“Sold!” the auctioneer cried and slammed the hammer down.

Ava leaned against Hunt and slipped her hand beneath his arm.

“Look, honey. I think that boy just got his first car.”

Hunt smiled. “And I think you’re right.”

Then the auctioneer tapped the microphone to make sure it was still live and started off again.

“All right, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll be auctioning off this house and the property it sits on next. You’ve all had a chance to see the updates. You have before you the legal description and location of this house as it sits within the township of Blessings, Georgia. The opening bid on this house is $180,000, and it’s worth every penny and more. So do I have an opening bid? One-eighty, one-eighty, do I hear one-eighty?” he called.

“One-eighty!” someone shouted and raised his card with the number under which he’d registered.

After that opening bid, it started a flurry of bids, each raising the next and the next a couple of hundred dollars at a time.

Birdie wondered if Wade Montgomery was in the crowd, but she hadn’t seen him, and as the bidding continued she decided he’d blown it off or changed his mind. A part of her was disappointed but she didn’t know why, and then she let it go and refocused, only to realize the bidding had just passed the $200,000 mark. That was pretty pricey for Blessings. Especially in this neighborhood. She craned her neck, trying to see who was bidding now, but all she could hear was the auctioneer shouting as the bids continued to rise.

Hunt was surprised, and Emma was getting excited. Mama would be so proud that her little house was getting this kind of attention.

Like before, the bidding came down to two buyers bidding against each other in $1,000 increments. Two hundred thousand five, two-six, two-seven, and then a man shouted, “Two-ten.” And the crowd went quiet, waiting to see if the other bidder raised that $210,000 bid.

But no one did.

The auctioneer started calling… “Two hundred and ten thousand dollars for this little beauty…with the entire city park for your backyard. What a bargain! What a bargain! Going once. Going twice. Sold to number thirty-one,” he shouted.

The people began clapping and then parting to let the buyer through. Birdie could see movement but she still couldn’t see who was coming through the crowd, and then the man emerged, smiling.

Her face flushed…then her heart skipped a beat.

It was Wade.

He hadn’t just been playing her. He really wanted the house. And at the same time, now she wanted to cry. So he hadn’t been interested in her after all. She’d just been a means to an end. So much for knights in shining armor. When was she ever going to learn?

She got in her car a much sadder and wiser woman, and drove back to work.

* * *