Page 53 of Refurbished

I felt like I should run a little interference. “West wouldn’t do any of this if he didn’t genuinely believe in the cause. I promise it isn’t simply because of our friendship. He is very serious about money, and doesn’t part with it unless he genuinely feels it’s worth it.”

“If you are doing it for the animals. I can only thank you. It will make a difference.”

Tyler leaned around his man, “There is a movie premiere weekend in New York on the auction table. I’m hoping to win it. Then my lover can take me for a long weekend.” He waggled his eyebrows at West.

West looked at his husband. “Do I know this lover of yours?”

“Perhaps.” Tyler kissed West.

Eion laughed. “Oh, I saw that. Good luck.” I could tell my boyfriend was getting overwhelmed. It was clear when I looked at him; he was pale, and his palms were getting clammy. I tried to calm him by squeezing his hand. Barnaby whined quietly, head on Eion’s thigh, wanting to calm his charge.

“I’m right here with you. These are our friends.” I said quietly. He didn’t turn his head toward me, but his hand tightened. Our friends looked at both of us, and I could tell they were prepared to throw down if Eion was upset. They hadn’t missed the look of distress.

“What can we do to help?” West was the first to ask, but everyone nodded.

Tyler started talking. “Have you seen Angus? Of course, you have. You’ve probably been naked with him many times.” He stopped. Tyler was usually the one to calm a situation. I am sure it had something to do with the fact that he spent a lot of time with kids who had trauma, and he needed to defuse tense situations. “Angus is jacked. He will kick someone’s ass for you. You should see him at the bar.” I wasn’t even sure what Tyler was trying to say, but Eion had started to relax.

Our bar rarely needed an actual bouncer, since we were high-end and very exclusive. Tyler was trying to get Eion to think about something else, and, based on his chuckle, it worked. Finally, he looked at me and gave me a tiny smile. I wanted to take the worry from him. This whole event was a lot for me; I couldn’t imagine how he was feeling. I thought back to the guy who would give me one-word answers a few months ago; now he was in a room with thousands of people, all of whom were looking at him.

Dinner was served, and our people kept him focused on anything other than the crowd around us. My friends understood the assignment and were there for us. Barnaby kept watch, staying pressed against Eion as much as possible. While they served dessert, a lovely young woman stepped up to the microphone. This was our cue to get on the stage. Eion would be introduced and start the presentation. Once it was over, he would say a few words, introduce my mother, and thank her. Then he would be free to mingle, which meant having a few drinks and hopefully avoiding large groups of people.

“Okay, Baby, you are up.” He turned and looked at me. It was obvious we were in trouble. Eion was ghost-white and sweating. “You got this.” His eyes looked through me. I kissed the side of his head—this I could fix for him.

“It’s okay, I got you.” With his hand in mine, I stood up, and he bravely followed.

“I can’t do this, Angus.”

“I know. Trust me?” He nodded. We walked up to the stage. Barnaby was dancing under our feet, doing everything he could to calm Eion.

I nodded at the nice woman who had opened this section of the event. “I am happy to introduce you to Eion Foster, Proprietor of Second Chances Sanctuary and Rehabilitation.”

She looked at me, slightly panicked. I swallowed hard, looked at the man I loved, and took a deep breath. My corset held me tight. “Thank you,” I said as I leaned toward the mic. She gave me another questioning look as she handed me the microphone over to me.

“Hi. First, I want to make it clear that I am not Eion Foster. I am actually Angus MacGregor. Yes, one of those MacGregors. Even though it wouldn’t be surprising, I didn’t hijack this event. I am up here with Mr. Foster because Eion is my partner. Needless to say, this dinner tonight has been beyond what we hoped for. Having all of you here to support our animals will make a huge difference to what Eion and I can do in the future. I know you have learned a little about what we do, but let’s take a moment to look at the big picture, and then you will have an even better reason to give us your money. So without any further delay, let’s learn about Second Chances Sanctuary and Rehabilitation.”

The presentation started, and with Eion’s hand in mine, I was given the most gorgeous smile. “You are amazing. You are my hero.” He pulled me close and hugged me tight. “I’m so sorry.”

I put my fingers over his lips so he would stop. I was glad his panic seemed to have passed and that I had my sweet man back. “Do you think you can introduce my mom?”

He swallowed hard. “Will you go out there with me?”

“Of course.” I kissed him gently. At that moment, I could see a lifetime of making things better for him. When things were hard, I would fix them. Would that be okay with him? Was I his forever? Was it too soon for me to think those things? Should I tell him? What if I told him and he didn’t feel the same way? Could we be lucky enough to have found our person?

“Angus?”

“What?” I looked up.

“It’s almost time to go introduce your mother. I think I can do it if you are with me.” I realized I had been spiraling in my own head, which wasn’t good. I smiled and nodded. Hand in hand, we walked to the stage.

This time he took the microphone. “I’m Eion Foster. Thanks. You all. For coming. Support. For supporting the Sanctuary. I’ll be around. Any questions. Introduce the woman. The amazing woman. She did this. Ms. Amelia MacGregor. Yes. Those MacGregors.”

It wasn’t the smoothest introduction, but it got the job done, and hopefully, we could handle any individuals who approached us during the last few hours of the event. After my mom gave her speech, the silent auctions would be closed, and nightcaps would be served. There would be a tally of what we had made tomorrow afternoon. Undoubtedly, donations would be made over the next few days. It felt like this had been a huge success. I knew we would be able to build the large animal nursery and start making changes to the existing buildings.

For the remainder of the evening, we hung out with my friends, drank good whiskey, and talked to attendees. A lot of people asked if Orlando was real, and Eion was more than happy to tell them stories and show pictures from his phone of his friend. He was much more relaxed when there were only a few people at a time. When he stumbled over his words in conversation, one of the group stepped up and filled in the details. It did my heart good to know that the people I loved the most all learned everything they could about our Sanctuary. They were able to answer questions intelligently, which made the guests happy and, hopefully, led them to donate.

When the auctions closed, Tyler did a happy dance because he won the movie premiere trip, which included a sit-down dinner with the actors. I knew that was not cheap. If it was important to one of us, he would research it, and if he found it worthy, there was no limit. He was the best, best friend. He was also very aware of how I felt about Eion, and because of that, he would go to war for either of us.

My mom wandered over to our little group. She still looked elegant after hours of socializing. She was smart and charming, and showed grace to the grouchiest person. Nobody got the upper hand on Amelia MacGregor.