Love in a Nutshell - Janet Evanovich [31]
Kate raised her hand like the obedient student she’d never quite been.
“In a moment, Kate,” Marcie replied. “The judges’ scores are final. No bribes will be accepted or threats tolerated.” She said the last with a pointed stare at Deena. “And tonight’s winner will receive the grand prize of five pounds of venison burger provided by Harley Bagger.”
If Kate was going to sing for her supper, she would have appreciated something non-Bambi-like, but she wasn’t here for the chow.
“You had a question, Kate?” Marcie asked.
“What’s the kamikaze challenge?”
“In the final round, a song will be selected at random for you from the playlist.”
Deena snickered. “As if you have to worry.”
Marcie gave Deena a glare. “And no sabotage, either. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” She walked back out to the microphone, leaving Kate and the other singers hidden behind the plastic jungle.
“And tonight’s judges, chosen at semi-random from among our guests, will be…” She looked down at a sheet of paper. “Starflower Creed, Shay VanAntwerp … and Matt Culhane.”
SEVEN
Matt flipped through a stack of albums being offered in the town’s garage sale of a silent auction. Actually, if he thought he could consistently find a stash of music like this in local garages, he’d be joining his mom on the Saturday morning circuit. Next to him stood Lizzie. She must have pulled the short straw in the “keep Matt here” challenge, because she hadn’t left his side in the past ten minutes. And somewhere at the very back of the room, Marcie Landon was calling names over the sound system.
Matt picked up his head at the sound of something all too familiar.
“Did I just hear my name?” he asked Lizzie.
“I don’t know. Did you?” His sister’s smile was nothing short of smug. This was never a good sign.
Again his name drifted above the crowd. “Matt? Matt Culhane?”
“That’s definitely your name,” Lizzie said.
“It is. But I have the option of ignoring it,” he said, testing Lizzie’s level of investment in whatever was going down.
His little sister tried to hip check him away from the album collection. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go see. Maybe you’ve won something.”
He held her off long enough to write a bid on the vinyl collection big enough to scare off competitors. He knew that wasn’t the silent auction spirit, but he wasn’t messing around. There were a pile of Doors and Jefferson Airplane in that stack.
Marcie waved her hand, urging him toward the stage. “Matt, there you are!”
“What am I here for?”
She laughed as though he’d made a joke. “Ladies and gentlemen, our third judge is now taking his seat. Let the karaoke competition begin!” she said with a flourish and hurried back behind the screen.
“You set me up,” Matt said to Lizzie.
“Fact. But think of judging as an exercise in civic duty. We all have to do it. It’s your turn, and now that you’re trapped, I can go have fun.”
While thinking of a fitting revenge to eventually spring on his sister, Matt made his way to the open judge’s chair. He settled between Starflower and Shay.
Starflower, one of the silver-haired elders of the Creed Commune outside of town, said, “Remember, Matt, peace comes from within.”
She didn’t generally offer up platitudes without a purpose.
“I take it you’ve judged these before?” he asked.
She gave a slow nod of her head, closed her eyes, and began humming to herself. Matt wondered if he was catching a whiff of something less legal than the scent of Starflower’s lavender oil, which she sold in a shop the commune owned in town. Matt preferred to find his inner peace the way he’d been raised—family, friends, and hard work.
To his right, Shay VanAntwerp flicked her perfectly straight and shiny blond hair over her shoulders. “I was told we’d be up on the stage. That’s the only reason I agreed to judge.”
At least she’d been given a choice.
Besides,