Page 20 of Unlikely to Stay
Chapter 5
Breckin currently had several papers spread in front of her on the table in their regular booth at Sadie’s Café where the three friends always had their Wednesday sundae date.Today, however, there was no room for a sundae, not unless some of the papers were put in the empty space on the booth beside Breckin.
“Can I just order our sundae already?”CC asked.“I’m starving.”
“Not until I show you what’s going on at the auction,” Breckin said.“It’s next weekend and I want to make sure everything is okay with you.”
“Why would you need to run things by me?It’s y’all’s auction.”
Her friends rolled their eyes.“Because…all the money is going to your gym.We want to raise the most money we can,” Annie said.“Hence your approval.”
“I’m sure everything you guys came up with is going to be great.”
“Well, we’re going to show you, anyway.”
“You better make it quick.My stomach is screaming for my sundae.”
“You ready for your sundae yet?”Sadie, the café owner, walked over to their table.Sadie was the quintessential café owner, right down to her white apron and white Keds on her feet.All of the girls at one time or another growing up had been a waitress for Sadie.She had offered all of them advice, loved them unconditionally, and played the role of mom, especially to Breckin, whose mother died of cancer when she was just two years old.
“Not quite, Sade,” Breckin replied.“We’re showing Cees the plans for the auction to make sure she approves.”
“Good idea.It’s her gym we’re raising money for.She needs to see it to make sure she’ll get the most amount of money there is.”
Her friends looked at her pointedly.
“See?”Annie said.
CC rolled her eyes.“Fine.Show me what you have.”
“Scootch over, Breckin,” Sadie said.“I want to see, too.”
Breckin scooted over in the booth to make room for Sadie and pulled out an elaborate drawing of the town square centered in the middle of Main Street.The courthouse was right in the middle of the square with streets on every side, almost like it was in the middle of a tic-tac-toe grid.Shops and sidewalks ran beside the streets.A large, square fountain was built in front of the courthouse and was flanked by two large magnolia trees.It was one of CC’s favorite places.
“Who drew these?”CC asked.“They look professional.”
“That’s because they are professional,” Breckin told her.“My dad’s friend, Clark, is a contractor.He drew up the plans for the bar for me when I was surprising Griff.I asked him to draw this up.I know it’s not a blueprint like he’s used to doing, but I think he did a pretty good job.”
“I’ll say,” CC agreed.“This looks fantastic.”
In front of the fountain in the middle of Main was a large stage.Running up and down the streets in front of the shops were booths set up in a vendor-like setting.A big banner over the stage welcomed people to the one hundred and nineteenth town founding celebration.
The Oklahoma Land Run occurred on April 22, 1889.Legend had it a narcissistic man named Hamilton Parker staked claim to his parcel of land and had the rest of his family illegally stake their land next to his, ensuring he had the biggest plot of land in southern Oklahoma.Stories even said he named the lake on the land after himself because he loved the sound of his own voice and looking at his face in the mirror more than he loved his own wife.
Every year in April, the weather began warming up and the hardcore lake lovers started venturing out on the water.It was too cold to swim but it wasn’t too cold to do some great fishing and sailing.In the eighties, the town mayor got the idea to create a town founding celebration, bringing even more people and money flowing into their tiny town.Over the years, the celebration had gotten so big and so many extra-curricular school activities checked kids out to work their booths, the school let out on Friday as well.A small carnival joined the celebration in the nineties, enticing people with small children who might not come otherwise.
“I’d completely forgotten it was so close to the town founding celebration because I was so excited about the auction,” Breckin explained.“When I went to the mayor to see if we could hold the auction in the town square, he reminded me and said we could just add the auction to the festivities.And this year, Saturday falls on April twenty-second, the actual day of the Land Run.How cool isthat?”
“Pretty cool, I guess.”
“Prettycool?It’s way cool!This means even more people here to bid on the eligible bachelors!”
Sadie and Annie nodded.“Absolutely.We’re gonna need more men.”
Breckin pulled out another sheet of paper.“Mason at the marina has also donated a new pair of skis to the auction and Harriet at the antique shop gave me a really cool old chest of drawers.She already distressed it and everything.”
“It’s perfect,” Sadie said.“The shops in town can get money coming in like always but we can still make money for you at the auction.This is working like a dream.”
Now that she knew all about the plans, CC was getting a little excited.With all the people coming into town already for the founding weekend, the auction was sure to generate more money than she had originally expected.This might actually work.