Chapter One
The sun beat down upon the heads of the large crowd gathered out by the stables for the afternoon auction. Although many of the people hanging around were wearing typical comfortable, auction clothing, this wasn't going to be a typical comfortable auction. No, instead of the normal cattle and horses being auctioned off, this time it was men themselves who were going up for bids.
This auction, called a bachelor auction, had been the brainchild of Eleanor Weatherspoon, one of the prominent ladies in the town of Sterling, North Carolina. Eleanor, a wealthy, elderly lady, was an avid reader of romance books. She had stumbled across the idea, in one of her multitude of beloved books, of having an auction where bachelors were "sold" to the highest bidder. The women got to choose their week-end "date" and the money that was raised could benefit a local charity.
And there was one local charity that certainly needed the help - the Smokey Mountain Home for Children. Threatened with the possibility of having to close the Home, due to dwindling federal funds, the Ms. Lily Covington, who ran the Home, had asked the town for ideas to raise funds. The well read Eleanor had come forward, offered to coordinate the auction and the race was on!
The word had gotten out in the nearby towns and cities and the bachelors had responded in abundance. Not only were there prominent business owners and leaders among the bachelors, but, as an added bonus, a few of the men had even grown up in the Home. In all, there were twenty five men wandering around in the crowd who were signed up to be placed on the auction block in less than an hour.
Luke Rydell was one of the marked men. He was also one of the original "Home" boys. Luke looked around the group and noticed a few familiar faces scattered through the group. Some were from his years growing up at the Home, and some he knew from his years as a social worker in the area. Finally, Luke saw his best friend, James Hytree, talking to a group of the men nearby.
James Hytree had been one of the few constants in Luke's life. Luke had lived at the Children's Home for 14 years and James had been the first boy he had met there. James had been eight when Luke was left at the Home. Luke, only four years old, was the littlest boy James had ever seen and James had immediately taken it upon himself to watch out for the little guy. And it seemed like that aspect of the relationship had never ended. Now, 34 years later, James was still looking out for Luke.
And today, looking out for Luke meant being at this bachelor auction. James was happily married with three little ones of his own - Nikki, little Luke, and Rainy, so he was out of the running to be asked to be one of the bachelors. However, he did understand the dangers and fears of being asked - James had come with Luke today to make sure that Luke didn't back out of the auction at the last minute. Luke knew that he would never do that, but he was glad James had come with him anyway. It was tough enough to know that he was about to be auctioned off like a side of beef, but to do so at a place that held so many memories was almost more than Luke could stomach.
Luke made his way over to the group of men that James was talking to and immediately recognized Wiley Stone standing amongst the men, talking louder than any of them. Wiley had been a thorn in Luke's side for longer than Luke liked to think about. Wiley had always felt like he was better than the "Home boys" and had taken every opportunity to throw his own pedigree around. Wiley's family was old money and he thought that entitled him to being treated as local royalty. Luke had never taken well to that assumption and had spent a fair amount of time literally putting Wiley's face in the dirt to remind him what it felt like to have something rubbed in your face.
Luke wasn't sure he wanted to see Wiley right now and from the strained expressions of pleasantry on the faces of the men gathered around Wiley, he figured he wasn't alone in that feeling. So, instead of joining the group, Luke tapped James on the shoulder and loudly announced that the fried chicken was ready and if the bachelors wanted to get a plate before the auction, they were going to have to hustle. The entire group dispersed so rapidly that Wiley was left standing alone with his mouth open in mid-sentence.
As Luke and James made a bee-line across the field toward the line of hungry participants, at least two of the men from the group clapped Luke on the shoulder and thanked him for giving them an excuse to get away from Wiley. Luke and James just traded knowing looks and kept walking.
Breaking into their comfortable silence, a loud, booming voice from behind them said, "Some people ain't changed one bit." Luke turned his head to see Saul O'Connor smiling at him with one eyebrow raised, "You still can get the better of that old pain without even breaking a sweat!"
Saul had been the principal at the combined middle/high school in town. Saul had dated Ms. Lily, the owner and founder of the Children's Home, since before anyone in town could remember. Although theirs was always a proper courtship, Saul was at the Home as often as he wasn't. Because of that, he was as much a part of the Home family as the boys themselves.
Luke and James both turned and grabbed Saul at the same time, ending up in a group bear hug. "Saul! It's good to see you!" they both exclaimed.
"Well, I reckon one of you two is here to be put up for auction. I can see from your waistline James, that you ain't a single man no more! So, Luke, that leaves you!" Sam's voice dropped a notch, "And I sure do appreciate what you are doin'. I don't know what Ms. Lily will do if we don't get enough money to get the Home back on it's feet."
Luke and James looked at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. They hadn't realized the Home was in such danger financially. They both had sent back money every year and had come every Easter to the "family" reunion. They had talked about trying to do more, but they just hadn't gotten around to it. If they hadn't heard about the auction, they still wouldn't have had any idea. They both slowly shook their heads. "Saul, don't you worry none," James said. "Luke here will single handedly get the Home back on track with what he brings in up there on the auction block!"
Saul laughed out loud as Luke good naturedly punched James in the arm. "Thanks a lot - no pressure there!" Luke huffed, in mock exasperation.
Just then the auctioneer announced the need for the bachelors to assemble inside the barn to let the auction begin. James gave Luke the thumbs up and then went to find a spot in the bleachers in order to watch his friend sweat this one out!
Luke was the fourteenth bachelor auctioned off. After having watched his companions endure the torture of being sold to the highest bidder, Luke was questioning his sanity. Just as he was considering making a break for it, the auctioneer called his name. Cursing under his breath, he walked to the foreground.
As the auctioneer read off his name and vital stats, Luke scanned the crowd. In addition to hearing what the auctioneer was saying about him, Luke could see the women straining to see what he had to offer them visually. He wasn't too worried in that department. He wasn't too tall, just under 6 foot and a bit over 230 pounds. Luke might spend his days behind a desk, but he often volunteered his week-ends on the various family farms around the area. It kept him from being lonely and he usually got a good home cooked meal out of the deal. It also kept his body looking like he spent hours at the gym. Any woman who liked a solid, handsome man would find Luke appealing.
Broad shoulders and biceps that could definitely turn heads might be the first thing that a woman would notice, but Luke's ice blue eyes and soft brown curls were the very next thing. Yeah, Luke wasn't too worried about some woman finding his packaging easy on the eyes. But was that all the women were looking for?
