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With a list of neighborhood friends and family, a holiday silent auction was soon organized, with very little effort on her part.
People from all around the neighborhood donated items to the auction in exchange for advertising their business. Carol got gift cards to every single restaurant in the area, bundled with different food samples from each of those restaurants to entice people even more. The antique store donated an old rocking chair, a beautiful thing that she knew would go for quite a bit of money. The new yoga studio gifted a month of free classes; the dance studio offered a children’s birthday party certificate. The quaint bed and breakfast offered a weekend getaway. It was an endless amount of donations that had her walking back and forth around the neighborhood, Brett’s storage room getting fuller and fuller with each donation.
Soon enough, Carol knew that not only did she have a nice little silent auction organized, but everyone in the neighborhood would be sure to attend and support the party.
Lacy went with Carol for every visit, which was a great help seeing as she knew pretty much everyone. She learned from her visits that Brett lived in the neighborhood since he was born and while his mother got ill and died when he and Andrew were just children, his father raised them before he himself got sick much later in life.
Andrew was already off in law school, leaving Brett to take care of his dad, and when John died, everyone pitched in to help with Carlington Auto Shop, which had been John’s pride and joy. The story made her stomach clench in sadness for Brett’s troubled life, but everyone insisted that things were much better now.
After a few days of work, everything was organized enough to present the plans to Brett. Carol and Lacy sat him down the third afternoon after she’d gotten started, laying out all the drawings and lists and explaining the game plan. Brett listened through the entire pitch, looking through the lists of donated items and sketches of how she wanted to decorate the garage. Carol could have sworn she saw a twinkle in his eye at her sketch of his car front and center, it being the centerpiece of the party.
Finally, she was done talking and she only had to wait for his decision, crossing her fingers discreetly under the table.
If Brett didn’t want to accept Carol’s help and give the small, but necessary monetary input to front the party, she had no idea what she’d do to help the shop and get through her unfinished business before Christmas.
“Okay, Carol,” he finally said, his eyes still on the papers in his hand. “You really do know your stuff; I can admit that. If this is truly your cost and the estimated income, it’s definitely worth it and I say let’s go for it.”
Lacy cheered, bounding over to her father and wrapping her arms around his neck. Brett laughed, hugging her back.
“Isn’t she wonderful, Daddy?” Lacy asked, excitement in her voice. “Carol is so smart and everyone loves her and she’s super pretty, too.”
She blushed and looked away, unable to watch as Brett studied her. “I hope you haven’t been too much trouble, Lacy-bear,” Brett responded, instead of answering her questions and comments. She was slightly disappointed to not hear Brett’s opinion.
She was not here to start a relationship with Brett Carlington, as handsome and charming as the man was. She was here to help save his auto shop.
“No trouble, Daddy, I promise!” Lacy insisted, turning back to her. “Right, Carol?”
She looked back at the excited blond girl, nodding. “You’ve been very helpful, Lacy. I can tell how much everyone in the neighborhood loves you and your daddy,” she replied, seeing Brett’s shoulders relax at her statement.
“Everyone loves Daddy ’cause he’s so handsome,” Lacy said, earning a teasing pinch on her arm.
“You need to do your homework now, bear,” Brett said, scooting Lacy back toward her chair at the desk and giving her one last glance.
“And Carol,” Brett said before leaving, “I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve done already. You didn’t have to stop in my little shop and offer to volunteer here; that was all on your own. And the way you and Lacy have been the past few days, it’s been amazing. Would you like to have dinner with us, since you won’t let me pay you for your services for the party?”
Carol looked at Brett, seeing something just behind his eyes. There was no way she could say no to this man.
“I’d love to.”
6
The next evening,instead of going home to her mysteriously acquired apartment a few blocks away and falling immediately into bed, she walked home with Brett and Lacy. Lacy chatted her ear off the entire walk, breaking up any awkwardness that could have been there had it just been Carol and Brett.
She didn’t know what exactly it was, but Carol and Brett hadn’t gotten to the point of being comfortable around each other. She could blame a few things—the secrets she was keeping from him, Lacy constantly being there to occupy her time, her growing attraction to the man and inability to keep her heartbeat under control while she was around him—but she wasn’t sure why he seemed uncomfortable.
Carol supposed it was for the best, as she was sure to be leaving after the party.
Immediately upon arriving at the Carlingtons’ apartment, Lacy dragged her to see her room, very excited to have Carol in her space. She spent about ten minutes in Lacy’s room, getting a full tour of everything from her bookshelf to her closet.
Finally, she heard Brett in the kitchen, calling for Lacy to stop hiding from her chores. She gave her a dramatic eye roll before heading to the kitchen, Carol following behind her.
“Alright, Lacy-bear, get your stool out,” Brett instructed, watching her grab a stepstool from beside the refrigerator as he finished peeling the potato in his hand. “Carol, I hope you like steak?”
She nodded, smiling at Brett. “Love it, thank you.”
Brett smiled back, his eyes lingering on her a bit longer than necessary before he slid a bowl in front of Lacy. He handed her a hand masher and dropped two potatoes into the bowl. “Mash away,” he said, laughing a bit when Lacy went to town on the potatoes. Once Brett was satisfied that Lacy was hard at work and not going to hurt herself, he turned to her.
“Want to make a salad?” he asked, obviously unsure if she would be open to the idea of helping cook when she was a guest.
