I ground my teeth before choosing my words carefully. “They wanted to hear real music. They get enough garbage blasted at them. Studies have shown that children who can read music and play instruments consistently do better in other areas of studies and life. In fact—”
“Sure.” Dick held up a hand. “We’re glad to have more community involvement. But there are certain ways of doing things. You can’t just invite a busload of young people without asking.”
“I thought the goal was to generate interest in the SOOK,” I said. My blood pressure was rising. My intentions were good. The goal had been to make people happy, and it had worked. Now I was be chastised for it? It was only because they wanted me out. They’d find any excuse to fire me.
“Of course, perhaps we could—”
I stood. “If we are done here.” I was sick of paperwork and bureaucracy. It was about the music. The room closed in around me. Heat burned my cheeks. I needed fresh air.
Neither of the men moved. The sweaty one refused to look at me. I was tempted to yell, “Boo!” just to see if he jumped.
“I’m afraid this is your second strike, Maestro,” Andy said.
“Second?” I asked.
“The first was announcing the chair additions the way you did. You have to learn to communicate with your symphony and coordinate with the board,” Andy explained.
I frowned, but had no excuse to speak to. I needed to talk to Kim. Was it possible that I had made the wrong choice? Should I have cleared this event with management before I did it? I felt helpless and embarrassed for screwing up even when I tried to be better. Maybe I’d never get things right.
Dick added, “There can be no more warnings.”
I bit my tongue. If I didn’t, I would prove them exactly right. I stormed out of my office. By the time I got back to the room, Kim was gone.
Chapter 24
You’re distracted. Get your priorities in order.
KIM
My stomach was twisted with a dread I didn’t understand. So when Roddy suggested we leave for lunch I accepted without hesitation. I needed some space away to work through some thoughts. Today had been a good day. Devlin had done a great thing. So why did I feel so sick and weird?
“Are you okay?” Roddy asked, opening the passenger door of his sports car for me.
It was fancy and fast and red. I dropped into the low bucket seat and plastered on a smile for him. “Of course. Just hungry.”
He nodded and shut the door. When he was buckled in, he asked, “Anywhere in particular you want to go?”
This was a dreaded question. If I picked and the service was bad or the food was subpar, then I’d be the one at fault. I could eat anywhere. It didn’t matter to me, but he needed a decision. Just this minor choice added to the quickening dread doubling inside me.
Still, I wanted to contribute and sound interesting, so I said, “There’s this new French bistro with an appetizer that has six different types of cheese. Sounds interesting.”
“Let’s try it,” he said affably.
At the restaurant, I regretted my decision almost immediately. The hostess was short in tone and pretentious. The ten minutes to even be sat felt too long.
“I should have just called up my friend. He owns the Waterfront Grille. We could be eating by now,” Roddy said, glancing at his phone.
When we were finally sat, I spent the entire meal silently wishing the server would hurry. I had been looking forward to spending time with Roddy again, but now that I was here, I just wanted to leave.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You should have picked.”
He laughed it off. “Not every place in Tennessee is fine dining.”
I returned his smile but my food sat untouched.
“Quite a stunt he pulled today,” Roddy said as I pushed a piece of bread around my plate.
“Stunt?” I asked. It hadn’t felt like a stunt.
