Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
I pull up the website for the petting zoo and sigh. Maybe I should have gone for one of those fundraising websites. Maybe that was the whole problem after all.
“No, we can’t do that.”
She giggles again.
I click on the about page. Perhaps if I rewrote the words. No one has ever accused me of being an amazing writer. That could be the problem.
“Because we’re not animals, that’s why not! Well, maybe you are!”
More giggles.
The petting zoo. Animals. Bronco.
I wonder what Bronco would be like if I got him alone and he had no inhibitions, would he be an animal?
Wait, is that it? Instead of a petting zoo, maybe I should auction cowboys. After all, I’d much rather bid on a cowboy than go to a petting zoo.
Content with my new idea, I grab another domain name and quickly put together a website. I start with Bronco, just to gauge interest. I have to look through my sneaky collection of photos of him that I absolutely do not take when he’s not looking.
After I find a good one on my phone, I upload it to the website and close the browser. Nothing will happen. I’ll probably have to scrap this idea too.
Before I can think too much on that, Joyce calls me on the line for the front desk. She’s a resident, and she needs help. I hurry back to her room and walk her through the steps on her smartphone of how to order cookies from Courage Cookies for her and the friends who are about to play poker together. Apparently, they’ve taken to using cookies instead of poker chips.
“Makes everything more interesting,” Joyce confides in me with a wink.
I spend the rest of the day bouncing between tasks for the residents. I barely have time to sit back down at the front desk though I manage to stay on top of the phone messages. Even though it’s chaotic and crazy, I love that I get to spend my days helping the residents with various tasks.
It’s everything from assisting residents with their smartphones to finding Mr. Dunn’s lost TV remote to trying desperately to get Mrs. Snyder’s parrot to stop swearing at top volume. She insists it’s the fault of her teenage grandson who taught him “that foul language” but then she breaks into giggles every time he swears, so I’m not entirely sure she’s telling me the truth.
It’s just after five o’clock when I finally get the chance to check the auction site. That’s when I see, Cuddle a Cowboy has gotten tens of thousands of views. And bids. So many bids on Bronco.
“Holy shit,” I mutter, staring at the screen. It’s not enough to save the place, but it’s more than I imagined I could make from auctioning one cowboy. Now, all I have to do is auction ten more just like him, and I could save the retirement community.
Chapter 4
Lauren
My phone dings with a notification the next morning, and I reach for it. I’m half-expecting that Aunt Elaine has texted me a funny meme. We’re always sharing funny memes with each other in text messages. But this isn’t from her. This is the alert I set for the cowboy auction last night.
“Whoa,” I breathe when I see the figure that Bronco is now worth. This is a nightmare. Women out there want him. They want the one guy that I call at two in the morning. They want the one guy that kissed me. OK, I kissed him first. Whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that they want what’s mine. Bronco should be with me.
Before I can start a search to find the identity of every single woman who bid on Bronco and drive to their homes to politely inform them that he’s not actually for auction, my phone vibrates in my hand. It’s a call from a number I don’t recognize.
“Hello,” I say, managing to find the fake cheerful voice I use when I’m answering the phone at work.
“Hello, am I speaking to Lauren Ackerman?”
“I can get her a message if you leave your name,” I respond, trying to remember if I paid my credit card bill this month. Pretty sure I did. Would they call and harass me like this?
“This is Reed Samson from The State Daily. I’d like to interview you about this website you put together, the cowboy auction. Would you and Bronco be available for that later this afternoon?”
Reed is a mid-tier reporter at The State Daily, North Carolina’s most popular newspaper. The fact that he’s asking for an interview about the auction is big. It’s exactly the kind of positive publicity I want. But it’s not enough time to get Bronco on board. He’s stubborn as it is and considering he didn’t even know about this little detour I took with the fundraiser, well, let’s just say he might need some time.