Concealed by Victoria Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

she would react. Her cupid instinct was well known and many in town had succumbed to her exuberant dating advice only to realize that her arrow was a little bent at times and missed its mark more than it hit.
    But his curiosity got the better of him. “How do you know? What did she say?”
    “Oh my God, what are you, like twelve?” When Wade’s only response was to cross his arms over his chest, Melissa’s lips turned up into a wicked grin. “Go ahead, play it cool, but I know inside you’re dying to know what she might have said, aren’t you?”
    Wade was, but there was no way in hell he was going to admit it now. In an effort to seem indifferent, he put on his best poker face. “Not really.”
    “Not even if the things she said were pretty racy?”
    That comment made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He’d had dozens of erotic fantasies about Sydney but the thought of her having one made him crazy. “Were they? Racy that is?”
    “I’m not telling,” she laughed, delighted to see him on edge. “But because I’m such a nice person I will make one suggestion.”
    “What?”
    “Go to the auction tonight. There’s going to be a little something up for bid you definitely want to get your hands on.” As she walked away, she yelled over her shoulder, “Bring your checkbook. I have a feeling you could be in for some competition tonight, Wade.”

 

    IT HAD BEEN EXPLAINED to Sydney by half the town that the festival always culminated with the auction. It was considered the event of the week. She thought it was an exaggeration until she started making her ,way toward the hall where the pie auction was being held. The building entrance was surrounded by a thick crowd of people, mostly men, waiting to get inside. A number of them she recognized as regulars from the diner, but there were also plenty of men obviously from out of town who came to Elton just for this event. She held on tight to her pie with one hand and Faith with the other. She didn’t want to lose either as she pushed her way toward the door.
    There were several categories for the ladies to enter their food into. Many of the local women were serious about their baking from what Sydney gathered from the vigorous conversations in the diner lately. As she walked through the hall taking it all in, she was amazed at the spread before her.
    Perfectly baked cakes, brownies, and pies lined the wooden tables in the hall like a showcase of crusted perfection. Jams and jellies and homemade butters glistened on tiny pieces of toast and crackers. Sydney had initially scoffed at the idea of entering the auction when Melissa made the suggestion a week ago, but when she found out that the money would go to the elementary school’s library, she couldn’t say no. So she spent the last two days creating the perfect blackberry pie.
    Sydney began baking her pies on a whim for Pete’s shortly after she arrived in Elton. It was an easy way for her to make a little extra money on the side without having to be at the diner additional hours. Having time with Faith was important to her, so this was a great compromise. She could make the pies at home then bring them in to work the following day. Customers loved it when the pie rack was full, slices flying out the door as fast as she could bake them. All the recipes had been her grandmother’s, the one piece of her past that she held onto and carried with her all these years. Baking turned into a hobby she loved and one she was able to share with Faith.
    “Mommy, you look so pretty!” Faith looked up at her with a glowing smile.
    Sydney checked out her reflection in the window. She adjusted the pale blue ribbon that matched the tiny stripes in her sweater. When she and Melissa ran home between the dance and the auction, she spent more time getting ready than she ever wanted to admit. If she bumped into Wade again tonight, she definitely didn’t want to smell like a goat.
    Inside the hall, her nerves started to get the