Betts raised her hand. "Five thousand dollars."

"Ten thousand." Lucky was bidding against her best friend.

"One hundred thousand dollars," the man in the back called out.

A hushed murmur rose from the crowd. The most a bachelorette had ever gone for was twelve thousand, and that had only been because the bachelorette"s daddy hadn"t wanted her to go out with the man bidding on her.

"I"m sorry, can you repeat that bid?" The emcee shaded his eyes from the lights and tried to see the bidder.

A man in a very well cut Armani tux walked forward. "One hundred thousand dollars."

It was Wagner Scott.

d.a.m.n if Charlie"s heart rate didn"t increase.

He hadn"t gone back to LA.

He was here.

He"d played her.

She turned to the emcee. "I"ll give you a hundred and ten if I don"t have to go out with him."

Wagner laughed. "Now wait a minute, I don"t think you can bid against me just so you don"t have to go out with me."

Everyone looked at the master of ceremonies, who seemed to be at a loss for words.

Wagner jumped up onstage and took the mic from the stunned emcee. He held it up in front of him. "I"ll see your one ten and raise it to two hundred thousand dollars."

She had the money and could keep this up all night. The charity could certainly use the dough.

He"d come here for her.

He couldn"t still be working for Jerome because she had no secrets for him to learn.

"Five hundred thousand dollars, and that"s my final bid." He smiled at her and pulled a packet of papers out of his jacket pocket. "Plus, I"ll give her this, for just one date with me."

He handed her the papers. She unfolded them. It was the t.i.tle to the Duplantis House. The t.i.tle was in her name.

He"d bought it... for her.

His eyes implored her to forgive him. "When we went into the Duplantis House, I told you I had an unusual daydream. I didn"t see Angelique-or, well, not the Angelique who haunts the attic. I saw the house as it will be when we renovate it together. I saw us living there with our two daughters, Angelique and Cherry-Kate. We belong together. Our beginning wasn"t perfect, but our life together will be."

She wanted so badly to believe it.

"What are you waiting for? Kiss him," someone in the crowd called.

Charlie had forgotten they were standing on a stage and Wagner was holding a microphone.

His eyes were pleading for her to forgive him. He held the mic close to his mouth and said, "I love you."

He wanted the whole world to know it.

This was it. This was the moment when she needed to take a leap of faith. Her life without him seemed bleak and boring, but with him it was full of love and laughter. She wasn"t a leap of faith type of person. She liked predictability and rea.s.surance and stability.

"I love you." It was out before her brain could stop it. For the first time in her life she was leading with her heart instead of her mind. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard.

Applause exploded from the crowd.

He dropped the mic and picked her up, twirling her around. "I love you too and though it"s a little late, I want to say... I"m sorry, Charlie."

Epilogue.

Six years later.

Wagner held his hands over Charlie"s eyes as he carefully helped her down the steep stairs. Her hugely pregnant belly threw her balance off and she b.u.mped into the wall.

She laughed. "What"s the big surprise?"

"Just wait and see." They"d finally finished the house, just in time for Cherry-Kate"s arrival any day now.

"But my birthday isn"t until next week." Charlie waddled safely down the last stair, and he had to admit he felt more than a little relief. "What have you and my baby angel cooked up?"

Baby angel was Charlie"s nickname for their five-year-old daughter, Angelique.

"No peeking, mommy." Angelique waved her daddy over to the tiny table set for tea. There were chairs for Mommy and Daddy and Angelique and her namesake who still stomped around the attic. His daughter spent a fair amount of time sitting in the hall next to the attic door, talking to her namesake.

He"d done his research. Children saw ghosts more often than adults. The theory was that their developing minds were more open to the possibility than adults. Neither he nor Charlie had ever seen Angelique the ghost, but they felt her presence. They"d done everything they could to help her find peace, but she preferred to stay here.

He removed his hands from over Charlie"s eyes and stepped back to show her the surprise. "It"s a tea party."

"Yes." Angelique bobbed her head and grinned from ear to ear, very excited about the surprise they"d put together for Mommy. "Daddy and I got doberge cake from Haydel"s and pet.i.t fours and eclairs." She jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "And gelato from Brocato"s."

Their daughter had definitely gotten her mother"s sweet tooth, curly dark-chocolate hair, and cute-as-a-b.u.t.ton nose. But she had his green eyes.

"This is just like the tea parties I used to have with my mother." Charlie looked at Wagner and smiled. "I could use some help getting into this chair."

He steadied her from behind as she squatted down to sit in the chair.

Something at the top of the stairs caught his attention. A teenaged girl of about seventeen, with long blonde hair and a sad smile, waved goodbye.

He nodded his thanks to her. This was what she"d shown him the day he and Charlie had first come inside the house. Now he understood. This was what Angelique had been waiting for all of these years.

She"d brought love and life back to this old house... her old house. She smiled at him. "I"ll be seeing you again very soon," echoed through his brain.

She waved one more time, and then she was gone.

Charlie hunched over and grabbed the table.

"Daddy." Angelique screamed. "Something"s wrong with Mommy."

He was down on his knees at Charlie"s side. "Contractions?"

He rubbed a spot at her lower back.

"Yes." Charlie held out her hand to Angelique. "Nothing"s wrong with me, baby angel. It looks like you"ll get to meet your baby sister soon."

Angelique took her mother"s hand and looked up at her father with wise green eyes and said, "babies come out of mommies" v.a.g.i.n.as."

"Thanks for the tip." He winked at her.

The old house creaked and groaned around them, making room for the next chapter in its history.

About the Author.

Katie Graykowski is an award-winning author who likes sa.s.sy heroines, Mexican food, movies where lots of stuff gets blown up, and glitter nail polish. She lives on a hilltop outside of Austin, Texas where her home office has an excellent view of the Texas Hill Country. When she"s not writing, she"s scuba diving. Drop by her website www.katiegraykowski.com..

Other Books By Katie Graykowski.

The Marilyns Series..

Place Your Bets.

Getting Lucky The Lone Stars Series.

Perfect Summer Saving Grace.

Changing Lanes The Debra Dilemma.

PTO Murder Club Series.

Rest in Pieces Blown to Pieces.

Texas Rose Ranch Series.

Texas Rose Forever.

Fort Worth Wranger"s Novels.

Lyric and Lingerie Harmony and High Heels.

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