Our Now and Forever(19)

He flashed the paddle to make the twelve-hundred-dollar bid.

“Caleb,” Snow snapped. “Knock it off.”

“That’s a 1956 Ford,” he said. “Even in the condition it’s in now it’s worth five grand.”

Snow tried to tug the paddle from his grasp, but Caleb held tight. “Let Cooper have the truck,” she said, still tugging.

“Why?”

With desperation in her eyes, she said, “Please. Don’t do this.”

Against his better judgment, he let her have the paddle. His opponent offered up fifteen hundred, and Caleb ignored the auctioneer’s call for sixteen.

“Sold!” echoed over the crowd, and Caleb’s jaw clenched. It killed him to let the truck go, but he couldn’t ignore Snow’s heartfelt plea.

“Who is this Cooper guy?” he asked. “What is he to you?”

“What?” she asked, amber eyes going wide. “Cooper Ridgeway is nothing more than a friend to me. He owns the garage in town and his entire life revolves around cars. He’s probably had his eye on that truck for years, and it wouldn’t be fair for you to swipe it out from under him just because you have more money.”

Hovering inches above her nose, Caleb said, “If I wanted to throw my money around, I would have raised the bid to five thousand right away. If your goal is to make me feel like a rich asshole, then congratulations. You’ve succeeded.”



She’d wanted her husband to hate her, and Snow was certainly succeeding. Too bad the victory felt more like she’d kicked a sack full of kittens than something worth celebrating.

He was so . . . Caleb. Confident. Pompous. Determined to have anything that caught his fancy. What would he have done with that truck, anyway? She didn’t have a garage to put it in, and her husband wasn’t exactly a workbench and power tools kind of guy.

A tense silence followed them to the cashier’s table, where Snow paid for her winnings. She’d feared Caleb would try to pay, but he’d maintained a distance while she settled her account.

Snow turned from the table and nearly plowed into Spencer Boyd.

“Whoa,” Spencer said, steadying Snow by her upper arms. “You okay?”

“She’s fine,” Caleb said, stepping close enough to brace her against him.

Heat shot up her cheeks as she felt her husband’s body tense against her back. Part of her appreciated the protective move, while another drowned in mortification. This was not the time to make a scene. Snow looked up to see the usual smile on Spencer’s face.

“You must be Caleb,” he said, extending a hand to the man crowding her. “I’m Spencer Boyd. I believe you met my fiancée yesterday.”

Oh, no. Lorelei must have told Spencer that Snow’s husband had shown up out of nowhere.

“Yes, this is Caleb,” she said, as the men shook hands. “Can we step over here for a minute?” A crowd had gathered around the cashier area, and Snow didn’t want anyone overhearing if Spencer brought up the marriage part. She directed the two men to a space near the back of the house, not far from the tow truck that held the old pickup.

Once they’d found a secluded spot, she said, “What exactly did Lorelei tell you?”

Spencer rubbed his chin. “She mentioned the Vegas wedding part, but left the rest to speculation.” One side of his mouth curled up. “You know how Lorelei is. I’d be prepared for a lot of questions later today.”

Caleb remained silent, presumably still pouting about their earlier argument.

“I’ll deal with Lorelei, but Caleb and I would like to keep the husband and wife part to ourselves for now. We’d prefer the locals think we’ve been having a long-distance relationship and now we’re doing a trial run on the in-person thing.”

“We’re engaged,” Caleb said.

Snow shot her husband a dirty look. “Fine,” she agreed. “We’re engaged.”

“Might want to get a ring,” Spencer interjected.

“What?” Snow said.

Spencer nodded toward her ring finger. “This town is both nosy and suspicious. If you want them to believe your story, I’d get a ring.”

She had a ring, of course, but it was a wedding band. They’d meant to add an engagement ring, but never found the time in the two months before Snow left town. The truth was, Caleb had tried several times to drag her to a jewelry store, but Snow always found a reason to put him off. She knew he’d want the biggest and most expensive one, and she wasn’t ready to put that kind of a rock on her hand.

“She’ll have one,” Caleb said. “Thanks for the tip.”