Randall Pride

“I’m not in trouble!”

“You sure? You’re still engaged to that, uh, to Cleve, aren’t you?” Rich pointed out.

“That has nothing to do with what we’re talking about.”

“Okay,” Rich continued. “But I was going to offer to help if that was what you wanted.”

“Go away!” Elizabeth shouted at them.

“Why don’t you ask one of them to do the raffle,” Toby suggested. “I don’t want to hog all the fun.”

“What raffle?” Russ asked.

“It’s for the Halloween festival,” Elizabeth explained.

But Toby knew she was in a difficult position. She didn’t want to hurt her cousins’ feelings by telling them they weren’t important enough for the raffle. She shifted her gaze to Toby, as if asking him to get her out of the bind, but he just smiled and waited.

A sudden glint in her eye alarmed him, however. She no longer was looking helpless. “You’re right, Toby. You should all get the same treatment. We’ll have a bachelor auction, and you can all participate.”

“Wait a minute. What do you mean a bachelor auction?” Russ questioned. “I’m not ready to get married.”

“Don’t be silly,” Elizabeth said with a smile directed at Toby. “You’ll each provide a picnic dinner and whoever pays for your picnic will share it with you. It’s the reversal of what women used to do to raise money.”

“You won’t have anyone volunteer for that,” Toby assured her.

“But you’re only committed for a picnic dinner and we’ll raise a lot of money. You’ll do it, guys, won’t you?” Elizabeth asked sweetly, smiling at them. “It’s for a good cause.”

“Aw, I guess,” Russ agreed, “since it’s for a good cause. If Red will agree to fix the dinners for us.”

“I’m sure he will,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “You will, too, won’t you, Rich?”

The second twin nodded, a rueful smile on his lips.

“And Toby? Unless, of course, you feel you’re too important to participate.”

He was ready to wring her neck. She’d trapped him into agreeing with her plan or look like a jerk to his cousins.

“Well, Toby?” she prodded.

“Yeah, sure. Now can I go get cleaned up before dinner is ready?”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll tell Abby you’re volunteering.” She smiled before turning and hurrying to the main house.

“You know, this kind of sounds like fun,” Russ said, grinning. “It saves us the trouble of finding a date, but it guarantees we won’t end the evening alone.”

“Maybe,” Rich agreed. “It depends on who bids for my picnic basket.”

“Hey, if they think Red made the food, they’ll all bid for it.”

“You idiot!” Rich said with a hoot of laughter. “Women don’t care about the food. They just want to jump your bones.”

“Even better,” Russ said. “Right, Toby?”

Toby still had his gaze fixed on the back door of the house where Elizabeth had disappeared.

“Uh, yeah. Right.” He’d even be okay with the idea if Elizabeth were one of the ladies bidding. He’d pray for luck. But she wouldn’t be. She was engaged. Maybe she’d even be married by then.

“I’m going in to shower. Save me some food.”

Chapter Four

Elizabeth had put in a call for Cleve, leaving a message on his answering machine. Unfortunately, his return call came in the middle of dinner.

Elizabeth took the phone from Anna, who had answered, with her entire family looking on.

“Uh, Cleve, we’re in the middle of dinner. Will you be home later?”

“No, I won’t, Elizabeth. Why are you calling?”

“I spoke with Bill Johnson today,” she whispered, turning her back on the family.

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about us making enough money. I’ll take care of you, babe. Or we can get a loan from your dad.”

“Cleve, we have to talk. When can you come up?” She had no doubt about her decision now. The man thought they could live off her parents? Had he asked her to marry him because of her father’s money? Disgust filled her.

“I’ll be up on the weekend. I can’t get away before then.”

“Fine,” she snapped and hung up the phone. She knew it was rude, but she couldn’t talk to him any longer without dropping her bombshell by phone. And that would really be rude.

When she turned back to face the family, they were all staring at her.

Then Megan politely asked, “How is Cleve?”

“Fine,” she said calmly just before the phone rang again. She leaped to her feet and answered. “Hello.”

“Why did you hang up on me? I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior, Elizabeth.”

She sighed. Just what she wanted, more conversation with Cleve. “I can’t talk now, Cleve. I’ll see you Friday.”

“Okay, fine, but I don’t see any point to my coming if you’re going to be rude.”

“Goodbye,” she said firmly, then hung up the phone again.

This time when she turned around, everyone averted their eyes, but Elizabeth knew they were all dying to know what was going on. “Cleve forgot something he needed to tell me.”

“Didn’t sound like a friendly goodbye,” Chad, her father, commented.

She knew her father didn’t like Cleve. Instead of things getting better as they got to know each other, they only seemed to get worse.