Chapter 19
Friday came, and I was nervous to see Lincoln. He’d texted he’d come over around six. I asked the roomies to am-scray.
They all had things to magically do when Lincoln knocked at six. With little flutters in my stomach, I opened the door.
He had with him a bucket of receipts.
His face was serious. “Over six hundred people bought tickets at fifty bucks a pop, except the price went up at the door to a hundred dollars. Over thirty thousand right off the top. More than anyone has made ever in the history of this club.”
A sinking feeling hit my gut. I pasted on a fake smile. “That’s great. It’s all for the children, right?”
He still had to deduct the expenses of everything not donated. But the event had been huge, with thousands of people watching of not in person then online. His dad was delighted with the free advertising, I was sure.
“Yes, of course.” He lowered his eyes. Then glanced to mine. “But I want you to win.”
His eyes were so serious, I nearly laughed. I had to change the subject. “And who won the car?
“Tia, can you believe it?” I’d never seen Lincoln sarcastic before.
I arched my eyebrow. “Hm, how many did she buy?”
“I don’t think she paid for them. I know that Beau bought a lot, but he couldn’t win them because he was related to the person giving them away.”
“How easy would it to be to rig that?” A million ways flooded my mind, like writing the winning ticket number on his hand before doing the drawing, hiding her winning ticket up his sleeve…
“We can’t accuse him of any wrongdoing, but we do need a plan for you to win.”
“You aren’t supposed to take sides.”
“Not officially. I am here as your friend.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe more specifically, I want Beau to lose. He’s a jerk and doesn’t deserve to win. I can’t believe he lied to make you look bad.”
“Ahem.” Heat rose from my collar. “Let’s tally everything shall we?”
We worked through the receipts and subtracted his expenses, which weren’t many. Most of the things were donated and didn’t have to be taken into the equation. “Thirty grand is what you’ll have to beat.” Lincoln sat back with his arms behind his head, his expression grim.
“Well, want to hear what we have?”
“Shoot.”
“We have a decorating committee. Brett and Marie, Larry and Lisa are all decorating The Venue. Kat said her brother is a totally famous DJ. We’re going to charge a hundred bucks to come and see him.” Saying it out loud sounded silly, and I started doubting Kat.
Lincoln raised an eyebrow. “Who is her brother?”
I pulled out my phone to text her. “I don’t know. I’ll ask her.” I waited to see if she’d message back. My phone buzzed. I read the message from Kat. “LiveR@.” I flashed him the screen. “Do you know who that is?” I was about to search the Internet.
“No way. LiveR@ can’t be her brother.” Lincoln now raised both his eyebrows. “His shows sell for like two hundred bucks a pop.”
“Really?” Hope rose in my chest. “Kat said he’d come for free.”
“What? How did you work that?”
I shrugged. “She asked him.”
“Wow! Having a celebrity DJ is off to a good start.”
“Is that good then?” As long as Kat was true to her word.
“A good chance of winning.”
I shoved over the papers with our listed donations. “And then we have the silent auctions, which I’m hoping will bring in additional cash.”
Lincoln leaned forward. “You only need three to four hundred to beat him, if you charge a hundred a head.”
“But will four hundred people come to a dance? For a hundred bucks?”
“If they have the right draw. What’s your advertising plan?”
I bit my lip. “We hadn’t gotten that far. Also, will you sort of MC the thing? I will be running around making sure all the silent auctions will be running smoothly.”
“I’d be happy to. I will say this, Gabby.” He took my hand. “You can beat Beau, but you have to get the word out. That’s your golden ticket to winning.”
I stared at his hand. “Beau already had his father’s advertising platform in place.”
“Yes, he’s got the advantage over you.” Lincoln retracted his hand, leaning back into his chair.
And he had money, connections, and resources I didn’t have. I didn’t say this aloud because it sounded whiney.
Lincoln bumped my shoulder with his. “But I know you can do it. Besides, you have to win, so I can take you home and you can talk my dad’s friends into sponsoring my non-profit.”
I shook my head. “You give me way too much credit.”
“You really don’t know how wonderful you are, do you?”
I warmed at his compliment. But he was only encouraging me. Blinking, I didn’t know how to respond.
He leaned closer. “You get everything else ready; I’ll bring the people. I am good at getting people to follow me. Together we’ll make an unbeatable team.” He held up his hand.
I high-fived him. That was the most contact I could give him now.