Page 40 of Ignite

“Surely your parents used his name?” Rylee had been giving me the Meringa district family tree, describing family and feud relationships.

“No.” It was the first time we’d talked about her parents without Rylee getting misty-eyed. “They called him Old Man Hobbs and his wife, Marie.”

“She didn’t get Old Missus Hobbs?” I ducked the flying pillow.

“Life tip, never call a woman Old Missus anything.”

“Point taken.” I tried another subject, hoping I didn’t go anywhere forbidden. “Is he as angry as he seems?”

“Who?” Rylee looked at me as if I’d gone mad. “Old Man Hobbs?” When I nodded, she continued, “Not at all. Yes, he’s got a gruff exterior, but you try dealing with drunks for a living. No, he’s a sweetheart and would give you his last dollar if you asked. He’s been sponsoring the football club, the cricket club, and lets us host fundraising nights at the pub for just about anything.”

“How does such a small town fundraise enough for everything?” I’d seen posters for surf lifesaving, representative sport, and of course, the RFS.

“We get creative.” Rylee flicked through her phone and showed me an ad I’d been hoping to avoid. “Half of the proceeds from this night will go towards the RFS.”

I groaned and she patted away my shoulder. “But the other half will go towards the football club … and if you want a reason to get involved, the fundraising will help pay for your salary.”

That hit me like a tonne of bricks.

My salary came out of the fundraising efforts of the community.

Shit.

“How do I sign up?”

“Reece already signed you up. It’s an auction. Old Man Hobbs will be auctioneer …”

“Of course, he will be,” I interrupted to more laughter.

“Well, it’s either Old Man Hobbs or Marc Stewart.”

“Who’s Marc Stewart.” The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put a face to it.

“A real estate agent from Beringi. There was an incident a couple of years ago. All men were up for auction and Old Man Hobbs beat Marc.”

“What? You auctioned off the old dude?”

“Not only that, but he also got one hundred dollars more than Marc which almost started a brawl.”

“Over an auction?” I didn’t understand. Then again, I’d be pissed if Old Man Hobbs pulled more money than me.

“Marie got annoyed because Robyn Shannon had won the date with Old Man Hobbs and then Marc offered to step in and have the extra date, but Old Man Hobbs said that if Robyn wanted to pay good money then he’d show her a good night.”

“You realize I’ve only met Old Man Hobbs and the others are just names, right?”

Rylee laughed. “Yeah, I forget that you’re still new to town. I grew up there and they are all like family.”

“I’m starting to get the picture. But what’s that got to do with who is the auctioneer?”

“Well, if Old Man Hobbs is the auctioneer, then Marc can be eye-candy and since he always promotes the fundraiser through his work email list, everyone is happy.”

“Including Marie?” I guessed.

“Exactly.”

The pizzas arrived and after looking at the bed and table, we decided to remain curled up on the bed to eat.

“Well, I’ll work on my abs and hope I get a good price on the night.”

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