4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
T hree months.
Thirteen weeks.
Ninety-one days.
That was how long it had been since Maxi had last stepped foot on Bluestar Island. The time had flown by. She’d been busy from the time she got up in the morning until she fell into bed at night.
It felt good to be back on the island. The summer sun was hot, but the sea breeze made it comfortable.
She lifted her face to the August sun. It had been a long time since she'd spent some leisurely time enjoying the summer.
The past three months had been spent scraping by in order to buy car parts, working long hours, and restoring her father's old MG.
There had been a few—okay, it was more than a few, more like plenty of—moments, when she reached a point where she was so tempted to give up on restoring the car.
She'd told herself that three months wasn't long enough to find all of the specialty parts and make the necessary repairs, but she wouldn’t let herself stop working.
And then by some miracle, it had all worked out.
She was now officially entered in Bluestar’s Vintage Grand Prix.
The prize money would be just what her aunt needed to make some necessary repairs to her aging home.
Of course, she hadn’t mentioned to her aunt what she intended to do with the prize money.
Maxi didn’t want to disappoint Aunt Bonnie if she didn’t win the race.
Max had never taken part in a motor race before.
That was why she'd arrived a week early in order to take advantage of the practice race.
She wanted to make sure the car was tuned up just right, and she also wanted to check out the course.
Looking at it on a paper was totally different than actually driving it.
Her car was now parked in a white tent in the school parking lot amongst dozens of other white tents. It would remain there for the week until the grand prix the following weekend.
After making sure everything appeared all right with the car after the long journey, Maxi locked the car doors. It was time to head to her aunt’s house. She'd promised Aunt Bonnie that she would be back in time for dinner.
Her aunt had refused to tell her what was on the menu, but Maxi had been able to tell by her aunt's broad smile that it was something special. Her aunt was a fantastic cook so Maxi was guaranteed a delicious meal. And there was a good chance there would be apple crisp for dessert, since it was her aunt’s specialty. Her stomach rumbled its anticipation.
She lowered the flaps on the tent and then tied them shut. When she turned around, she didn’t see very many people in the restricted area. She noticed how most of them were men. She wasn’t honestly surprised.
She worked in a male-dominated profession, but she refused to let it stop her. It only made her more determined to show them that a woman could be just as good of a mechanic and now a race car driver.
As she walked along, she didn't recognize any of the faces.
Maybe if she had the opportunity to spend more time on the island, she would make some friends, but she didn't think that was likely to happen any time in the near future. Every time she closed the garage back in Virginia, she lost money. She couldn’t afford to lose much money.
And then her gaze strayed across a familiar face. It stopped her in her tracks. It was a very handsome face. She stood rooted to the spot as she continued to stare. It was the man from the church—the one with the strong arms that kept her from careening down the steps.
She tried to remember if she’d thanked him. She thought so but she couldn’t be sure. Perhaps she should take the time to thank him now.
In that instant, the good-looking stranger turned and glanced in her direction. When his gaze met hers, her heart skipped a beat. She continued standing there, looking into his blue-gray gaze. It wasn’t until a small child bumped into her that the spell was broken.
She glanced down but not before she noticed he was walking in her direction. Her pulse raced as her palms grew damp. Stay or go? Stay or go? Stay.
She looked up. He was only a dozen or so yards away. She ignored her body's reaction to seeing him. She was just going to tell him how much she appreciated his help after the wedding. And then she'd be on her way.
A friendly smile settled on his lips. It made his eyes twinkle. She glanced away before she found herself staring into his eyes again.
What should she say to him after she thanked him? Her stomach fluttered with nerves. Maybe she'd ask his name. It would be nice to put a name to the handsome face. Yes. That was what she'd do.
He was almost to her when he stopped. Had he changed his mind? Had he been smiling at someone else?
And then she realized the reason he’d stopped.
There were a couple of vintage cars slowly making their way to their designated tent.
One was a silver Corvette. The other was a black Mustang.
They were both in excellent condition. She wondered what they had under the hoods.
Would her engine have more power than theirs?
It wasn't until the cars moved out of sight that she realized she'd let herself get distracted. When she looked around for the handsome stranger, she didn't see him anywhere. How was that possible?
She walked in the direction that she'd last seen him, but he wasn't there.
Buzz.
She wondered who was calling her. She withdrew her phone from her purse. When she glanced at the screen, she smiled when she saw her aunt's name.
She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello."
"Maxi, don't come home."
"What?" Surely she hadn't heard her aunt correctly. "But I thought we were having dinner."
"Uh... Change of plans. How about I meet you at the Lighthouse Cafe?"
"Wait. What?" Maxi took quick steps in the direction of her aunt's house. “I don’t understand.”
"Everything is fine, dear. You don't have anything to worry about." Aunt Bonnie's voice was higher pitched than normal.
There was definitely something wrong. And Maxi was determined to find out what was going on. "Are you ill? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Heavens, no. I'm totally fine. I told you everything is okay."
"Then what happened to the dinner you were planning to make—the meal that you went to the market this morning to get all of the ingredients for?" Maxi's steps became quicker.
There was a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.
"This is nothing for you to worry about but.
.. Well, um, the oven died. I turned it on to preheat it for the lasagna, and when I checked it, it was still cold.
And now the special dinner I'd planned for your first night back on the island is ruined.
I'm so sorry..." Her aunt's voice cracked with emotion before it faded away.
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault the oven died.
I'm touched that you wanted to make me a special dinner.
" The gesture made her think of her mother and how she would make her special dinners for her birthday and her achievements in school.
There was a pang in her heart at the thought of her much-loved mother that she hadn't seen in twelve years.
"So, I'll just meet you at the restaurant?" Aunt Bonnie asked.
"Actually, I'm on my way home. I should be there shortly."
"Okay, dear. See you soon."
After they disconnected the call, Maxi was more determined than ever to win the race and take care of her beloved aunt. She wouldn't fail her.
Where did she go?
She was nowhere to be found.
Owen couldn’t believe the beautiful woman was back. It had been months since the wedding, and he still had her heart pin. He had been starting to think she would never return to the island and then quite unexpectedly she’d just appeared before him. She’d disappeared just as quickly.
Owen was about to go in search of the mystery woman, when Mayor Banks approached him.
Although Tony Banks was only a few years older than him, Tony had always acted older than his actual age.
Maybe it was his wardrobe, which consisted of suits and bow ties.
His brown hair was trimmed short, and he always looked so polished.
And now that he was mayor, he even sounded mature for his age.
"Hello, Owen. You’re just the person I needed to see."
Oh no. It was never good when the mayor wore a big smile and clapped him on the back like they were buddies.
In that moment, Owen wanted to disappear into one of the many cracks in the asphalt.
Every time the mayor wanted to speak to someone, it was because he had something he needed them to do.
Owen had absolutely no idea what the mayor had in mind, and that just made him worry all the more.
Owen forced a brief smile to his lips. "Hey. Did you come to check out the cars for the race?"
Mayor Banks looked confused for a moment. "Uh, there are a lot of cars entered in the race. It appears the vintage grand prix is a big hit. Let’s hope it draws in a lot of spectators."
"Does this mean that it's going to be an annual event?"
"Well, the city council would have to make that decision, but if there’s a big turnout for this event, I feel that it's a safe bet."
Deciding it was best to get going before the mayor remembered why he'd flagged him down, he said, "Well, I should be going."
"I just wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" Owen had absolutely no idea what the mayor was talking about. "For what?"
The mayor sent him a smile. "For signing up to take part in our bachelor auction."
Owen surely couldn't have heard him correctly. There was absolutely no way he would voluntarily sign up to have himself auctioned off to the highest bidder. The mayor had to be mistaken.
Owen shook his head. “I didn’t sign up.”
The mayor continued to smile. “Sure, you did. I saw your name on the sheet.”
This was a huge mistake, but the mayor looked certain this was going to happen.
Owen struggled to come up with a legitimate excuse to get him out of it.
And to make matters worse, he’d made a big deal to his family and friends about being on vacation all week from his job, so he couldn’t use that as an excuse as to why he couldn’t participate in the auction.
"And since you’re participating,” the mayor said, “other guys have volunteered. I can't thank you enough."
Owen swallowed hard. Dating was the very last thing he wanted to do.
It didn't matter that the proceeds would go to the pediatric ward in the new hospital.
He'd much rather write a generous check for the hospital.
The highest bid for a date with him would go for what?
Maybe fifty dollars? If he was lucky, a hundred. Tops.
"Thanks again." The mayor patted him on the shoulder.
When Owen gathered his thoughts, he turned to where the mayor had been standing, but Mayor Banks was no longer there. In fact, he was now several yards away and moving away quickly. If Owen didn't know better, he'd think the mayor was running away. But that wasn't Tony Banks’s style.
The mayor didn’t seem to know it wasn't Owen who had added his name to the sign-up sheet. So, if it wasn't him, and it wasn't the mayor, who else would have done it?
Numerous answers came rushing to him: his mother, Birdie Neill, Agnes Dewey, his sister or any of his brothers just to mess with him. And when he found out who thought auctioning him off was a good idea, he was going to have a long talk with them.
It was a good thing that today wasn't the practice race because so far, nothing was going right for him.
First, he saw the mystery woman, but then she slipped away before he had a chance to speak to her.
And then, he learned that someone had signed him up for the bachelor auction. Now how was he going to get out of it?