She intended to be picky about her choice. Someone older with lots of experience.
Even so, she had to admit she was amused by former army corporal Seth Howell’s grand entrance. He might be too young and flighty to fulfill her requirements, but he was admittedly fun to watch.
At a full run, Seth banked his feet off one tree trunk before swinging from the branches of another. He hurdled over a bench and backflipped onto the platform where the auction was being held.
Jo Spencer, the redheaded owner of Cup O’ Jo’s Café, second mother to most of the town, as well as self-appointed auctioneer of this event, cackled with delight at his antics. She put a hammer in his grasp so he could continue to entertain the audience by displaying his abilities and showmanship.
He swung it around in circles and jabbed it a couple of times like a rapier, then posed like a well-built statue of a carpenter, showing off the sinews of his muscular biceps. Seth was shorter and leaner than some of the other cowboys Rachel had seen auctioned off so far—like the gigantic McKenna brothers, who towered over most of the crowd, but Seth was clearly in prime shape.
“Now, you can see for yourself, folks, what a unique specimen we have right here,” Jo began. “He is ready and willing to help you with whatever odd jobs you’ve got planned for him, and you can be certain he will be adding his own brand of fun to the mix.
“Doesn’t that sound lovely? Now, don’t be deceived by his incredible physical prowess. Seth is not just a good-looking hunk of a man—he has a brain, to boot. You may not know this, but Seth is the fellow who single-handedly designed and built the new playground in the park. The man has skillzzz.”
“Jo’s right.” Lizzie Emerson, Rachel’s best friend, elbowed her in the ribs and grinned like she’d just pulled off a major prank. “That guy is cute and talented. And he couldn’t be more perfect. He made the play set at the park. You need a play set built. He can do that—and so much more. Maybe one of your odd jobs could be for him to take you out for dinner.”
Rachel locked gazes with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Zooey, and rolled her eyes. “For someone else, maybe, but I’m not looking for a date. You know perfectly well that all I’m looking for is a handyman to help bring my day care up to snuff before the next inspection. I don’t have time for a romantic relationship even if I wanted one. Which I don’t,” she added when Lizzie’s eyes glowed with mischief. “Even if I was looking for a date, I wouldn’t try to find him at a bachelor auction. No—he’s not the one for me.”
Which was too bad, really. With what she now knew of Seth’s background, she might have considered bidding on him, even if she had to put up with an occasional goofy antic. She’d seen the amazing wood-and-pipe structures he’d built for the kids in the park. She could easily imagine a similar structure gracing her backyard and replacing the well-worn swing set and climbing tower she now possessed.
But thanks to Lizzie and Zooey, bidding on Seth was out of the question, with the pressure she’d be under to make her work with him some kind of romantic rendezvous. The new playground in the park was nice, but under the circumstances, it was not enough to tempt her to make an offer on him.
Too much trouble, with a capital T.
“Which one of you pretty ladies is going to open the bidding on this handsome fellow?” Jo called, looking out into the audience. “Grab those pocketbooks and bid as generously as you can. Our senior center is just awaitin’ to be built with the money we raise here today, and Seth’s worth every dime you spend, don’t you think?”
Zooey laughed and snatched the three crisp one-hundred-dollar bills Rachel had tucked in her hand, waving one of them in the air so Jo would see.
“One hundred dollars!”
“What do you think you are doing?” Rachel snapped, enunciating every word as she frantically reached for her daughter’s wrist.
Zooey danced away, laughing in delight.
Lizzie offered a complicit grin. “We are buying you a bachelor. Which you desperately need, by the way. You need a man in your life, at least as much as you need a handyman. We know it, and so do you, if you’re being honest with yourself.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, you two. Didn’t you listen to what I just said?” She was relieved when elsewhere on the lawn someone bumped the bid up to $125.
“Seth is the best of both worlds,” Zooey pointed out. “You aren’t going to find a better handyman out there when it comes to building playhouses.”
Her statement might be valid, but Rachel wasn’t about to concede. Not since the whole both worlds thing came into play with them. Dealing with a pair of matchmakers could lead only to embarrassment, for her and for Seth. She needed to nip this in the bud, right now. She scurried to make a mental list of reasons Seth wouldn’t work out for her.
She wasn’t coming up with much.
“I don’t want—” she started to say, but her daughter interrupted her.
“Seth will be good for you, and he’s the exact right fit for repairing your play equipment at the day care. No more arguments.”
At the moment Rachel couldn’t think of any, other than that Zooey’s idea of the perfect candidate and hers were as different as night from day. As with so many things lately, this was just going to have to be another topic on which they couldn’t seem to see eye to eye.
“One fifty for Seth!” Zooey shouted, squealing in delight when Jo pointed to her and acknowledged her bid.
“Zooey Maria Josephina Perez. Stop bidding and give me back my money this instant.”
“I always know I’m in trouble when my mom uses my full name,” she told Lizzie. “I think that’s how she decided what my name would be when I was born.”
“Zooey Maria Josephina Perez, get out of that tree before you fall and break your neck!” Zooey quipped.
Rachel sighed inwardly. If only it were that simple. Raising a teenager was much more difficult than having a good name to scold them with. For the scolding to work, the teenager first needed to be willing to listen to what the mother had to say.
Zooey’s words were meant as a joke, but Rachel’s heart tightened just a little. She loved seeing Zooey happy and carefree as she was acting today, focused on something that she genuinely seemed to believe would make her mother happy, but lately that had been the exception to the rule. It wasn’t even funny to jest about Zooey getting into trouble—not when it was happening in fact, and all too often lately. And though they’d always been close, nothing Rachel said to her daughter seemed to get through to her at all anymore.
“It’s for a good cause,” Lizzie reminded Rachel, redirecting her attention to the stage.
“Yes, of course it is. To raise funds to build the senior center. I’m aware of that, as is everyone else who has come out today.”
“No,” Lizzie replied tartly. “The senior center is important, of course, but I was referring to finding you a single guy who is as good for your social life as he is for your day care. It could happen.”
Rachel opened her mouth to protest once again, but Lizzie held up her hands to stop her.
“You heard Jo. Seth built the new playground in the park. You’re looking for a man to spiff up your playhouse and swing set. Face it, girl. Seth Howell is exactly the man you need for the job. That he’s nice on the eyes is purely going to be a side benefit.”
Maybe