Chapter Nine
J ust because someone is a bachelor doesn’t mean they should be included.”
Delilah nodded, agreeing with Merry. They were sitting around the Winters’ dining room table in Holly and Merry’s parents’ home on Wednesday, discussing the details of the bachelor auction. Although they’d already compiled an excellent list, they were still ten bachelors short, and they’d been deliberating for over an hour.
“They are a part of the town and should be included,” Holly said, writing Trip’s and Brodie’s names on the whiteboard she’d brought. It was propped on an easel, and Merry snagged the eraser from the table. She got up slowly, rubbing her stomach, and Delilah wondered if it hurt or it was an instinctual move.
“Are you going to deal with them during the auction and the days leading up to it?” Merry asked, pointing the eraser at Holly. “Because my blood pressure won’t be able to take it.”
“Lies, you are the picture of health,” Holly said, positioning herself in front of the board. “You just don’t want to deal with them.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” Merry tickled her sister’s ribs and Holly moved out of the way, giggling. Merry took the opportunity to erase the names again. “Therefore, we agree. No jerks.”
“Delilah, help me out.” Holly flopped into the closest chair, clasping her hands in front of her. “Even if we don’t like someone, other women in town will fall all over themselves to bid on them.”
Delilah shot Merry an apologetic smile. “She isn’t wrong.”
“Fine, we’ll come back to them. Who else do we have?”
“I think we should ask other women of different ages. We’re limiting ourselves to men in our age group and above. At the gym …” Delilah’s face burned. She tried to think of the right way to word what she wanted to convey, or Holly would be all over her.
“What about the gym?” Holly asked.
Delilah tucked a hair back behind her ear. “I saw some men I didn’t recognize that were interesting looking.”
“Interesting how?” Holly asked, watching her squirm.
“It should not be this hard to fill a bachelor auction roster,” Merry muttered, taking the seat next to Holly.
“I just mean that there were men from their early twenties to their mid-sixties, and we shouldn’t just assume that every woman wants what we do. We must broaden our search.”
There had been several men at the gym she’d noticed since she started going Monday, but she didn’t want to admit to herself there was only one she was looking for. When she’d bumped into Anthony after her explosion at his shop, Delilah had expected him to approach her to talk about it. Instead, he’d left without a word, and she couldn’t decipher if she was relieved or disappointed.
“Good point. Maybe we should put it out on social media? It would be a good way to garner interest, and the men can come to us,” Holly said, crooking her finger. “Come here, big boy. You know you wanna be auctioned for charity.”
Delilah laughed. It had been a long time since she’d hung out with both Winters sisters, but it was lovely to be invited. Even if she wasn’t a Christmas enthusiast, this time of year was essential to the town, as were all the events leading up to it. She wanted to do her part.
If only she hadn’t noticed Anthony’s truck by the tree tent outside. Delilah knew that Anthony and Pike came out to help the Winters family prepare for the rush of townspeople who picked up their trees the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of a family business, they should call the tree farm a family and friends business. She hoped he’d be too busy setting up for the post-Thanksgiving crowds to come to the house and would stay out in the flocking tent.
“On another note, do we want them to come out in casual, evening, or costumes?” Holly asked.
Delilah laughed. “Costumes? Like what, the Village People?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a lumberjack. Handyman. Cop,” Holly drawled out each word seductively, waggling her eyebrows.
“You’re getting a little extra there, Hol, and I’m going to need you to dial it back,” Merry said.
“I’m a saleswoman and fantasy sells.”
The front door opened, and Clark came through with Nick, Pike, Anthony, and Declan trailing behind. Delilah’s stomach dropped as she took in Anthony’s disheveled appearance before he disappeared into the bathroom. Pike waved at her before he headed into the kitchen. The faucet turned on, and several of the men joined him, presumably to wash their hands.
“You look like you’ve been rolling on the ground,” Merry said, lifting her face for a kiss from Clark. He leaned down to oblige her. He pulled away, holding his hands up. “I’m disgusting, or I’d hug you, too.”
Merry’s Great Pyrenees, Daisy, got up from the bed in the living room corner and trotted around, greeting each man, starting with Clark.
“Hey, Daisy Mae,” he said, his gaze traveling over the room. “Where is Jace?”
“He went with Mom to grab pizzas,” Merry said, referring to their son. “With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, she didn’t want to cook.”
When Anthony returned to the room, Delilah tried to look anywhere but at him. She’d already noticed too much about him, like how the green of his flannel was the same color as his eyes or that his neck was streaked with dirt before he’d headed into the bathroom. Delilah busied herself with reading the list of men who had agreed to participate in the bachelor auction so she wouldn’t accidentally catch his gaze. Or Pike’s.
After Anthony awkwardly threw her under the bus by mentioning his blanket at the shop, she’d made up a story about locking herself out of her car and Anthony letting her use his blanket to stay warm. Pike hadn’t pressed her for more, especially after she ducked out when she spotted Holly, but he had followed her to get her number. It should have thrilled her, but she’d been impatient, itching to escape him.
Delilah wasn’t sure how it had happened, but her interest in Pike had fizzled like an antacid in a cup of water.
Ironically, she’d instigated changes in her life meant to catch the attention of sexually confident men, and the one she had wanted for so long was there for the taking, but now she found his interest insulting. Everyone knew how she felt about Pike, and he first noticed her because of a shiny dress like a ferret and a set of keys. Delilah hadn’t considered how frustrating it would be if her plan worked on men who had known her for years. Or it could be his overexuberant attention that turned her off? Sex-gods were supposed to be relaxed and commanding.
Like Anthony ordering you to stay in the truck so your feet wouldn’t get cold?
Nope, she wasn’t thinking about Anthony in that capacity. He’d stopped their kiss last year because he wasn’t interested. He’d laughed at her when she admitted the truth about her wardrobe upgrade. Plus, the way he’d disappeared at the gym after seeing her? He was a coward, and she didn’t have the patience for his games.
“What are you ladies working on?” Pike asked, coming up behind Delilah’s chair and holding on to the back, his fingers grazing her shoulders through her sweater.
“The bachelor auction,” Holly said.
“What about it?” Anthony took the seat across from Delilah, and she could have screamed in frustration. He wore a dirty Broncos hat over his dark hair with the brim pushed up, his green eyes on her.
“We’re deciding what the bachelors should wear.”
Anthony smirked. “Clothes, preferably.”
“I don’t know; I think I look good in the buff,” Pike said.
“No nudity!” Merry said loudly.
“I agree,” Holly said, pointing at the board. “Do you guys think we should exclude men because we don’t like them?”
“Yes,” the men chorused, and Holly threw up her hands.
“Seriously, I thought you would be the voices of reason.”
“If you dislike them, something must be wrong,” Nick said.
“They wouldn’t be dangerous,” Holly grumbled, before elaborating, “Just assholes.”
Declan walked around the table and rubbed Holly’s shoulders. “Do you want to send them off with some unsuspecting woman if you think they’re douchebags?”
Pike nodded. “Some women are into jerks.”
“I’ve never understood that,” Delilah said, her gaze flicking to Anthony. When he arched an eyebrow, she looked away, her cheeks burning.
“What? Women liking jerks?” Pike asked, taking the seat next to her. “Everyone has a soul mate, even assholes.”
Delilah laughed. “You believe in soul mates?”
Pike’s expression was incredulous as he reared back in his chair. “Sure, don’t you?”
“No,” Delilah said flatly.
“What do you believe in?” Anthony asked.
Delilah finally looked at Anthony, who was watching her with a neutral expression, which contrasted with the loaded question he’d lobbed at her. Only his eyes gave away his interest in her answer, the green orbs bright and focused.
“I believe in being in love because you want to be,” Delilah said, unable to look away from the intensity in his eyes. “Not because you think the universe planned it out.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, and I’ll give you an example,” Pike said, clapping his hands and holding them out like a presenter. “My good buddy, Nick—”
“Why am I a part of this conversation?” Nick asked.
“Shush, the grown-ups are talking,” Pike said, earning a laugh from the others, while Nick rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Nick went to serve his country, came back, and got dumped. All these things had to align for him to fall in love with his soul mate, Noel.”
“Or they happened to be single simultaneously, which allowed them to explore their feelings,” Delilah said.
“I’m against being used as the case study for either of your arguments,” Nick griped.
“Help me out here, man,” Pike said, addressing Anthony and ignoring Nick’s protests.
Anthony shrugged. “I don’t think I have anything to add to this.”
“Why not?” Holly asked, joining the conversation from the comfort of Declan’s lap.
Anthony glanced away when he answered, “I’ve never been in love, so I don’t know why it happens.”
Delilah’s jaw dropped. “Never?”
His cheeks flushed. “Nope.”
“What about Yvette?” Pike asked, pointing at his friend. “You dated her for a year after high school.”
“Just because I stayed with someone doesn’t mean it’s love,” Anthony scoffed. “Look at Nick. He was with Amber for how many years?”
Nick grabbed the dry eraser from Merry’s hand and chucked it at Anthony. “I would appreciate it if you would stop talking about me and my romantic past, especially since my wife will be here any minute.”
Pike made a face. “Is it just me, or is it weird that he calls Noel ‘wife’ instead of by her name?”
“It’s an accurate description,” Nick growled.
“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Merry hollered, retrieving her eraser from the floor and glowering at them.
The group quieted, and Merry burst into tears. Clark hugged her, obviously fighting a smile.
“What did we do?” Holly stage whispered.
“You’re all aggravating her,” Clark said, glaring at his sister-in-law with mock ferocity, “and I won’t tolerate it.”
Merry sniffled loudly. “I love you, but you smell.”
Clark released her and stepped back. “I do?”
“Someone does.” She sniffed the air and gagged. “Yeah, no, you all need to go shower. You smell like moldy sweat.”
“Damn, that’s harsh,” Pike said, lifting his arm. He held it out to Delilah. “Do I smell bad?”
Delilah burst out laughing, leaning away from his pit. “I don’t want to find out.”
“It’s probably me,” Nick said, heading toward his sister. “I didn’t shower this morning before coming over to help. What do you think, Merry?” He lifted his arm and shoved his pit in his sister’s face.
Merry’s scream turned into a series of dry heaves, and she pushed him away, dropping the dry eraser in the process. Daisy, who had returned to her bed, jumped to her feet with a ferocious bark. Nick backed off with his hands up as the one hundred and twenty pounds of fluffy white fur rushed toward him.
“Uncle Nick was just playing, Dais!”
“Kill him, baby!” Merry gasped, scrambling toward the first door to the left with Daisy right behind her. Merry shut it before the dog could follow her inside, yelling through the door, “I hate you, Nick Winters!”
“Not cool, man,” Clark said, glaring at Nick while Daisy pawed at the door and whined. “She’s got a sensitive stomach, and everything sets her off.”
“Clark, you know I love you like a brother”—Nick clasped the other man on the shoulder and pointed toward the closed bathroom door— “but that is my sister, and I will torture her even on my deathbed.”
Delilah bit back a laugh. She didn’t have siblings and watching the antics between the Winters siblings and their in-laws had her second-guessing if she should be thankful or envious.
“It’s alright, Clark. I’ll get him back later,” Holly said, pointing the dry-erase marker her sister had dropped. “Better watch your back, brother dear.”
“Whoa, why are you coming for me?” Nick asked Holly. “You should be Switzerland in this!”
Holly laughed mockingly. “Merry is the incubator for my future niece or nephew. Her value has surpassed yours.”
“Please don’t call your sister an incubator to her face,” Clark begged, his gaze shooting toward the bathroom door nervously.
“I won’t,” Holly said, climbing off Declan’s lap to pat Clark on the back, “but only because you’re my favorite brother-in-law.”
“I’m your only brother-in-law.”
“Yeah, lucky for you,” she mumbled, going back to being cocooned in Declan’s lap.
Clark huffed, addressing Declan. “Run for it, man.”
“I can’t.” He leaned over and kissed the side of her neck. “She knows how I like my coffee.”
Holly wrinkled her nose. “You do stink, babe.”
Declan chuckled, burying his head into her neck with a growl, and she squealed, grabbing on to the back of his head. Delilah’s cheeks burned when her best friend’s face contorted, and a little moan escaped her.
“Dude,” Nick shouted. “That’s my sister.”
Holly glared at Nick before flashing Declan a devilish smile. “I think we should go home and get cleaned up.”
“Hey, none of that,” Delilah protested. “We need to finish this, and there will be no distractions until we do.” Delilah flashed the big man an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Declan.”
“He’s used to you cockblocking him,” Holly joked, only to scream when Declan tickled her.
“I don’t cockblock him! I’m sure he finished just fine the other morning,” Delilah quipped.
The guys erupted into a multitude of groans and laughter. Declan released Holly’s shoulders, shaking his head. “Yeah, I am not getting in the middle of this.”
The bathroom door opened, and Merry came out with shimmering eyes. She walked past them toward the living room, Daisy trotting by her side. “I’m going to lie down.”
“Do you need any water?” Clark asked.
“No,” she said, sitting down on the couch. “I just want all of you stinky bastards to go away.”
“I’m sorry for making you puke, Sis,” Nick said.
Merry held up her hand. “I do not forgive you.”
“I’ll get him for you, Mer,” Holly said, flashing an evil grin. “It will be good.”
Merry nodded her head regally. “Thank you.”
“What about the bachelor auction?” Delilah asked.
“I’m here listening,” Merry said, lying back on the couch with her arm over her eyes. “Holly can write. Find me ten more bachelors.” Merry tilted her head up and lifted her arm to glare at all of them. “If you try to sneak Trip onto that list, I will get up and lose my cookies all over both of you.”
“I’m going to go home and get cleaned up,” Clark said, hovering over her. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”
“I’m good here. Take Nick with you, please. He is the smelliest.”
Clark kissed her forehead swiftly and headed straight for his brother-in-law. He grabbed Nick around the neck, dragging him toward the door. “You heard her. I’ll let you borrow some clothes.”
“I’ll just go home and get cleaned up,” Nick protested.
Holly got up from Declan’s lap, crossing to the whiteboard. “Where were we?”
“Finding Merry ten more bachelors,” Delilah offered, before adding, “except for the two who are douchebags.”
“Trip is who you’re talking about excluding?” Anthony said, his voice strained.
“Yeah, and Brodie William.” Delilah noticed his dark scowl under the brim of his hat and frowned. “Why?”
“I just think that’s a good call,” he said, gruffly. “They’re pricks.”
“I agree,” Delilah said, thinking about the times Trip had made comments about her when he’d passed by her in public. Delilah knew he meant for her to hear, otherwise, wouldn’t he have waited until she was gone to talk about her?
Anthony frowned at her. “Why do you say that?”
“I can’t agree with you about someone’s character?” she asked.
Anthony leaned onto the table, his eyes boring into her intensely. “Did they say something to you?”
“Not lately, but I know how they are,” Delilah said, her nose scrunched in distaste. “They’re dogs.”
Anthony glanced over at Nick, who shook his head as Clark ushered him out the door. Delilah watched Anthony’s jaw clench at the silent warning and wondered, What was that about?
“I’ll be back in a bit, Mer,” Clark called over his shoulder before the door shut.
“Okay,” she said weakly.
“It’s an auction, not a popularity contest,” Holly muttered, tapping the dry-erase pen against her palm. “I still say we include them.”
“Any other suggestions?” Delilah asked, refusing to get into a debate with Holly about this without Merry as backup.
“What about Shane Hill?” Pike offered.
Delilah brightened. “Oh, yeah. The new firefighter. He’s nice. We had an issue when the heaters kicked on at school, and a mouse nest caught fire in the vents. They had to call the department, and he came out to tell us we were all good.”
“Doing his job makes him nice?” Anthony asked with an obvious ’tude in his tone.
She raised her eyebrow. “He also introduced himself to the teachers. When I told him I was just a sub, he commented about me being a superhero because I can tackle any age or subject.”
“At least we know he’s got game,” Pike joked.
Delilah swatted him playfully. “He wasn’t flirting with me.”
“Oh, he was. You just didn’t appreciate it.” Pike’s blue eyes sparkled, leaning his elbow on the table and cradling his head in his hand. “Not the way you do me.”
“Hey, Romeo, court my bestie on your own time. If you want to stay, then get your head in the game.” Holly wrote down his name. “Alright, Shane is on the list. Who else?”
“Let me think about it while I hydrate,” Delilah said, getting up and walking around the dining room table to where Merry was lying on the couch. “I’m going to get a glass of water. Are you sure you don’t want something to drink or a cool compress?”
“Actually, I’d like both,” Merry whispered, flashing her a small smile. “Thanks, Delilah.”
“Of course.”
“I’m tapping out to use the restroom.” Pike got up and headed for the bathroom but suddenly spun around, snapping his fingers. “Ollie Vincent. He worked the road crew with us and is divorced now. Good guy. Carry on.”
“I’ll be right back,” Delilah said, heading into the kitchen. Growing up, she’d been in the Winters home enough times that she knew where everything was. She watched Pike disappear into the bathroom, wondering at his overzealous flirtation. If he asked her out, how would she explain that she was no longer into him?
While Delilah grabbed a glass from the cupboard, she heard Holly ask from the other room, “Do the rest of you have anyone else in your back pocket?”
“If I give up eleven names, can I sit this out?” Anthony asked.
Delilah was surprised that Anthony didn’t want to do it. She’d never heard that he was the shy type.
“Absolutely not,” Holly snapped.
“Whoa, I was just asking.”
“You’re like a white whale, Ant,” Holly said, and Delilah could tell by the glee in her voice that Holly was grinning. “Especially now that we know you’re a love virgin. Every girl is going to be clamoring to be the one to steal your heart.”
The image of women rushing the stage, possibly chucking panties at Anthony like he was a rock star, soured her stomach. Delilah reentered the room in time to overhear Anthony grumble, “Hey, I didn’t share that for you to use it as public information. I don’t like that.”
Neither do I . Delilah handed Merry the glass of water and the cool compress she’d collected and went back to her seat.
“Fine,” Holly said ruefully, “but your green eyes are too pretty not to exploit.”
She resisted the urge to tell her friend they weren’t going to exploit anyone. If she defended Anthony, it would bring unwanted speculation as to why. Especially for Holly, who could sniff out a secret better than Sherlock.
Declan wrapped an arm around Holly’s waist. “Hey, hey. The only eyes I want you complimenting are mine.”
“They’re different shades,” Delilah said, realizing too late she’d said that aloud. The entire room was staring at her, including Merry, whose eyes had been closed right before she’d spoken. “I just mean that Declan’s are light hazel, and Anthony’s are a deeper green. Besides, noticing someone’s eyes doesn’t mean you’re interested in them.”
“Thank you for pointing that out, Del,” Holly said, her brown eyes watching her intensely. Holly wasn’t the only one in the room studying her and Delilah squirmed in her seat when she caught Anthony smirking.
The front door opened, and Mrs. Winters entered with Jace. “Soup’s on!”
Saved by the pizza.