Jack rolled his eyes. “Do you really believe that? She’d never admit I broke up with her.”
“Could you two keep it down?” Hazel said, her penciled-in eyebrows forming aVabove her eyes. “I’m trying to hear the instructions.”
“Sorry,” Harper said.
“Why don’t we go outside and talk,” Jack said, whispering again.
She wasn’t getting into the middle of Jack and Brielle’s personal mess. Shaking her head, she leaned away from him and stared at the stage as the first bachelor came out and the audience started bidding.
Jack muttered a curse under his breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s coming this way.”
Harper turned around to see Brielle heading straight for them. For crying out loud. This was turning into a circus. Or a nightmare.
“Hello,” Brielle said to Harper as she sat down at the table. Then she turned to Jack and scowled.
The crowd broke into applause, and Brooks motioned for the first winning bidder to come up onto the stage and meet her bachelor. Harper glanced around and saw the smiling and laughing faces of the attendees. Everyone seemed to be enjoying tonight—except for her.
“Hey,” a man’s voice rang out from the back of the room. “Where are the bachelorettes?”
“They’ll be at next year’s gala,” Brooks said smoothly, then said the date. “Mark your calendars, single gents!”
“Harper,” Jack said, his mouth inches from her ear. “I need to talk to you.”
“Now, ladies, you’re going to love our next bachelor.” Brooks held up his notes. “A man ofexperience, this bachelor enjoys playing cards, fishing, and strolls under the moonlight, as long as he’s home by nine. Introducing Russell Jenkins Sr.!”
Senior sauntered out, his hands in the pockets of his pants, as casual and pleased as could be. Even Harper smiled when he pointed and winked at several women in the audience. Immediately, brochure numbers flew up, and Senior basked in his glory.
“Oh, why not.” Hazel lifted her brochure. “He’s a cutie.”
Jack nudged Harper’s side. “Harper—”
“I’m watching the auction.”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to bid on one of these guys.”
She looked at him. “What if I am? That’s my business, not yours.”
“Your business used to be mine, remember.” He reached for her hand under the table.
Yuck.Yanking her hand out of his, she scooted closer to Hazel, not missing the glare Brielle was shooting her.
The bidding went on longer than expected, and the winner wasn’t her seatmate but an older woman who looked age appropriate for Rusty’s grandfather. When she reached the stage, Senior said, “Hello, darlin’,” and they walked off together. If Harper wasn’t so tense from being seated next to a guy who wouldn’t get the message and a woman who couldn’t stop launching visual daggers at her, she would have sighed, it was so adorable.
Jack rose from the table and left. Harper slumped back in her seat.
“I don’t like him,” Hazel muttered, pointing an arthritic finger over her shoulder in Jack’s direction. “He seems like a slimy character.”
“Trust me, he is.”
Brielle leaned over the table. “You’re not going to get him back.”
Harper tried to count to ten, only making it to five. “I don’twanthim back. He’s all yours.”
The next bachelor was the young man she’d met backstage, and as soon as Brooks stopped talking, Hazel went into action and Harper ignored Brielle. After a few bids,Hazel won. “Oh, wonderful!” she said, clasping her hands together. She turned to Harper and whispered, “My granddaughter will be so surprised.”
“You’re fixing them up?”
Hazel nodded. “I’ll be their chaperone, of course.”
