Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115706 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
When Miranda, Raine and I reach the dance floor, Caleb’s eyes find mine. As our gazes mingle, he winks and beams a glorious, radiant smile at me, without missing a beat in his drumming.
“All of my love,” Caleb mouths, inaudibly, as the lead singer delivers those same words into his microphone for the crowd.
I clutch my chest, letting Caleb know I’ve received his message, loud and clear, and that I send him all of my love in return.
A firm poke on my shoulder wrenches my attention away from Caleb. I turn to look at whoever’s nudged me, intending to simply glance and return to Caleb again; but to my shock, I’ve got another surprise awaiting me. One that commands my full attention.
It’s Amy and her husband, Colin, standing before me, flanked by none other than Violet and her husband, Dax, and both couples’ respective sons—two-year-old Rocco and eight-year-old Jackson.
“What the . . . ?” I gasp out, too flabbergasted to finish the sentence.
All four adults, now joined by Miranda, cackle with glee at my reaction, as Raine beelines excitedly to Rocco and hugs him. The pair were instantly inseparable, like peanut butter and jelly, at Caleb’s party in Santa Monica less than two weeks ago, so I’m not surprised she remembers him.
Amy wraps my short-circuiting body in her arms and says, “Miranda made this party sound like the place to be, so we all came to check it out!”
I stammer while greeting everyone, and they guffaw at my astonished reaction, once again. My parents appear and greet everyone warmly. They already met all these fancy people, briefly, at Caleb’s party, before they spirited the toddlers away and retired themselves. But once their greetings have been administered, the whole group, including me, turns its collective attention back to Caleb onstage.
When I catch my boyfriend’s eyes this time, I motion excitedly to our unexpected group of visitors; but nothing but smug satisfaction graces Caleb’s handsome face, making it clear this group’s arrival isn’t a shock to him, like it is for me. I mean, Caleb looks overjoyed to see everyone. Also, to see my reaction. But he’s definitely not surprised. Indeed, his expression is like he’s just pulled off the bank heist of the century.
The iconic song ends, sadly, and the lead singer bellows, “Let’s hear it for our guest drummer, C-Bomb!”
As the crowd roars, Caleb waves a drumstick in the air.
“Thank you, Caleb. That was a dream come true for all of us. We’re honored you’ve made our little hometown your new home.” The singer returns to the crowd with a big grin. “Now, who’s ready for the auctionnnnnnn?”
The crowd cheers and whoops its enthusiastic reply.
“It’s gonna be a good one,” the singer declares. “But before that, C-Bomb has asked to say a few words to you.”
He has? Caleb didn’t mention wanting to do that to me; but then again, he also didn’t mention playing with the band, or the fact that his sister and friends would be here today. What’s going on?
I look at my mother, since she’s the festival czar who’s meticulously planned everything on today’s schedule, and she shoots me a look of such over-the-top joy, such intense expectation and glee, I suddenly realize what’s going on here: Miranda must have lobbied all our friends to come here today, specifically to maximize bidding on all the amazing donations they secured for the event. My god, Miranda is a force of nature. Not to mention, I’m thoroughly impressed with Dax, too. When Dax agreed to become real friends with Caleb going forward, the dude wasn’t kidding. Obviously, both he and his wife, Violet, genuinely want to forge a genuine bond here. Talk about two people walking the walk!
Caleb comes to the front of the stage and takes the mic from the singer, while the crowd goes crazy. “Hey, everyone,” Caleb says, his low, sexy voice sending goosebumps across my skin. “I want to thank you for welcoming me with such open arms into your community. I feel like I’m home, and that’s partly thanks to all of you.”
More cheers.
“To express my gratitude to this community, I’m going to match, by a multiple of five, whatever total is raised in this auction today. So, please, be as generous as you can afford to be.”
As everyone cheers and claps, I look at Mom again, and this time, the near-euphoria on her face verges on mania. Aw, Mom. She works so hard to make this festival a success, every year; and, now, she’s about to throw her best event yet. Good for her. I mean, good for Prairie Springs, of course. But I love watching Mom geek out about the money we’re about to raise for some good causes.
I hug Mom and she practically vibrates in my arms. “This is so exciting!” I shout into her ear, above the din; but to my surprise, she simply waves me off and gestures for me to pay attention to Caleb onstage again.