Unbroken (19 page)

“Well then, why don’t you head outside to the reg
istration table and I’ll go and see if Aunt Rose has found anything she’s interested in.”

Britney nodded and head
ed out back.

Taking a spot near the auctioneer’s stand, Britney waved to Jake and Rose as they made their way over from the registration table several minutes later.

Rosemary waved her paddle
enthusiastically as she came to stand beside Britney. 

“Did you find
anything?” Britney asked.

“I sure did,” Rosemary exclaimed
excitedly.  “I found a couple of nice dressers, a two piece set that’s just right for what I need.”

“Oh good.  And what about you?” she asked Jake, noting that he held a paddle as well.

He shrugged his shoulders.  “I thought I’d better have one, just in case.”

As the less expensive items were auctioned off first, Britney and Rosemary were forced to wait until the latter part of the auction for their items to be called.

“Oh, here we go,”
Rosemary said excitedly as her dresser set came up for bids. 

Although she had a few challengers early on, Rosemary was determined and eventually ended up with the winning bid.

“Congratulations,” Britney and Jake chorused once the auctioneer had hollered sold.

Rosemary grinned and clapped her hands, clearly pleased with the price she’d
gotten for the lovely antique furniture.  “I’d better head over to the payment table,” she said.  “There’s probably quite a line.”

“Go ahead,” Jake told her.  “We’ll meet you over there.”

When it was finally Britney’s turn to bid on the item she wanted, approximately fifteen minutes later, the auction was nearly over.  Early on she could tell that she was going to have some stiff competition.  While there were several initial bidders, most of them dropped out once the bidding reached five-hundred dollars.  However, there was another woman and two other gentlemen, most likely antiques brokers, who were clearly willing to stay in the game for a while longer.

W
hen the bidding reached eighteen-hundred dollars and all three of her opponents were still raising their paddles, Britney decided it was time for her to drop out.  Although she would have loved to purchase the clock, the price was more than she wanted to spend.  “Oh well,” she said, turning to Jake.  “It was worth a shot.”

“You’re out then?”

“Yep, I guess so.”

Jake gave her a sympathetic look.  “Well you can’t say you didn’t give them a run for their money,” he replied. 
“Do you want to stay and watch the rest of the bidding?”

“No.  Not really.”

“Alright then.  Why don’t you see if you can find Rosemary,” Jake suggested.  “I’ll be along in a minute.”

“
Okay.  She’s probably still in the payment line, so we’ll just meet you out front in a little while.”

“Sounds good,” Jake agreed.

Moving through the crowd, Britney
could still hear the auctioneer as she looked for Rosemary.  It wasn’t until the bidding exceeded six-thousand dollars that she finally heard him holler sold.  Wow!  Not bad for a small town auction, she thought as she finally caught sight of Rosemary standing on the front sidewalk, chatting with two other women.

“Did you pay already?” Britney asked as she ne
ared Rosemary’s side, smiling at the two other women who soon went on their way.

Rosemary nodded.  “We’ll
just have to bring Jake’s pickup up to the house so we can get them loaded.”

“He’ll be along in a minute,” Britney told her.  “He just wanted to watch the final bidding.”

Rosemary didn’t seem concerned.  “Well there’s no rush.  I told Ginger that I wouldn’t be back in time for dinner, so she’s taking care of the guests tonight.”

“Oh, that’s good.” 
Ginger was one of Rosemary’s employees at the B & B and Britney had met the woman on several occasions.

“Hey guys.  Do you two want to wait here while I go and get the truck?” Jake asked when he came up to them a short time later.

“Sure, hon.  We’ll just go inside and let them kn
ow we’re about ready to load up.” 

“
Alright, and after that, why don’t we stop at that little diner we passed earlier and grab a bite to eat before we head back to Stanley?”

“Sounds good to me,” Britney said. 

“Me too,” Rosemary seconded.

Over the course of the next several days, Britney and Jake spent their time much like they had before during the day, but their nights were now spent in the comfort of Jake’s king-sized bed.  Their lovemaking was at times slow and easy and at others hurried and intense; and always, like it had been the first time, for Britney it couldn’t have been more perfect. 

And
though she deliberately avoided thinking about their future, for her the present was like a fairy tale come to life.

Walking into the exercise room late one morning, Britney’s admiring gaze moved appreciatively over Jake’s naked, sweat-sheened chest as she moved to the weight bench and sat down upon the red cushioned seat.  Despite the fact that she’d dragged herself out of Jake’s bed less than two hours ago, she felt the unmistakable rush of desire racing through her veins as she looked at him.

“Hey, what’s up?” Jake asked, as he eyed Britney from h
is position atop the stationary exercise bike.  Despite her relative lack of sleep the night before, for which he only felt the slightest bit guilty, she looked as pretty as ever in a mint-green blouse and short denim pants, with her blonde hair pulled back into a casual ponytail.

Britney looked up, forcing her
eyes from Jake’s glistening six-pack with no small degree of effort.  Wow, she mused, how quickly things had changed.  Was it just a few short weeks ago that she had questioned whether or not she was even capable of having a sexual relationship with a man?  And now here she was ogling Jake’s body like some sex-starved slattern, wondering how on earth she was ever going to get enough.  It was crazy, but in a good way.  In a
very
good way!

Focus Britney
, s
he ordered silently, struggling to clear her head. “I just finished interviewing the two candidates for your new assistant,” she finally managed, hoping she sounded at least somewhat professional.  Despite the recent change in their relationship, she still had a job to do.

“Oh yeah.
”  Jake’s good mood took a sudden downturn, but nonetheless, he tried to summon a moderate display of outward enthusiasm as he continued to pedal.  “What’d you think?”

“I think Bruce and his team did a great job,” she acknowledged.  “Both of them are
experienced, motivated and exceedingly qualified for the job, plus they’re also willing to relocate if necessary.”  Although she knew that Ian and Bruce were in the midst of contract negotiations, there was always the chance that Jake might not sign with the Blades.  “So for you, I think it’s really just a matter of personal preference at this point.” 

His personal prefere
nce would be to keep things exactly the way they were now.  Unfortunately, however, he knew that wasn’t an option.  “Tell you what, I think I’ll just leave the decision up to you and Bruce.”

Britney regarded him in surprise.  “Really?  Are you sure you want to do that?”

Jake shrugged.  “Why not?  I trust your judgment.” 

“Oh.  Well, alright
then.  If you’re sure that’s what you want to do.”

He nodded.  “I am.”

“Okay.  I’ll discuss it with Bruce first thing in the morning then.”

“I’ve only got another fifteen minutes on the bike,” Jake said, eager to change the subject.  “You want to go into town and grab some lunch after I shower?”

“Sure,” she agreed, rising from the bench.  Neither of them had eaten a large breakfast that morning and she was starting to feel hungry.  “But if we’re going out I should probably do a quick check and see if there’s anything we need from the store.”

“
Yeah, good idea.” 

“I’ll get started while you finish up,” she said moving toward the door.

“Hey, Brit,
put some cereal on the list,” Jake called after her.  “I think we’re about out.”

“
Lucky Charms
, got it,” she called back, smiling as she walked down the hall toward the kitchen.

Sitting in one of the
rear booths at Ray’s café, Britney laid her fork down atop her plate.  “I can’t eat another bite.”  The hot roast beef sandwich was excellent, but Ray’s portions were huge and she’d only managed to down half of the delicious sandwich and about a third of her mashed potatoes and gravy.

Jake eyed Britney’s plate
.  “Are you sure you don’t want the rest of that sandwich?” he asked.  Having already finished his cheeseburger, he picked up one of the remaining French fries on his plate, dipping it into the small puddle of ketchup before popping it into his mouth.

Britney grinned and nudged the plate in his direction.  “Help yourself.”
  It never ceased to amaze her how much food Jake could eat and still maintain that magnificent body.

“Thanks,” Jake said
, grinning as he picked up the remaining half of Britney’s sandwich and took a bite. 

“So, anyhow, I’ve got all of the kid’s equipment set to deliver to the rink on Thursday morning,
” she said, continuing their earlier conversation about Jake’s upcoming hockey camp.  “Kevin and Eric are flying in Thursday evening and I’ve already confirmed all of the hotel reservations, so we’re all set there.”

“What about
dinner Saturday night?”

“I made reservations for five-thirty
at Marco’s Pizza,” Britney confirmed.  “They’ll still do take out and deliveries, but they agreed to close the restaurant to the public from five o’clock to eight o’clock, so that we can have the place all to ourselves.” 

“
Great.”  Each year the coaches hosted a dinner for the camp attendees and their parents, and pizza was always a hit with the kids.

“So, unless there’s anything else you can think of, we should be good to go.”

“You’re awesome, you know that?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” she replied with a playful grin.
  “But thanks for saying it just the same.”

Walking toward them a few minutes later, the owner of the diner, an older gentleman with a balding pate and a salt and pepper mustache, came to stand next to their booth.  “How was everything, you two?”

“Delicious,” Britney responded, smiling
appreciatively.

“It was terrific, Ray, as usual,” Jake replied.  Ray was a lif
elong Stanley resident and a good friend of Ben’s.  He’d known him since he was a kid.

“
Good, good.  And look at you,” he said to Britney, eyeing her now nearly empty plate.  “It’s so nice to see a pretty young girl with a healthy appetite.”

“Isn’t it though,” Jake agreed, winking at Britney. 

Britney would have rolled her eyes, but she was afraid Ray would notice.

“So, did either of yo
u leave any room for dessert?” Ray asked.  “I’ve got a fresh apple pie cooling in the kitchen.”

“I do love apple pie, but I think I’d better pass,” Britney replied.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to pass too,” Jake said, patting his stomach.  “I’m stuffed.”

“Alright, but you
leave room next time, okay,” the older man said jovially, glancing back and forth between them.

“You got it, Ray.”

Britney nodded.  “I will.  I promise.”

“
Okay.  I’m going to hold you to that,” Ray said.  “Oh, and Jake, there’s a couple of young fellas from Colorado sitting in the booth by the front door who recognized you.  They didn’t want to bother you, but I’m sure they’d think it was real nice if you stopped to say hello on your way out.”

“
Sure, no problem,” Jake readily agreed as he glanced toward the front of the diner.

While Jake stopped to chat with the
two guys from Colorado, Britney walked across the street to the grocery store and got started on their shopping.  As she added milk, bread, lunch meat, cereal, bottled water and a number of other things to her cart, she couldn’t help thinking about how the men at the diner had recognized Jake. 

Even though she still wore
her glasses whenever she left the cabin, she knew that if she continued to appear in public with him, it would only be a matter of time before someone recognized
her
as well.  As much as she hated to admit it, Jake was simply too well-known and attracted far too much attention for it not to happen at some point.  And while she would much rather focus on the present than think about the future, she understood that she was merely prolonging the inevitable.  For although she and Jake had avoided discussing the future of their relationship beyond the next two and a half weeks, when they were scheduled to leave Stanley and return to Minneapolis, she knew the time would come. 

“Hey,” Jake said as he came up next to her, holding out a box of microwave popcorn, before dropping it into the cart.  “How about we hit the Redbox out front and grab a movie for tonight?”

“Sure, but nothing too gory,” she cautioned.
  She’d discovered early on that Jake had a fondness for grisly sci-fi flicks like
Alien
and
Predator
.    

“
Got it, no gore.” Jake replied with an affirmative nod.  “And then after the movie we can see about working off that healthy appetite of yours,” he added in a low voice, with a sexy smile and a rakish waggle of his eyebrows.

Britney rolled her eyes
playfully, despite feeling a delicious tingle of excitement.  “Go pick out a movie,” she said, shooing him toward the front of the store.  “I’ll finish up here.” 

As Britney stood in the checkout line she could see Jake standing on the sidewalk in front of the store, his cell phone held up to his ear with one hand and a DVD in the other.  She hoped that he’d picked out a romantic comedy or something along those lines, but in all honestly as long as it didn’t involve a group of bloodthirsty aliens trying to take over the world she was good.

Jake walked back into the store just as Britney was checking out.  “All set?”

“Yep, I think I got everything on the list,” she said as Jake grabbed several of the bags from the cart and carried them toward the door.  Grabbing the milk and the two remaining grocery bags from the now empty cart, Britney followed him outside to where his truck was parked along the street just a few spaces away.

After loading the bags into the back seat, Jake put the key in the ignition, but instead of starting the engine he just sat there for a moment, his hands
resting on the steering wheel.

“What’s wrong?” Britney asked, eyeing him curiously.

Jake turned to face her, a slow smile curving his lips.  “Bruce just called.”

Ah
, so that’s who he’d been talking to.  “Oh yeah?”

“He and McNealy just final
ized the negotiations,” he informed her, his smile widening. 

Britney eyed him
expectantly.  “And?” 

“Four years, thirty-eight million.”
 

“
Oh my God!” she gasped.  “Jake that’s fantastic!”

“Yep.
”  He couldn’t stop grinning.  The deal was even better than he’d expected, plus he’d gotten what he’d really wanted.  He would be finishing his career in Minnesota.  “Looks like I’m staying with the Blades.”

Though Britney was thrilled for him, she couldn’t help
feeling apprehensive as well.  As much as she wished it otherwise, the future was looming ever closer.