An hour later, the winners were announced.
"And the moment you have all been waiting for..." Lisa took the envelope. "Third prize goes to Beasts and Babes." There was a round of applause as the team members headed for the stage to collect their prize, "Two bottles of wine and a weekend at the cottage with the other prize winners." Lisa kissed the cheeks of all four team members and Anne gave them the bottles. Once hush had descended again, the next announcement was made, "Second prize goes to Music Makers." Another round of applause and the team headed for the podium and Anne now in charge of the microphone added, "And I have to tell you there were only three things that separated second from first." This time Lisa handed the team their envelope as Anne listed what they had won, "Tickets to the Village cinema to be used within the next month. Two bottles of wine and the weekend cottage." Anne waited until there was a bit of a hush in the room, "The first prize goes to the team who got the feather boa, stethoscope and chef's hat."
Candy squealed and whispered at the same time. "That must be us." She hugged Nigel.
"So first prize, two bottles of wine, tickets to dinner at Mais oui, the cinema, and the weekend cottage, goes to Guys and Dolls."
Candy jumped up and down. "That's us. We won!"
"So if Guys and Dolls could make their way here."
Candy and Nigel glanced around. They spotted Jared standing beside his friend, but as they searched the room they couldn't see Caitlin. Had she gone home? They couldn't blame her.
"Guys and Dolls?" Anne called again. "Come on, no need to be bashful! Let's see you all!" There was some laughter and then applause when Nigel and Candy headed toward Lisa, and reluctantly Jared made their way forward. The three were joined a few feet from the podium by Caitlin.
Nigel threaded his arm through Caitlin's and smiled at her before whispering in her ear "Thought you were going to bail."
"Hey, who got those items?" She asked him in a whisper. "Not bad for a lamp post!"
Nigel gave her a gentle reassuring squeeze. He felt bad about what had been said about her and the fact he hadn't stopped Jared at the time. Nor had he corrected Jared at the time.
Lisa handed the bottles to them and Anne handed over the envelope. Caitlin stepped off the stage with a bottle of wine. Nigel had the vouchers, Jared the dinner tickets and Candy the other bottle of wine. The four of them headed toward the back of the hall. But Jared was waylaid as some friends teasingly congratulated him so the other three continued without him.
"Isn't this great?" Candy grinned in absolute delight. She 'd had the best fun today and to cap it all, they had also won. "We won." She threaded her arm through Nigel's. This was perfect. She could get to spend more time with this man. Caitlin was a good judge of character, Candy thought, for Nigel was funny and sweet and when he smiled really good looking! "We should organise when we go to dinner and the cinema. It will be great." She leaned forward to catch Caitlin's arm, "Hey, are you free next Friday, or Saturday."
"I don't think so." Caitlin said quietly, she stopped, held up the bottle of wine. "I think this is fair for my contribution to the treasure hunt." She leaned forward and kissed Nigel, "I had a great time. You were lovely company." Then she kissed Candy, "Tell Mr Adonis to find someone who isn't a waste of space to make up your foursome for the rest of the stuff."
"But you can't not come." Candy's eyes lost that sparkle, "I mean, it was you that made this whole thing fun." And showed me that Nigel was interesting, "And you got the three key things that got us first place and..."
"And why would I want to spend time with a man who holds a lamp post in more esteem than me?" Caitlin grouched as she interrupted. Jared's words still rankled. He might have meant them to be flippant, but they had cut deep.
Candy could see that Caitlin was still hurt by what she had heard. "But..."
"No buts." Caitlin smiled and then in an attempt to put things into perspective she told Candy, "I had fun. You have a great evening, and Candy don't let those jealous twits get you down, ok?"
"How come I have to stay and listen to them, but you get to run away?" Candy pushed.
"Because they didn't use a microphone to broadcast it." Caitlin replied smoothly and with a quick smile said, "Bye." She turned and cannoned straight into Jared.
"Now that's a proposition I can't turn down." He deftly took her arm and steered her into the throng that had taken to the floor as soon as the music had started up. It was techno music, and the beat was thrumming through the floorboards, but instead of releasing her to dance the way the rest were, he kept his arms around her.
"What is?" She scowled as she felt herself being backed into the crowd. The last thing she wanted was to spend any time with this man, not when she was seriously temped to smack him! That would not go down too well, given the gossip that was already circulating. She needed to keep her composure, bide her time and then go home. No doubt both Grace and their father would be shocked to learn what had transpired, but with a bit of luck neither would be too embarrassed by the fact Caitlin had was the subject of yet another scene.
"If you wanted to dance, you only had to ask." Jared stated smoothly. Ok, things just might work. He hadn't anticipated it being this easy to get her into his arms. But he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. This might just work to his advantage.
"I didn't." She said, adding silently, - And certainly not with you.
"You always this cool under fire?" He grinned at her, hoping to lighten the mood and distract her.
Caitlin was pretty sure he was up to something, otherwise why was he smiling at her? She figured he was trying to make amends for the gossip that was now circulating. She also figured that the best way to deal with the gossip was to ignore it. They would be old news soon enough. "Look, Jared," She began, as she tried to inch her way out of his grasp, "I appreciate you trying to rectify the situation, but, a, you don't like me, and b, I don't care."
That intrigued Jared, he wondered why she hadn't said b, I don't like you. But he did have a plan to rectify the situation and it involved some deft timing. Without her cooperation he kept moving her, until she found herself stepping out onto the verandah. Caitlin conceded defeat. He clearly wanted to apologise and was trying to get her somewhere quiet to do it. So she turned and walked toward the balustrade. She put the bottle of wine on the ledge.
"Ok." She faced him, "Say your bit." Caitlin was ready to head home. It wasn't as if she was here by choice. She was here under duress. She was doing her sister a favour. And fate had chosen to repay her kindness by pairing her up with Jared. And fate was far from content with just that, oh, no, fate had to go and insist that the man make her out to be a shallow, pampered, ignorant woman. Perfect.
"What?" Jared wished he hadn't been so thoughtless earlier on. It wasn't as if the woman standing in front of him had deserved what he'd dished out. He'd spoken out of turn.
"You've clearly staged this." Caitlin gestured at their environment. Though in reality all she figured he had staged was the two of them having a bit of time with just each other.
"I have?" Well that proved one thing. She was smart. He had arranged this. A lot more than just the two of them having some time together to talk this over, but those things had yet to happen.
"Yes." She folded her arms and quirked a brow at him, challenging him to dispute her statement.
"Why would I do that?" Jared figured now was a good time to try to deploy his well known charm. So he opted for a light flirtatious tone. It was wasted on her. She just rolled her eyes as if she couldn't believe he was resorting to attempting to charm her.
"To apologise, I hope." Caitlin told him. The exasperated huff that accompanied her words left him in no doubt that she was not going to let him get away with sweet talking his way through this debacle.
So Jared opted for honesty. He was starting to realize that she much preferred straight talk. "I am sorry, I had no idea she had her mic on."
"Broadcast or not, it's what you thought." She accused. It was what rankled. She could handle the fact what he had said had been broadcast. That no doubt was Lisa and Anne's fault. But what she was having difficulty forgiving was the fact he appeared to genuinely believe what he had said. She wished she could prove to him that he was wrong, but that would mean practically begging him to reconsider his opinion, and Caitlin had no intention of doing that.
He nodded. "You didn't exactly pull your weight did you?" Came the soft accusation.
For a second Caitlin debated the merits of getting involved in a discussion about this. In reality they were unlikely to hook up again, for whatever reason. So what was the point in trying to make her side known. Why bother explaining to him what her views were with regard to the purpose of the event? But when she looked up at him, he seemed to be genuinely questioning her contribution to the team's effort. So Caitlin decided to tell him what she thought. She began with a question. "What do you think is the purpose of this treasure hunt?" She asked him quietly.
He frowned at her, not quite sure what she was getting at. It was a treasure hunt! Surely everyone knew the purpose of a treasure hunt? He frowned at her. "It's a treasure hunt!" He told her and tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
"True. But for me," She told him, "it was about getting to know people and having fun." Ok, so now Jared knew what she was getting at. That did not stop her from continuing with her explanation. "And I did that. Nigel is a lovely guy. A bit nervous, but once he gets to know you he's a real hoot." She couldn't help the smile when she thought about Nigel. Her smile worried Jared. Why was she smiling wistfully when she mentioned Nigel's name? Had their time together been enough to help establish that sort of a connection? Jared felt his gut tighten. Jealousy? He could not be jealous. No way. Caitlin was oblivious to the internal debate Jared was having. She sighed and said with a smile in her voice. "Nigel and I had a great time. We collected a few things along the way. But for me that wasn't what this was about." She looked up at Jared and found him watching her with speculation in his eyes. "I did not participate to win." Then she turned her back on him. "I'm here because my sister could not make it. So I came. I met interesting people, and got to know a couple of them." She planted her hands on the balustrade, and looked over her shoulder at him, "What did you think of Candy?"
"She's good company." Jared shrugged, "Pretty bright actually. Funny too." He admitted and wondered why Caitlin was suddenly introducing the other woman into the conversation. Had Caitlin been jealous, because he'd spent the bulk of the time with Candy? Was that why she was throwing Nigel in his face? Was that what this was about?
Caitlin thought Candy was a lot more than her appearance. Once you got to know her, she was funny and interesting and astute. Caitlin liked the woman. "I agree. She's a really nice person. So to me, whether we won or not, was immaterial. " Caitlin glanced at him again, her eyes cooled a fraction, and her voice lost the smile as she said quietly, "You might not like my father, or me, for that matter, but I didn't deserve to be publicly humiliated."
Ok, it was pretty clear that he had hurt her. "It's not that I don't like your father, or you, for that matter. I don't like being taken for a ride."
"And I took you for a ride? You?" She shook her head in total disbelief, "Just how did I do that?" She turned toward him. "I did not choose the group. I did what we were told to do, and while doing it I had fun." She said quietly.
He nodded as he conceded her point. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted." She told him with a semblance of a smile.
"Don't you ever raise your voice? Get mad?"
"Sure. But as you pointed out before, dad is an iconic figure in this community, and I am very proud of him, so yes, I am a daddy's girl." He winced. She carried on with her pointed explanation, "And if I stuffed up it would look bad on him." She pushed off the balustrade, deciding that it was time to return to face the gossip. She seriously doubted whether people would have stopped discussing what Jared had broadcast. But hiding out was not an option. She was going to brave it out. "So if that's all, why don't we go back...."
"Not yet." Came the firm but quiet response. Jared figured his timing was just right. Any time now. So he needed to get closer to her. If this was going to work he needed to be much closer! He glanced at his watch. Ok, anytime now, he thought and stepped closer to Caitlin. She stepped back. When he came forward again, she backed up again.
"Why?" The beat of the music could be felt in the timber, but at least they didn't have to shout in each other's ear to be heard. She saw him glance at the door, "Now what?" She wasn't quite sure what had set her alert antenna off, but something was not quite right. He seemed to be almost biding his time. It was as if this meeting was on a schedule of some sort. There was a tiny niggle in the back of her mind that was gradually growing into a full scale alert. Something wasn't quite right here.
She started to frown, wondering what she'd let herself in for, when he said, "Now I kiss you."