She lifted her chin as Roland turned his back, put his hand on Robert’s shoulder, and walked him out the door.
She truly wanted the best for the children, and if she had to bite her tongue and smile at Roland in order to do it, she would.
“I’m sorry, children, let’s make sure we’re doing the best we can as we practice our cursive Zs.”
She arrived at home later that afternoon, and thankfully, Grandma was having a good day. She had been talking to her colleagues about how long she should try to keep her grandmother at home and what her options were. She couldn’t stay home from school and watch her every day, and she wasn’t sure she could hire someone to stay there all day long. But she didn’t want to send her grandma to a home if she could help it. The idea made her sad and also made her feel like she wasn’t being a very good granddaughter.
Regardless, she and Gram had a good meal together, and she even caught a nap before she headed to the meeting.
Marjorie McBride was there, and while she knew that Marjorie was Roland’s mother, she loved the woman completely and sometimes had trouble believing that the two of them could be related.
She was greeted by her and several other people as they walked in.
Pastor Connelly apologized for the short notice and explained that that was why a lot of people couldn’t make it.
“But I felt like we had to take care of the situation immediately. I’m sorry that I’ve been distracted by my wife’s illness and haven’t been on this like I should. I was hoping, Nelly, that you would volunteer to head it up. I know you’re very busy with your school and classroom, but no one does the job the way you do.”
“Yes. Absolutely. I’d love to do it,” Nelly said honestly. She reallydid love working on the school play and figured that she could probably fit that into her schedule. Although, it was going to be an intense four weeks of practice, since the church play usually was done the Sunday after Christmas.
“That’s wonderful. My son, Roland, told me on my way out that he would be able to help as well. He was going to be a little late to the meeting, but he wanted me to volunteer him, because he had to take his nephew to the dentist, and he had just gotten home as I was walking out.”
Nelly about swallowed her tongue when Marjorie started to talk. She would be having to work with Roland? She could hardly take her volunteering back. That would be very un-Christian of her.
“I see. Well, it looks like we have our two directors lined up. Now, let’s talk about dates and refreshments.”
She realized that what was in her heart wasn’t what was coming out in her actions. Her heart was black and wicked and didn’t want to have anything to do with Roland. But here she was, pretending there were no problems. She needed to fix her heart, not back out of working with Roland.
The meeting was almost ready to wrap up when she noticed that Roland slipped in the back door and sat down beside his mom.
His mom leaned over and whispered to him, and Nelly almost laughed out loud at the expression on Roland’s face.
She looked away quickly as his eyes started to lift—she was sure that he would be searching the crowd looking for her.
Pastor Connelly noticed his late arrival and announced from where he stood at the front, “Looks like Roland has arrived. Just want to let you know that your mom volunteered you, and you are now working with Nelly Bushnell to direct the play. We’ve been talking about budget constraints, and the expectations of the play, and also the fact that we’re going to have to have some extra practices during the week. I hope that will work with your schedule?”
“This is a busy time of year at the Christmas tree farm,” Rolandbegan, almost as though he were going to try to gracefully back out of it, but then—she didn’t know whether he remembered that he had told his mom he would do it, or whether she pinched him where no one could see, but he pasted an obviously fake smile on his face and said, “but I’m happy to help out wherever I can. That’s what I told my mom when she left, and whatever she volunteered me for, I’ll keep my word and honor her commitment.”
Nelly wanted to put her arms over her chest and pout. She didn’t want to work with Roland. And she didn’t want to have to explain why. Because she couldn’t. She really had no idea.
The rest of the meeting passed without her paying a whole lot of attention. It would be up to her and Roland to set the practice schedule and figure out exactly what they were going to do. That meant she was going to have to talk to him after the meeting adjourned.
She wasn’t looking forward to it, and she wanted him to come to her.
Except she didn’t. She wanted to be the one in control. So, as soon as Pastor Connelly closed the meeting with prayer, she jumped up and went marching over to Roland. Halfway over, she realized she was acting like she was going on a death march, and she tried to modulate her speed and her directness.
She paused to give Mrs. Tucker a polite smile. That soon turned sour when Mrs. Tucker said, “I’m thrilled that the two of you are working together. I always thought that the two of you in high school were just absolutely brilliant. You motivated each other to do far, far better than either one of you would have done by yourselves. Of course, my Jamie was valedictorian, but I had to admire how you and Roland just were so determined to push each other to be your very, very best.”
Nelly practically bit her tongue in order to not respond to Mrs. Tucker the way she wanted to.
She heard snickering and turned in time to see Roland tucking a laugh back behind his hands.
It made her mad again, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes from flashing as she wanted to fly over to him and grab him by his ears.
Instead, she politely thanked Mrs. Tucker, complimented the woman on the Christmas cookies that she always provided for the after-show refreshments, and told her she was looking forward to the treats again this year. Then, she politely excused herself because she had a few details to hash out with Mr. McBride. She emphasized the “Mr.” as she turned and strode toward Roland, who hadn’t budged from his mother’s side. As though he needed to hide behind his mother’s skirts for protection.
Which, come to think of it, maybe he did.
“Mr. McBride. It looks like you and I are going to be working together.” She wanted to add, “and you can’t be any happier about that than I am, so let’s make the best of it,” but there were people within earshot, so she just gave him a fake smile.
