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Authors: Livia J. Washburn
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job?”
“I’ll do it!” Lindsey burst out. “I’ll do it this afternoon! I swear I will, Shannon.”
“Never mind,” Shannon said, scorn dripping from her voice. “I’ll take care of it. That’s the president’s job, isn’t it, doing everything that doesn’t get done?” She swept her withering gaze around to the other two board members in the room.
Phyllis waited to see if Lindsey, Kristina, and Irene were going to get up and walk out. Phyllis would have, if Shannon had attacked her like that. Clearly, Shannon didn’t understand—or didn’t care—that the board members were volunteers. They didn’t have to be here. If they wanted to, the entire board could just quit and dump all the responsibility for the carnival in her lap.
But no one stood up. The three women just sat there, pointedly looking at the table and not meeting Shannon’s gaze. After a moment of awkward silence, Shannon said, “Where are the others? Can’t anybody be on time?”
As Phyllis and Carolyn pulled out folding chairs to sit down at the table, the chair legs scraping on the tile floor, Phyllis heard footsteps in the hall. A few seconds later, Marie appeared in the doorway, a smile on her face. That smile vanished quickly as she must have sensed the hostile atmosphere in the room. “Uh-oh,” she said. “What happened?”
“Lindsey hasn’t collected the posters that the children made for the carnival,” Shannon said. “She was supposed to have taken them around town and put them up in all the businesses by now.”
“Oh, honey,” Marie said as she looked at Lindsey, “you should have let me know you were having trouble. I would have helped you.”
“I kept thinking I’d get around to it,” Lindsey said miserably. “I meant to.”
Shannon said, “You know what they say about good intentions and the road to hell.” She looked at Marie. “Do you know if the others are coming?”
“Yeah, I saw Holly and Abby pull into the parking lot behind me. They ought to be here any minute.” More footsteps sounded from the hall. Marie looked around and went on, “Here they come now.”
The other board members entered the conference room a moment later. Everyone sat down. The meeting could get under way now, even though it was obvious it had been going on unofficially even before Phyllis and Carolyn arrived.
Phyllis knew the sort of posters Shannon had been talking about. Although it wasn’t mandatory, the children designed and illustrated them—often with varying degrees of help from their parents, Phyllis suspected—and then they were taped up in the windows of the businesses around town to publicize the carnival. Each poster had to include the date and time and how much fun it would be. Most of the kids drew simple pictures of the activities that would be going on at the carnival, but others—likely the ones with the most parental involvement—were more creative and downright fancy. But it was all in good fun, and since the goal was to get as many people to attend and spend money as possible, whatever worked was just fine.
Nothing else was said about the posters and Lindsey’s failure to collect them from the classrooms and post them around town. During the meeting, Shannon called on each of the board members in turn, asking for reports on what they had accomplished since the last meeting. As far as Phyllis could tell, preparations for the carnival were proceeding satisfactorily, but Shannon found some nit to pick with everyone’s reports, some more so than others.
Since they weren’t members of the board, Shannon turned to Carolyn and Phyllis last. “What about you ladies?” she asked, softening her tone slightly. “Are we ready for the auction and the snack contest? The carnival is a week from tomorrow, you know.”
“Yes, I know,” Carolyn said. She had brought along a large tote bag this morning, and as she opened it up, Phyllis saw why. Carolyn took out a thick sheaf of papers. “I’d like to
“I’ll do it!” Lindsey burst out. “I’ll do it this afternoon! I swear I will, Shannon.”
“Never mind,” Shannon said, scorn dripping from her voice. “I’ll take care of it. That’s the president’s job, isn’t it, doing everything that doesn’t get done?” She swept her withering gaze around to the other two board members in the room.
Phyllis waited to see if Lindsey, Kristina, and Irene were going to get up and walk out. Phyllis would have, if Shannon had attacked her like that. Clearly, Shannon didn’t understand—or didn’t care—that the board members were volunteers. They didn’t have to be here. If they wanted to, the entire board could just quit and dump all the responsibility for the carnival in her lap.
But no one stood up. The three women just sat there, pointedly looking at the table and not meeting Shannon’s gaze. After a moment of awkward silence, Shannon said, “Where are the others? Can’t anybody be on time?”
As Phyllis and Carolyn pulled out folding chairs to sit down at the table, the chair legs scraping on the tile floor, Phyllis heard footsteps in the hall. A few seconds later, Marie appeared in the doorway, a smile on her face. That smile vanished quickly as she must have sensed the hostile atmosphere in the room. “Uh-oh,” she said. “What happened?”
“Lindsey hasn’t collected the posters that the children made for the carnival,” Shannon said. “She was supposed to have taken them around town and put them up in all the businesses by now.”
“Oh, honey,” Marie said as she looked at Lindsey, “you should have let me know you were having trouble. I would have helped you.”
“I kept thinking I’d get around to it,” Lindsey said miserably. “I meant to.”
Shannon said, “You know what they say about good intentions and the road to hell.” She looked at Marie. “Do you know if the others are coming?”
“Yeah, I saw Holly and Abby pull into the parking lot behind me. They ought to be here any minute.” More footsteps sounded from the hall. Marie looked around and went on, “Here they come now.”
The other board members entered the conference room a moment later. Everyone sat down. The meeting could get under way now, even though it was obvious it had been going on unofficially even before Phyllis and Carolyn arrived.
Phyllis knew the sort of posters Shannon had been talking about. Although it wasn’t mandatory, the children designed and illustrated them—often with varying degrees of help from their parents, Phyllis suspected—and then they were taped up in the windows of the businesses around town to publicize the carnival. Each poster had to include the date and time and how much fun it would be. Most of the kids drew simple pictures of the activities that would be going on at the carnival, but others—likely the ones with the most parental involvement—were more creative and downright fancy. But it was all in good fun, and since the goal was to get as many people to attend and spend money as possible, whatever worked was just fine.
Nothing else was said about the posters and Lindsey’s failure to collect them from the classrooms and post them around town. During the meeting, Shannon called on each of the board members in turn, asking for reports on what they had accomplished since the last meeting. As far as Phyllis could tell, preparations for the carnival were proceeding satisfactorily, but Shannon found some nit to pick with everyone’s reports, some more so than others.
Since they weren’t members of the board, Shannon turned to Carolyn and Phyllis last. “What about you ladies?” she asked, softening her tone slightly. “Are we ready for the auction and the snack contest? The carnival is a week from tomorrow, you know.”
“Yes, I know,” Carolyn said. She had brought along a large tote bag this morning, and as she opened it up, Phyllis saw why. Carolyn took out a thick sheaf of papers. “I’d like to
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