Celebration's Family. Nancy Thompson Robards

Liam. She was going to make sure he had the opportunity to be on good terms with his boss and to look out for the best interests of his daughters.

      They made small talk about different menu items. They’d both eaten at the restaurant before—no surprise because it was enjoyed by most of the people in Celebration—and pointed out their favorite dishes to each other. Finally, after she ordered the plank-grilled salmon with seasonal vegetables and he ordered the wild mushroom ravioli with a wedge salad, she said, “So tell me. What exactly is it about the bachelor auction that you object to?”

      He didn’t answer her right away, and his expression was so neutral that she couldn’t get a read on what he might be thinking.

      “I hope that doesn’t sound insensitive, but I have to ask, because I have a feeling what it might be,” she said, filling the silence. “Yet I don’t want to assume.”

      She forced herself to stop talking. It was an uncomfortable question made worse by his continued silence, but she needed to know. Especially if they were going to get past the awkwardness and move on to something that worked. She held her breath, forcing herself to be quiet until he answered.

      Finally he did. “It was exactly what I told you yesterday. I have kids. I think it sets a bad example.”

      “Do you have boys or girls?”

      He frowned. “Does it really matter?”

      “No, but I’m interested.”

      A raised brow and a vague light that passed over his face had her stomach doing an odd clenching number, and she was suddenly scrambling to clarify.

      What? Did he think she was interested in him?

      “What I mean is...I’m curious.”

      He was drumming his fingers on the table. He looked down at his hands for a moment, then back up at her. She worried that the wall he’d erected around himself yesterday in the meeting might go back up. But then he blew out a breath and said, “I have two girls, Amanda and Calee. They’re thirteen-year-old twins.”

      “Aah, twin girls,” she said. “That’s so sweet. I wouldn’t mind having twins someday. But they don’t run in our family, plus it’s unlikely I’ll even get married anytime soon.”

      What was wrong with her today? Had she left her filter at home?

      Liam didn’t say anything. But his gaze bore into hers, and the heat from it warmed her cheeks. Obviously Liam Thayer wasn’t interested in her genetic predisposition or her hopes and aspirations for the future beyond raising funds for the children’s surgical wing. His actions up to now suggested he might not even be interested in hearing about that.

      Still, he had agreed to meet her for lunch.

      He had a restless, intense edge about him—drumming his fingers once again on the table, scowling, shifting in his seat, glancing at his phone. She wondered if the man knew how to loosen up. Yet she hadn’t really been around him for any length of time to get a realistic read on him. He was working today. As a doctor, that meant he was on the clock even on his lunch hour. He was probably anxious to get back.

      When he wasn’t looking through her with that piercing gaze, he seemed vaguely annoyed with her, as if it should be clear that she was taking up his precious time.

      She knew she shouldn’t take it personally. He’d been through a lot of trauma losing his wife. Now he was raising two teenage girls on his own. She wondered if he was this stern with them at home. Teenagers needed room to grow, to try on different attitudes and personas. But she wasn’t here to offer parenting advice. Besides, that definitely wasn’t her field of expertise. She was just here to do her job, and that required focus.

      Regrouping her thoughts, she decided to stick to her spiel about the pediatric wing. Although, to get to the heart of why she’d asked him to meet her today, she would need to delve into his personal life a little. She braced herself and decided to dive in.

      “Do you think the auction will send a bad message to your girls, or is it the date afterward that bothers you?”

      She had such mixed emotions. What a lonely life it would be for someone like Liam to take himself off the market. However, she suspected it was the date more so than the auction that bothered him. And the alternative plan she was ready to propose to him hinged on him not wanting to go through with the post-auction date.

      “As I’ve said before, the event will be tastefully done, and your children won’t be there to see their father being auctioned off. It’s being taped for an episode of Catering to Dallas, but that show won’t air for several weeks.”

      His gaze darkened a bit. She felt like her persistence might be pushing him away. She hadn’t meant to be pushy or to make him feel as if she were doing a high-pressure sales pitch on him. Again she forced herself to stay quiet through another awkward silence.

      “Actually, my daughters don’t watch much television. But truth be told, they’re sort of excited about the auction. They know the daughter of one of my colleagues. Since her father is doing it, they want me to join in. Still, I suppose it’s the post-auction date that bothers me. My wife hasn’t even been gone two years. The girls have taken the loss of their mother hard. I don’t want to add to their grief by going out with someone new. I don’t think they fully comprehend this auction means I will take someone out on a date.”

      “That’s perfectly understandable. I’m so sorry for your loss, Liam. I can’t even imagine how difficult that must be.”

      He lowered his gaze again, toying with the edge of his napkin, finally taking it off the table and putting it in his lap.

      There were different kinds of loss and different kinds of pain that went hand in hand with them. Kate had known the pain of losing both her parents and watching her nephew, Cody, recover from the accident that had claimed his grandfather’s life. Before her father’s death, she’d watched him sink into a dark, drunken depression over the loss of her mother.

      She’d also known the pain of losing an unborn child. But the miscarriage wasn’t something she allowed herself to think about at great lengths—because that inevitably led her to the memory of the engagement she’d walked away from, and...well, it really was like Pandora’s box, and she didn’t want to open it.

      Still she couldn’t fathom what it must be like to lose a spouse...a soul mate. The mother of the children over whom Liam was so protective. She felt bad for him, but since she was already batting a thousand today, she decided to spit out the proposition before she lost her nerve.

      “Were you serious when you said you would be willing to write a check to the foundation in lieu of participating?”

      His demeanor brightened. “Yes, that’s what I’d prefer to do.”

      “Here’s what I’m thinking,” she said. “As you know, Dr. Dunlevy is adamant that every senior staff member participate in the auction—especially you, since you’re in charge of pediatrics. How would you feel if I bid on you with the funds from that check you are so eager to write? For all intents and purposes, you will be auctioned off. You’ll look great in the eyes of your boss, but you won’t have to go through with the post-auction date. Essentially you will buy your freedom. But that part will be our little secret. What do you say, Dr. Thayer?”

      Chapter Four

      It was a brilliant idea.

      It was pure genius, and for a moment, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

      “I think it’s a fabulous plan,” he said. “You’re really willing to do that for me?”

      She beamed her one-thousand-watt smile. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”

      However, as they ate their lunch, the initial relief wore off, and Liam found himself doing internal battle with a barrage of logistical questions. One of the most pervasive was whether he should