Watermelon Wishes

Chapter 15

Instinctively, Evey spun towards Brady and placed her hands on either side of his arms, moving her hands down to his. She felt his tense body instantly relax. his hands reversed roles and easily covered hers, holding them in his large hands. She looked up to find him looking at her in that controlled way that he had about him, which told her that everything was going to be okay.

Although she knew that he was truly strong on the inside, she knew him well enough to know that he was hurting. She could see it behind those eyes of his. He had done so much to inspire strength in her in the short time that she'd come to know him. It was the least that she could to do to be whatever pillar of strength she could offer to him now.

"Let's play ball," she said in a take control voice that surprised even her. Ignoring the shocked looks of everyone on the porch, she didn't stop the momentum and took her check book out of her bag, writing the exact good faith amount required by the company.

The man in the Hawaiian shirt shrugged and took a check out of his pocket.

Sid addressed her first. "Fill out this form, miss, and I'll give you your paddle."

Evey glanced at the small half sheet. The first line was for the name of the interested party. While Mr. Hawaiian shirt conferred with Sid, Evey took the advantage to pull Brady to the side.

"You know this is trouble, right?" she asked him. "This guy likely has limitless funds and will bury us and our dreams. We're small potatoes to him."

Brady sighed, rigidly leaning against the siding of the house and running a hand through the thick, dark and unruly hair that Evey had come to admire.

"It seems useless," he agreed. "And I feel like an idiot."

"Well, don't," she said. "Not when there's a solution."

"What solution?" Brady asked in a shocked voice, standing up straight.

Evey motioned for him to lean in.

After pulling together the quickest meeting in history near the back of the porch, Clancy, Walton, Angela, Brady and Evey pulled away with an understanding and most importantly, a plan.

"I'll see you later," Clancy said, trotting down the porch steps.

"Thanks for coming anyway," Brady called after him. "And sorry for wasting your time."

"No problem," Clancy called back. "The Studebaker family are friends of mine. Happy to pay a favor. And to have an excuse to get some berry pie."

"Miss, we need to start and I need your form," Sid said.

The man in the Hawaiian shirt looked at his watch and tapped his foot impatiently, his yellow auction paddle in hand.

Evey raced to finish filling it out on Brady's back.

"Here you are," she said with a confident smile, handing the paper along with a check to Sid.

Sid stared at the paper for a couple of moments with a confused expression.

"You two are... going in together - as a joint venture?" he asked, his eyes widening.

"There's nothing in your company's rules that says we can't, right?" Brady asked, giving Evey's hand a squeeze.

"Well, no there's not," Sid said. He processed the form and the check on the makeshift desk with a bemused look.

Every turned, looking up to smile at Brady and loving the view of the natural grin spreading on his perfectly wonderful face.

Sid handed Evey an auction paddle and she held one side of it, leaving the other side for Brady. He closed his hand around it and pulled her into a hug with his free hand. It was such an unexpected gesture that Evey almost fell down.