“I won the bid on some ornate vintage brass plate covers.” She smiled, looking pleased with herself. “That was so fun. I want to bid again.”

He laughed softly. “That’s awesome. They’ll look amazing in the bakery.”

“Now I need something else to go with them. Like that chandelier. I have a little bit of money I made from a couple of cake sales the past week. I could add that money to what I have in the bakery budget.”

He nodded in agreement. He just had this sinking feeling it wouldn’t be enough.

“It would look amazing in the center of the room. And with the bakery’s high ceilings, there would be plenty of room to hang it without having to worry about anyone bumping their heads on it. Right?”

He gave it some thought. “I’m not sure without actual measurements. But you could always put a display table beneath it.”

“Oh, I love that idea. It’d be a real show piece.” Her smile made her eyes twinkle like jewels. “I can already imagine it. This is going to be so much better than the images I sketched in my notebook.”

A pang of guilt started in his chest. He shouldn’t be getting her hopes up. She had no chance of having the winning bid on such a fine chandelier. But he couldn’t help but get caught up in her excitement. It was contagious. And she was right. It would give the bakery some flair.

He was beginning to envision Hannah as some sort of princess baker and the bakery would be her palace. He smiled at the image of her wearing a tiara with a smudge of flour on her cheek and a spatula in her hand as some sort of scepter. He wanted this all to work out for her—for her dream to come true. At least one of them knew exactly what they wanted and was going after it.

He focused back on the brochure. At last, he found the chandelier. It was a dozen or so items down the list. Not long now. And so he patiently waited, which was unusual for him. In the past, he’d never had the patience for these sales that could go on for hours. He’d rather be out doing something physical. Sitting around just wasn’t something he was good at but seeing the joy this event brought Hannah was changing his mind…just a bit. Maybe accompanying her to auctions once in a while wouldn’t be so bad.

And then at last it was time to bid on the chandelier. Hannah jumped into the fray right from the start. Her bid sheet with her number went up and down. Sometimes her hand didn’t even make it the whole way down to her lap before it shot back up in the air.

Then just as he’d predicted the price started climbing into the four figures. At first, Hannah kept bidding into the low four-figures, but he knew even that was too much for her. And then with a distinct sigh, her bid sheet came to rest in her lap. When the auctioneer prompted her to bid some more, she reluctantly shook her head. Her eyes reflected her utter disappointment.