“Thirty-five.” Ethan did not hesitate. “Forty.” Murmurs moved through the barn.
Grant’s smirk disappeared. Walter stood halfway, then sat again because his knees had suddenly become unreliable. “Ethan, someone near the back whispered, apparently knowing him, and that was how Walter first caught the name.” Maya looked from Ethan to Grant like she was watching a basketball game in overtime.
Jason raised the pace. “Forty thousand.” “I have forty.” “Looking forty-five.”
Grant lifted his card. “Forty-five.” “Fifty,” Ethan said. “This time the room reacted audibly.”
Fifty thousand was no longer a sentimental gesture. It was a financial position. Grant shifted forward. “Fifty-five.”
Ethan answered, “Sixty.” Walter’s mouth went dry. He had come prepared to watch the building sell somewhere between forty and sixty-five. Sixty would nearly cover the bank balance and taxes.
Above that, Walter might actually leave the day with enough to pay final business obligations without touching the house. He should have been thinking only about relief. Instead he was staring at a stranger who looked increasingly pale as the numbers rose. Grant turned fully in his chair.
“Do you know what you’re buying?” Jason immediately stepped in. “Bids through me, gentlemen.” Ethan’s eyes stayed on Grant.