Concealed by Victoria Michaels Page A

to take her out to dinner or someplace nice like that.” She bent down and whispered in Faith’s ear, “And he might even kiss her when he brings her home!”
    “Ewwww,” Faith laughed, launching herself into her mother’s arms. “Do you really want to go on one of these dates, Mommy, and let some boy kiss you?”
    Sydney wanted to strangle Melissa for getting her into this mess to begin with, and now, this conversation with Faith was just the cherry on top. As they walked into the hall she answered as honestly as she could. “I guess it depends on the boy.”
    Inside the doorway, the trio gaped at the crowd that had assembled. The room was packed with hungry men and the women who had baked pies. Sydney started to panic as Melissa shoved their way into the mob of women.
    It didn’t take long for her to scan the crowd and find the town’s sexy sheriff standing against the back wall. He looked uninterested in the whole event until he caught Sydney’s eye. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and the faintest smile before turning his attention to the woman on stage, addressing the crowd.
    “I’d like to thank all the ladies for the delicious pies they took the time to bake. As you can see from the empty sample plates, they were very much enjoyed.” A loud round of cheers sounded from the men in the crowd. “And thank you, gentlemen, for opening your wallets for a good cause. Now, let’s start the auction!”
    Excited cheers filled the hall, but Sydney’s palms were sweating as the bidding started with the auctioneer introducing each entry. “Pie number one is a traditional apple pie, made with a recipe that was brought over on the Mayflower.” People gasped as if an impressive pedigree would somehow make the apples taste better. Sydney surveyed the women and guessed it was made by the reverend’s wife, the proud smirk on her face a dead giveaway. When the reverend’s hand shot up first to bid, Sydney’s suspicions were confirmed.
    “Mayflower my ass,” Melissa whispered loud enough for only Sydney to hear.
    “Twenty dollars,” the auctioneer called and the reverend nodded in agreement, proud as could be. When the auctioneer called for forty dollars and Luke’s hand jumped into the air, the reverend made eye contact with his wife and tugged at his clerical collar. He looked quite pained when he accepted the auctioneer’s call of sixty dollars.
    The men in the room laughed and continued their good-natured ribbing with one another as the bidding went on. The auctioneer loved Luke because he took great pleasure in outbidding the husbands, forcing them to dig deeper into their pockets to win their wives’ favor. For the time being, it had Sydney laughing, but as the numbers on the pies crept higher, her hands began to shake. The mere thought of being on the auction block was terrifying.
    Where Luke’s hand was constantly bobbing up and down to bid, Wade sat back and watched. He hadn’t taken his hands out of his pockets, not once tempted to bid, even when the pie that obviously belonged to Pamela Wilson named Silky Strawberry Seduction was on the block. The pink sprinkles and obscene amount of whipped cream on top of the pie made it the least appetizing thing Sydney had ever seen. However, the men in the room felt differently. They flailed about, their hands flying into the air with each call of the auctioneer, bidding each other up to a ridiculous final total of two hundred dollars for her pie. The whole time that was going on, Wade stared at Sydney.
    “What a tramp,” Melissa whispered, covering Faith’s ears. “Did you see Pamela flick open the button on her blouse when the bidding hit a hundred dollars and then again at two hundred?” Melissa rolled her eyes. “So much for keeping it anonymous.”
    “As soon as I heard the name of the pie and saw the sprinkles, I knew it was hers. So did everyone else in this room. Who else would give their pie such a trashy name?” Sydney whispered as