His Best Friend's Wife (Bachelor Best Friends 2)

“Daddy’s friends look nice,” Leslie said.

“They’re the men who are making a scholarship in your daddy’s name,” Renae said evenly. “They’ll give money to boys who want to go to college but can’t afford it.”

“Only boys?” Leslie asked with a frown.

“There are other scholarships for girls, but this one is for boys.”

“Because Daddy was a boy. Duh,” Daniel said without looking up from the robot he was building with little red-and-blue-plastic snap-together blocks.

Renae smiled, but she noted that Lucy did not. Even one of Daniel’s cute comments couldn’t lighten Lucy’s mood, caused by just hearing Evan’s name.

Now was definitely not the time to mention that she’d been seeing Evan on a regular basis. And that she was strongly tempted to continue doing so.

Swallowing a sigh, Renae closed the album. “I’m going to put these away now,” she said. “You and Daniel need to get ready for bed. Who’s taking the first bath?”

“She is.”

“He is.”

“It’s Daniel’s turn to go first,” Lucy said from the couch.

Daniel sighed gustily. “Can Boomer take a bath with me?”

“No.” It was the same answer Renae always gave when he asked that question, but it was practically a tradition now for him to ask. “Hurry up, it’s getting late.”

Throwing his building toys into the box, he carried the set with him as he left the room, dragging his feet a little just to make a statement.

Chuckling, Renae gathered the albums and stood to return them to her room. Her cell phone chimed before she’d made it through the doorway. Aware of Lucy’s sharp look, she kept walking. She would take the call in private. It might not be Evan, of course—she did have other friends who called to chat occasionally—but something told her whose name she would see on her phone.

“Hi,” Evan said when she answered. “Bad time?”

“I’m about to put the kids to bed, but I have a couple of minutes.”

“That’s all I need. I called to tell you about something that came up today during lunch with Tate and some of our friends. Just to run it past you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Tate’s wife and his sister both work with Emma Grainger, who’s an occupational therapist. We all have lunch together on Wednesdays. Anyway, Emma’s family hosts a big holiday party every December and they always take up a collection for charity at the event, to be split between several of the family’s pet causes. This year, Emma wants to add our scholarship to the mix. Lynette had the idea of having a silent auction at the party with donated items. Emma talked to her parents and they’re on board, so she just called to tell me about it.”

“That’s very nice of her and her family. Do they have time to pull it all together?”

“Emma says yes. She’s doing it rather casually, so she warned that it could just be a small donation, but I told her we’d take anything we could get.”

“Of course. Gratefully. What sort of items will they be auctioning?”

“Pretty much anything. Tate and I are donating a couple of potted patio trees.”

“Good idea. I’ll ask Ann and Gary if they want to make a donation. Last year they gave a nice pair of sunglasses to Cathy for a fundraiser for her kids’ school.”

“Yeah, that would be great. They’d be credited for the donation, of course.”

She thought of the beautifully knitted afghans and baby blankets Lucy made endlessly for charities. “Do you think a hand-knit afghan would auction well?”

“Sure, especially this time of year. Why, do you knit?”

“I don’t, but Lucy does. She makes gorgeous lap blankets for her church and the hospital auxiliary. I bet she’d provide one for the auction.” Maybe Lucy would feel more connected to the cause if she made a personal contribution.

“Even if she knows I’m involved?”