Page 57 of Ignite

“Why not?”

“I just can’t. She misses her dad. She doesn’t have time for me and she doesn’t smile anymore. And then when that asshole cheated on her, it got even harder.”

“Ryan, I’m sure Rylee still wants to be there for you.”

“I know. But I can’t. I can’t be another thing for her to handle.”

“She’d want you to talk to her.” Ethan’s voice was as gentle as I’d ever heard, and I felt a little of the ice melt around my heart. Did it matter if he volunteered or not when he could reach Ryan like this? At some point I’d have to decide whether being stubborn was worth losing a man like Ethan, but that could be future me’s problem.

Today it had to be about Ryan. I hadn’t realized Ryan had needed someone to talk to or that he’d been trying to protect me.

All this time, I thought I’d been protecting Ryan by holding him at arm’s length. I didn’t want to lean on him. He deserved to be hanging out with his friends, not me.

But we’d both been grieving, and it had taken Ethan being Ethan for me to understand.

I met Ryan at the principal’s office. He didn’t mention Ethan, and I didn’t want to admit to eavesdropping. By the time Susan MacGregor escorted us from her office, Ryan had given his pitch and we had a deal. He was going to work three afternoons a week in my workshop for free until Felicity cleared him to join the morning training with Ethan.

Even though it had been Ryan’s idea, I heard Ethan’s words.

Ethan Cooper might not want to hold a hose, but he was starting to hold a piece of my heart.

Ethan to Rylee:Thought you might want to order a batch?

He sent me a photo of Yellow Gold Tea Buds, an expensive and rare teas. One I’d never get a chance to drink. The next day he sent me images of different peppermint teas with a disparity of prices. Ethan had wanted to know how peppermint could differ from one brand to another. The next, he sent me links on the history behind Buddha Tears.

Ethan Cooper refused to let me forget him and it was harder to remember why I’d want to.

Chapter 16

For A Good Cause

“Clearyourcreditcardsand bring your cash because Monday night is the night. Over one dozen of Meringa Hawks’ finest rugby league bodies are up for auction. You heard me. One night with the Hawk of your dreams and all proceeds will be going to two good causes. Still unconvinced? Ladies, this is your first chance to get the first date with our new Captain-Coach, Ethan Cooper. Need I say more? For tickets, go online at …”

Rylee

“I think that’s about it,” Zoe said, closing her laptop and looking around the twelve women who’d formed the Meringa Combined Fundraising Committee. “We have the venue, thanks to Felicity convincing the high school principal. We have decorations, thanks to the senior students at the high school.”

“We have Deacon Galis sending a special message to the players,” Lydia said, fanning her face. “I can’t believe Old Man Hobbs knows the lead singer from Stormy Waters.”

“I can’t believe it took him this long to play his trump card. Can you imagine if Stormy Waters turned up to play a Sunday afternoon concert in the beer garden?” I said to nodding heads. We were all still in a state of shock. “And remember, no leaks. No one is to breathe a word about the last auction.”

“Are you sure?” Mrs. Daniels asked. She’d been chair of the Country Woman’s Association since before I was born. Mrs. Daniels could extract blood from a stone and the last dollar from any wallet. Life was a never-ending cycle of fundraising in a small town, and when we’d had a clash of activities last year, it had been Mrs. Daniels who had suggested we come together with a community fundraising calendar. “Word on the street is that the auction for getting a date with the footballers is going to clean out most wallets. We want people to have money left to bid on a personal serenade by Stormy Waters.”

“We could hold it as a separate auction?” Zoe suggested. Zoe breathed new life into our fundraising activities, applying her social media marketing expertise in ways we’d never imagined. I loved the way my friends thought and when Zoe, Flick, Sonia, Grace, and I worked together, anything could be possible.

“Explain?” Mrs. Daniels commanded, and I waited for Zoe to show off her A-game.

“We could coordinate an online, snap auction. Using Stormy Waters’ PR team, at the beginning of the night, we blast it everywhere—one Stormy Waters’ song played over Zoom to the winning couple. We’ll announce the auction at the beginning of the night, and it will end at the same time the last date is auctioned off.”

“But that means locals will be competing against anyone in the world.” I didn’t know how that would go down with the locals.

“Think about the money it could raise.” Zoe stared us all down. “Half of the proceeds from the night are going to the RFS and the other half to the Meringa Hawks.”

“We have other good causes in town. What about the local pre-school who need …” Mrs. Daniels started before Zoe interrupted.

“I propose we allocate money from the Stormy Waters auction three ways—one third each to the RFS and Hawks, with the other third divided by the other organizations represented at this committee.”

Zoe was a champion negotiator. Not one woman at the table could fault her, and no one wanted to be the reason their organization lost out on funding.

---