Page 8 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

The last of the crowd filled the tight space. Ernie Fields, who always wore the same faded brown Carhartt jacket, passed by and said, ‘You don’t belong here.’

Brad Fulton sneered at me from under a thick mop of dark hair, adding, ‘Go back to Phoenix.’ He’d only had his contractor’s license for a year and already gained a reputation for whining about the price of lumber and choosing cheap finishes.

They could grumble all they wanted, but nobody would be sneering or laughing when I outbid them on the best house on Diego’s list today.

The final bidder, a guy in a dark blue suit and black sunglasses, was the last to enter the courtyard. Great. Another outsider. Probably a proxy here to bid for a real estate developer who wanted to tear down the beautiful home and build a bunch of cookie-cutter condos that had about as much appeal as a glass of warm milk. He moved into the shade of the magnolia like he didn’t want to be seen.

‘Let’s go over the rules before we get started.’ Diego’s deep brown eyes lit up as he began to list each address for sale. ‘All these homes are sold as is. There are no warranties or returns. The winning bid will assume any liens or back property taxes. If you secure any of these houses, you will be expected to sign on the dotted line and take ownership today. If you can’t pay for your final bid with a cashier’s check, you forfeit your ten-thousand-dollar deposit. Are we clear?’

The crowd bobbed their heads in agreement. I glanced at the man in the suit. There was something familiar about the set of his shoulders. The way his light brown hair swept over his forehead.

‘Good. Let’s begin.’ Diego raced through the first five houses on the list. I hoped as people made their bids, and lost, they’d trickle away, but the crowd still stood shoulder to shoulder in the courtyard when Diego announced, ‘Our final property today is 2227 Huckleberry Lane. It’s three thousand four hundred square feet. Four bedrooms, two baths, located on a corner lot. We’ll open up at two hundred thousand dollars and take bids in one-thousand-dollar increments.’

Manny leaned in. ‘What’s our max for this place?’

‘Two sixty-five,’ I said. ‘Comps in the neighborhood are coming in right at around three eighty to four hundred.’

‘And what’s our reno budget?’ he asked.

‘Around a hundred thousand.’

The key was to take the auction slow. See who the anxious bidders were. The ones who came in with a number first and had the least money to spend. The people to watch out for were the quiet bidders. They took their time. Waited on the auctioneer to call for last bids and then swooped in and offered a ridiculous amount that knocked out the rest of the competition.

My gaze veered back to the guy in the dark suit. Most of his face was blocked by the tree’s wide branches, but I could make out a small tick of a smile. It could have been a friendly gesture, but there was something about it that was unnerving. He was trying to intimidate me. I may not have looked serious with sawdust covering my ratty, loose ponytail and paint splattered across my overalls, but I played this game better than any suit from Nashville.

Cam Willoughby, an old-timer with a reputation for high finishes and taking forever to turn a house, chimed in with the minimum opening bid. Lucas Pride, the newest contractor in town who was known to cut corners, choosing cheap laminate over hardwood floors and prefab cabinets over custom, followed up with another bid, a thousand dollars higher. They went back and forth like old biddies arguing over whose pie was better at the church potluck.

Manny elbowed my side. ‘You better get in there.’

I lifted the paddle as high as I could to get Diego’s attention, and damn if it didn’t shake even though I did my best to hold still. ‘Two hundred ten thousand.’

Cam and Lucas went at it again until they neared the two twenty-five mark. Diego swung his hand between the two over and over until a deep, low voice behind me called out, ‘Two hundred and fifty thousand.’

The two men’s mouths dropped open. Manny’s hand tightened around my arm. ‘You better start bidding again or that suit is gonna run away with it.’

Before he could finish the sentence, my hand shot up. ‘Two hundred and fifty-five thousand.’

Cam and Lucas shook their heads when Diego pointed in their direction. He repeated the number, and they both dropped back into the crowd mumbling that it was too much.

‘We’re at two fifty-five,’ Diego announced. ‘Two fifty-five. Do I hear two fifty-six?’

The crowd went quiet. I tried not to show any emotion, though I felt like bouncing on my toes in glee. Ten thousand dollars under my max budget was an incredible buy. With that extra cash, we could fix up the front yard. Add a few perennials. Maybe a sprinkler system. Give the house real curb appeal. All I needed was for Diego to confirm my final bid and Huckleberry Lane would be mine.

‘Two hundred and seventy thousand dollars.’ The voice boomed behind me.

‘That’s the proxy in the suit,’ Manny said, his voice tighter than piano wire.

Oh, hell no. A corporate stooge was not outbidding me. I didn’t want to imagine what a developer would do to it. Visions of wrecking balls made me fume. This was my house. I wasn’t going to walk away, not when it could mean so much to the community. My arm got halfway up to bid again when Manny stopped me.

‘Don’t do it, Torran. I know you want the house, but we’re gonna go bankrupt if you bid any higher. I love this job and I need to put food on the table for Louisa. Let this one go. Please.’

I wanted the place so bad I was willing to go over budget even if it meant having to beg my dad for the cash. I envisioned painting the eaves a soft white, the perfect contrast to onyx-black shutters. How a custom hand-carved oak door from my favorite carpenter in Franklin would add to its charm. Restoring it to its original beauty would prove to everyone in Ivy Falls that these houses were worth saving.

I wanted to argue until I saw the fear in Manny’s eyes. He’d gone right for the jugular when he mentioned Louisa. He knew how much I adored his young daughter.

I took a shuddering breath and lowered my paddle.

Diego called out the suit’s bid again. It echoed inside my head like an agonizing scream. I clutched Manny’s arm. All eyes watched me, waiting to see if I’d jump back in. I lifted my chin and waited until Diego’s voice called out, ‘Sold.’ With that single word, small fissures found their way into my heart. Huckleberry Lane was gone and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.