the middle of the stage and he winks and
     smiles sweetly at me. He and my dad went to school together, so I’ve known him my
     whole life.
    “Ready to do this, sweetheart?” he inquires off mic, his face now full of concern.
     He knows about Brody and my breakup as does everyone else in town, and knows it’s
     been rough on me. He’s got a daughter who’s a few years older than I am and he’s probably
     dealt with a breakup or two with her so I know he gets it. He’s been like an uncle to me and it means a lot that he cares. I bite my lips, giving him a
     little nod and take a deep breath as I turn to face the crowd.
    “Okay, we’ve got pretty, little Piper Knowlton here, folks. She’s been kind enough
     to come up here to help out Serenity Point, so let’s start the bidding out at ten
     dol…”
    Before he can get the whole word out, I hear someone holler out, “Ten!” then another
     shouts, “Fifteen!” followed by, “Twenty!”
    Mr. A turns and grins at me in approval. If this isn’t good for a girl’s ego, I don’t
     know what is.
    Until I realize who’s bidding.
    My heart zings to my throat because Brody’s standing front and center and puts his
     hand up as Mr. A calls out, “Can I get twenty-five?”
    Shit. Where’d he come from? God, isn’t there something fireman-y that he needs to
     be doing? I look down and frown at him only to get a smirk right back. Jerk.
    The bidding continues and someone shouts out for thirty dollars. Brody counters with
     thirty-five and back and forth it goes. I have no idea who’s making the other bid
     because they’re at the back of the hall and the lighting’s not so good there.
    “Forty-five, forty-five! Will you give me fifty?” Mr. A hollers.
    “Fifty!”
    “Fifty-five! Fifty-five! Who’ll give fifty-five?”
    Before I know it, the bid’s up to ninety dollars. Holy cow. The highest anyone’s ever
     gotten is eighty and that was when Peyton Capps’ dad went against Dax Baker, our present
     mayor, last year. She’d been all smug, prancing around afterward as if she was the
     belle of the ball which made us all want to punch her since we knew she’d been having
     an affair with Dax while she was married (which probably caused her divorce) and being
     bid on just made her look like the hooker that she was.
    The bidding continues and now I’m sweating. Gross. But what if Brody wins? I’m not
     ready to spend any time with him yet! He needs to stop!
    Glancing to my right I see Ryan and Greer who’ve come to the front and both are giving
     me a thumbs up. What does that mean? Greer has Addie on her hip and I see her little
     almost fourteen-month old self try to put her thumb up too which makes me giggle despite
     all the craziness that’s going on right now. Then Greer mouths, “Clay,”