Page 33 of Sunset Tides
“That’s a bad sign, isn’t it?”
He frowned. “I don’t know.”
The auction didn’t start for another two hours and Lillian wanted to find a way to be useful, but it proved more difficult than she’d expected.
Eventually they found Lucy and managed to stop her for a moment.
“Please,” Lillian said, “what can we do to help?”
“I don’t know.” Lucy stood, a hand on her forehead and her hair blowing wildly in the wind. “I’m nervous about all of the people here.”
“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Lillian said unconvincingly.
Lucy dropped her voice. “Could you go and talk to some of them? See if they’re here to bid, or just here for moral support?”
“I’m here for moral support,” Marty offered.
Lucy ignored him and continued. “Ask them which items they’re interested in. No, wait! Ask if they have any questions. Yeah, do that! Then you can figure out if they’re being honest.”
“I don’t know that this is a good task for me,” Marty said. “I’m not good at socializing, even when it’s not early in the morning.”
Lucy shot a pleading glance at Lillian. “Please?”
Lillian didn’t like the idea either, but she wasn’t going to say no. “Of course.”
At that moment, Lillian’s phone went off.
“Sorry, one second.” She pulled it out of her pocket and stepped away.
It was Mason!
“Hey!”
“Hey, where are you?” he asked. “I just got home a few days early and thought we could get breakfast. Or lunch, if you’re busy.”
“Ah, I’m not near home.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m on Orcas Island, remember?”
Mason let out a groan. “Oh, that’s right. Your mom and the stroke and the whole thing. How’s she doing?”
“She’s good. That’s all fine. Remember I told you I stayed to help Lucy with her farm auction?”
“Oh, right, right.” There was some noise from his end. It sounded like he was getting into the car. “I’m sorry. Farms are just boring to me, so I forgot about it.”
Typical. “I know.”
“I guess I’ll hang out with one of the guys instead. When are you coming back?”
She looked up to see Lucy bickering with Marty, pointing a finger into his chest and then wagging it in his face.
Hilarious. The two of them were like brother and sister. Lillian couldn’t decide who was the older sibling. They seemedto alternate who was more ridiculous. “I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to leave. I think they still need me.”
“Well, let me know. Good luck with the farm stuff!”
She thanked him and ended the call. It was disappointing he’d forgotten what she had told him, but to be fair, he’d been busy with work and farms weren’t the at top of his priority list.
