Montana sank into a folding chair. “Oh, God. If you getting your PhD and helping children is drifting, what does that make me? An earthworm?”
“It’s not about what I do,” Dakota said. “Getting the work done isn’t the point. You have so much passion for your life. I feel like I’m going through the motions. I’m not sure what’s important to me. I’m not dating, but it doesn’t really bother me. I want to wake up excited about my life.” She shrugged. “I have some thinking to do.”
Pia had to agree with Montana. Dakota was one of the most together women she knew. It was kind of scary to think someone she’d always thought of as borderline perfect had issues. If Dakota had trouble figuring things out, what hope did the rest of them have?
Montana crossed to her sister and hugged her. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
Montana shook her head. “You’re not.”
Dakota smiled. “Okay. Then I will be. How’s that?”
“Better,” Montana said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Pia felt her throat get a little tight as she watched the sisters hug each other. She’d always wondered what it would be like to grow up with a sibling. While she would never know, Crystal’s babies would have that experience.
She lightly touched her stomach. “You’re always going to have each other,” she whispered. “Won’t that be great?”
Before the moment could spiral into a hugging, tearful vat of emotion, two other women approached. Pia recognized one as a head nurse from the hospital. The other was a lawyer in town. Both were in their fifties, with the lawyer slightly closer to sixty than her friend.
Bea, the lawyer, stopped in front of Pia. “About this auction,” she began without a greeting. “Have you vetted the men? Done background checks? Will they have papers?”
Pia had worked with Bea before and was used to her abrupt style. “They’re coming to a dinner-dance, not immigrating into the country. What kind of papers are you looking for?”
“How do we know they’re safe?”
Pia sighed. “Buyer beware.”
Bea’s friend, Nina, smiled at Pia. “Will there be a preview? Can we look them over before we bid? Is there a list of what they will or won’t do?”
Crap, crap, crap. “We’re sponsoring the auction, ladies. We’re talking dinner and dancing, not anything else.”
Bea snorted. “She thinks you’re looking for sex, Nina.”
Nina, a petite brunette, flushed. “Oh, no. Not that. I was wondering if I could ask the guy to clean out my gutters. There’s a lot of leaves up there and I hate getting on a ladder.”
Gutters? From the corner of her eye, Pia saw Dakota and Montana trying not to laugh.
“You win a night that includes dinner and dancing,” Pia repeated, telling herself it was important to be patient. “The woman pays. Proceeds from the auction itself go to the city for various charity projects.”
“Who needs a man for dancing?” Bea muttered. “I’m too old to care about that.”
Nina tilted her head. “I don’t know. A night of dancing sounds kind of nice.”
“There are plenty of young women who’ll be in competition with you, Nina. Bidding against you.”
Nina grinned. “Yes, but being of a certain age has advantages. We have more money.”
Bea didn’t look amused. “Perhaps you should use some of that precious money of yours to hire someone to clean out your gutters.”
“You’re always so crabby,” Nina complained, then turned back to Pia. “Thanks for the information. I guess I’m going to have to find another way to get the gutters cleaned.”
“Pick up the phone book,” Bea muttered. “I know you can spell.”
The two women walked away.
“I thought the auction was going to be boring,” Montana admitted when Bea and Nina were out of earshot. “But now I can’t wait to be here.”
“Are you going to bid?” Dakota asked.
“No, but I’m bringing popcorn. Talk about a show.”
Pia sank into a chair and rubbed her temples. “I don’t get paid enough to do this.”
“Probably not,” Dakota said cheerfully, “but at least it’s never boring.”
“Right now, boring sounds really, really good.”
RAOUL WALKED ONTO THE playground at the mountain school only to find himself surrounded by kids.
“Come play with us.”
“No, me.”
“Can you help me throw harder?”
“We want to jump rope. Will you hold the rope?”
Raoul felt like the leader of a very short tribe. He raised his hands in the air. “I’m here to check on my main man. Then we’ll talk about playing.”
There were a few grumbles, but the kids fell back, allowing him to walk over to Peter and his friends. The boy grinned when he saw Raoul and launched himself at him. Raoul caught him easily.
“How are you doing?” he asked the boy. “All settled?”