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“Okay.” She opened the binder in front of her and took a deep breath. “It’s something I tried to do a year ago, but we didn’t have the budget for it. And now… well, STEM for the Win has agreed to donate enough money to cover the rental of two carnival rides.”
My mouth fell open. “Owen’s donating… carnival rides?”
“Yes—and I’m taking care of arranging everything with the company that will be delivering them. They sent me a digital catalog—we can all vote on which rides we want at the meeting.”
I just blinked at her in wonderment. Carnival rides? I remembered her mentioning them last year, but it was a financial impossibility at the time. “Do we have the room? And what about the liability?”
“We’ll have to expand into the southern parking lot,” she said, glancing down at the paper in front of her. “And as far as liability, we’re covered in the ride company’s insurance—I already had Delgado go over their contract to ensure it wouldn’t be a risk.” She’d already gone to the superintendent about this, so it looked like it was pretty much a done deal. “This is going to be bigger than just the Grissom community, Kendall—let’s get all of Woodvale there.”
Great.
No pressure or anything.
And as if she could read the overwhelm on my face, she reached across the table to rest her hand on my wrist. “I know this gives you more work to do, as far as logistical planning goes, but you’re not alone in it—I’m not going to sit back and watch you struggle, okay?” She paused to give me a warm smile, squeezing my wrist before she pulled her hand away. “I’m going to do everything I can to help you recruit more volunteers.”
As if he were personally beckoned, Heath cleared his throat, turning to us. “Let me help.”
We both whipped our heads his direction, and Sarah quickly turned back to me, assessing my reaction. “I doubt you’d have time for all this,” I said, my mouth dry.
He shrugged. “But I always help with projects like these, don’t I?” He looked at Sarah, who shot the tiniest wince in my direction before she nodded in agreement. Selfish as he was, Heath was one of her usual recruits. “What can I do?”
I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I couldn’t say that in front of our boss—even if she was my friend. Inhaling, I tapped my phone and brought up the document that contained my to-do list, trying to find a task that was suitable for Heath. And finally, I saw it. I’d written “bathrooms??” near the bottom of the list.
“Well, now that we’ll be drawing a bigger crowd,” I started, tapping my fingernails on the table, “I doubt we can have all those people using the student bathrooms by the gym. I think we’re going to need portable toilets, right?”
I looked at Sarah for confirmation, and she nodded, saying, “I had the very same thought.”
Turning to Heath, I said, “That would take a huge load off my shoulders—if you could track down a portable toilet company and have them delivered the night before.”
Heath’s jaw clenched. “So you’re… putting me in charge of where people shit, huh?”
There were a couple giggles at the other end of the table. I stared at Heath, ignoring them. “I mean, it’s something I need help with—if you’re not up for the task, Heath, just say it.”
Whatever it was Heath wanted to say, he couldn’t—not in front of Sarah. He was seething. Finally, he ended our stare-down and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I can do it.”
Across from me, I caught a glimmer of a smile on Sarah’s lips as she jotted something down in her planner. And that subtle look of amusement on her face was exactly why we were friends.
Even if I did sort of want to kill her sometimes.
chapter fourteen
mason
“Why can’t I go with you?”
Finley was seated on my parents’ living room floor surrounded by all of her Barbies, which, from the looks of it, had just suffered a brutal dinosaur attack. Her oversized t-rex was lying sideways in the midst of the pile of toys. “Because this meeting is for grown-ups.”
“Like grandma’s meeting?”
“Yup,” I said, running a hand through my hair. I glanced over at my dad, seated in his recliner, so enthralled by whatever they were spewing on Fox News that I was concerned leaving right now might not be the best idea.
My mom was at one of her weekly church meetings—women’s bible study or something. Her meeting just so happened to coincide with the PTO meeting on Thursday night, which meant Finley was stuck with Grandpa. Luckily for her, she thought his grumpiness was amusing—and she often egged it on to the point he couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“Fin, make sure you pick all of these toys up before Grandma gets home,” I told her, checking the time on my phone. I had plenty of time, but I wanted to be early—if anything for an excuse to talk to Kendall a bit longer.
Finley was already too distracted by her toys to answer. “Finley,” my dad’s voice boomed. “Your father just spoke to you. Acknowledge him.”
Finley looked up, glancing from my father to me. “Okay, Dad.”
