“Sneaky devil.” She hugged her friend. “Thanks for cheering me up. I really needed it.”
“Great. Now let me win the competition and we can call it even. If you can manage to find me a date though, I won’t complain.”
“Deal.” How on earth could she sway the judges at this late stage?
*
“Are you sure this is the only way to go forward, Adam?” The team manager faced him across the desk.
“I wish there was an alternative but I don’t see I have any choice.”
Pete leaned over his desk, his face a mass of sadness. “You know we’re going to miss you, right?”
“I’ve loved every minute of playing for the team, you know that. I firmly believe some things happen for a reason and I feel that the best thing for me moving forward is to retire now while I’m still capable of having a good life.” He looked at the trophies in the cabinets, trophies he’d helped to win. “I want to be able to give back, make someone else’s life as thrilling as mine has been. There’re a lot of kids out there with more talent than I ever had who normally wouldn’t get a second glance. They need someone to point them in the right direction and I hope I can be a part of that.”
“You mean like set up a training program to push school kids forward into the sport?”
“Yes. I talked it over with Buzz when he came out to Cherry Lake. The talent coming through is amazing but you know how hard it is to be picked up by the scouts. They have to be talked into coming out to your area and kids that live in country areas don’t get much of a chance compared with the big city colleges. I want to change that.”
Pete leaned back in his chair, picked up a pen and tapped it on his desk. “Hmm, and do you think we should be involved in this project somehow?”
“I’d love it. Other clubs have development squads.”
Pete pounced. “But not fifteen-year-old kids.” He leaned back again, rocked his chair which meant he was thinking.
“Perhaps that should change.” Adam looked at his watch. “I have to go, plane to catch but I’ll keep in touch.” He stood, held his hand over the desk. “You have a great Christmas and I’ll be in contact in the new year.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mari stood on the temporary stage in front of the small ballroom doors. They’d been pulled open but the curtains still hid the trees from view but that didn’t stop the crowd from craning their necks to get a better look.
“First of all, I want to thank you all for coming tonight. It’s a great turnout and if I didn’t know better, I’d say the whole town is here.” A deafening roar of applause drowned her out. She waited for silence, a smile of pleasure on her face. “Without further ado, I’d like to invite our esteemed mayor up to announce the winner of the great Cherry Lake Christmas Tree Gala Auction. Clover, over to you.” Mari held out the microphone to Clover and stood down from the stage.
“Thank you, Mari. Firstly, I’d like to say thank you. You’ve done an incredible job getting this all organized so fast and so beautifully.” Wolf whistles drowned out the applause. “Now, I’d like to invite the fabulous tree decorators to draw the curtains and show us what they’ve got.”
Butterflies now beating their wings up her throat, Dakota slipped her hand through Rachel’s and together they walked over to their trees. “One, two, three.” With a flourish, they pulled back the curtains, displaying their works of art to the public.
“Dakota. Psst, Dakota.” Mari caught her attention. “Lights, love.”
“Oh.” Dakota blushed, she’d forgotten to hit the display button that would set her angels alight. She fumbled in her purse, pulled out the remote control and hit the switch.
Gasps of delight came from the people watching as her ornaments came alive with their own inner light stream. Her angels looked ready for flight and a sense of relief welled in her throat, damping down the butterflies.
“Houston, I think we have a problem.” Rach nudged her and Dakota looked up at her tree topper. It remained dark.
Dakota hit the switch again, pointed it at the tree topper and jammed her finger on the button. Nothing happened. Her stomach plummeted and the collective sighs of disappointment only made it worse for her.
“Honey, can I do anything?” Her father stepped over to her, his hand out for the controls.
“Oh, Dad. It’s not working. I spent so much time making her and she’s a failure.”
He pressed the switch, turned the controls over, flicked open the battery casing. He rolled them around, pushed the button again before agreeing with her. “I’m so sorry, love. You seem to have a major problem and I don’t know how to fix it.” He hugged her.
Dakota shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well, can’t do anything about it I guess.” She turned to the crowd. “Sorry to let you down, folks. The topper is a no go.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Dakota, and it’s such an amazing decoration too. Let’s get underway with the announcements, shall we?” Clover held up three gold envelopes. “I have three place getters here. The auction will be later in the evening once everyone has eaten dessert and is in a more relaxed mood. We want you to make sure your bids are very generous and what better way than after the delicious sweets that are on offer tonight?” A snigger of appreciation wavered over the crowd.
“Third place tonight goes to…” she slipped her finger under the tab of the envelope and pulled out a card. “Third place goes to Daniel and Lila Dixon. Congratulations.”
“Second place goes to,” Clover repeated the process of opening the envelope, drawing out the anticipation. “Second place
