Chapter 2 #3
They both laughed. “You’ll be the favorite uncle no matter what happens with you in finding a mate.” He said he’d see, but he wasn’t exactly a prize. “You are to me, Cullen. You’re my baby, and I will always cherish you above all the others for that.”
The bidding began on the other bedroom pieces just as he was thinking that he was going to have to pay a lot for the bunk beds.
The bedroom sets that he watched go for a lot went about double what Mom thought they should, too.
Dad was able to get him another bedroom set, and he was happy that he only had one to get.
Mom bid on the bunk bed set and got it for twenty dollars less than he’d thought.
She paid five dollars for the beds and two dressers that went with it.
He was thrilled beyond words. Then the dining room set came up for bidding.
“Now we’ve found a credenza with the set that hasn’t been brought out yet.
It will be part of the table and chairs, as well as the two corner cabinets.
I’m not going to change up the way I’m doing things this late in the game.
” Toy man said that he wanted the table and that’s all.
“Then you’ll have to figure out what to do with the rest of it because I’m not going to allow you to leave them behind, Jackson.
You buy it all, and you’ll take it all.”
“You aren’t running a good auction, Bill.
I’m willing to pay good money for just the table.
I don’t want all that other shit cramming up my workshop.
I can make a lot of money off the table alone.
” Bill wasn’t having it and started the bidding out at a thousand dollars.
“Aint no one going to pay that much for that crap. You might as well just start with five bucks like you’re going to end up at in the first place. ”
The bidding did make it down to five bucks, and he was happy when he put up his ticket with his number on it.
He and his mom had been early enough to have number two on their tickets, and it thrilled him to no end that Mr. Jackson got huffy with him.
The bidding continued to go upwards until it hit twenty-five dollars.
“I know it’s a lot of furniture to go with one set, but it’s nice for someone’s home that’s big enough to hold it.
Why don’t we try bidding again?” So far, he was the winning bid as Toy Man had dropped out when it got to be over ten dollars.
“You don’t even have to put it all in the same room if you don’t want.
It’ll be a nice addition to any place you put it. ”
Cullen ended up getting the entire set for thirty-five dollars. He couldn’t have been happier if he’d just won the lottery. Almost out of nowhere, Toy Man decided to come and get him to sell him the table for twenty bucks.
“Why would I sell you the table for that much when that was what I wanted in the first place?” He said that he’d told him not to buy it. “You did, and obviously, I didn’t care what you said. I wanted the set, and that’s what I bid on. You should have bid on it if you wanted the table.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to leave the other pieces behind.
Bill has a rule about that with me. He seems to think I bring in my trash when I’m here and leave it behind when I’m bidding on stuff.
You sell me that table, and we’ll be good friends again.
I don’t want to have any hard feelings between us.
What do you say?” He told him no, he was happy with his purchase.
“Where are you even going to put that thing? No house around here is big enough. All your brothers done bought them up. You Dixons think that just because you have all the money, it means you can have the bigger pieces around town. Well, I’m telling you right now that I want that table and you’re going to sell it to me.
That’s what’s fair since I already told you I wanted it for my shop. ”
“I don’t think so.” He looked like he was going to hit him, and Cullen just stretched out his muscles and popped his neck a couple of times. “You’d better have your will in place if you think about hitting me. I’m not going to allow you to hit me without retaliation.”
“Cullen? Don’t kill the man.” He told his mom that he’d not, but would if it came to it. “All right. People around here don’t much care for Jackson and his ways. They’re happy that you got the better of him. So you do what you need to do, and I’ll be right here with you.”
“Excuse me, but can you please tell me who bought the box with the little golden egg in it?” He glanced down at the woman in front of him, not having a clue what she was talking about. “It was in one of the boxes on the table. I saw you standing there and wondered if you’d purchased it.”
“I didn’t purchase any little boxes. My mom did. Lady, there’s something going on here that you might not want to be a part of right now.” She said that she was his distraction. “I don’t need for you to be distracting me if he’s going to come out with his fists.”
“He won’t hit you. He’s a bully, but he’s not going to hit you.
You’re bigger and stronger than he is, and he’s just a man that’s a bully.
” He finally looked down at her when she took his hand into hers.
“The box. It had a golden egg in it. I know you bought it or your partner did. I saw you wrap it up with the other things that were bought. I’d like to see if you’d sell it to me.
However, I’m not going to be putting up a fight for you for it. Just asking.”
“Mom?” She said she was here. “Mom, did you purchase an egg in some of the things that you bought?”
“I did have an egg in one of the boxes. Jackson is gone now. Let’s go and see what we can figure out.” She took his other hand in hers. “Come on, Cullen. I want you to come with me now. It’s all over.”
The calmness is what he felt first, not from his mom, but the woman who was still holding his hand.
When they got to the tree, she didn’t let him go like his mom did, and he looked around to see if someone was playing a joke on him.
He’d never felt so calm in his life other than right now.
He finally asked her what she wanted the egg for.
“I collect them. It’s not much, just a pretty egg that someone decorated, but I like the way they look on my Christmas tree. I have a whole tree of them now, and I can’t have too many.” She smiled at him, and he looked at her face. “You’re very handsome. Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“You’re very beautiful.” He found himself leaning down to smell her.
Her throat seemed to be calling to him. As he inhaled deeply of her neck, he felt like the world around him centered.
Cullen looked at his mom. “I don’t know what’s going on right now.
She’s making me feel things that I’ve never felt before. ”
“What are you telling me, Cullen?” He told his mom that he didn’t know, but felt like she was the one that would be there for him. “She’s your mate? Just like that, you’ve found your mate?”
“I guess so.” He looked at the woman who was now holding the golden egg that she’d been asking about. “Would you have dinner with me tonight?”
“Sure. I’d love that.” She grinned at him again. “You might have to pay for it all on your own. Your mother knows that I want this piece and can charge me about anything she wants for me to get it from her.”
In the end, Mom gave it to her for being there when Cullen was in a high temper.
She introduced herself then as Emmie Norton, and he couldn’t believe his luck.
Or bad luck for her, he couldn’t tell just yet.
But he’d found his mate, and he’d gotten the table and chairs.
Things were going well for him, and he couldn’t believe it.
Now all he had to do was tell her what she was to him and hope that she could calm him with his nightmares as well.
He was having them nightly since he’d bought the house and wanted to blame it on the new house.
But he’d been having nightmares since he’d retired from the service six months ago and didn’t think anything could make them any better.
He only hoped that she didn’t leave him now that he’d found her because he couldn’t sleep through the night without screaming his head off.
Time would tell, he supposed, and couldn’t wait to have dinner with her tonight.