“Yes,” someone squeaked. But it was so soft that Mimi wasn’t sure she heard right.
“What did you say?” Viola asked.
Wendy’s eyes went round. “I said…yes.”
Bettina made her scowly face. “Wendy, hon, I think your blood sugar is too low. It sounded as if you said yes, when I know what you meant to vote was no. Isn’t that right?”
Sherry nodded. “I’m positive I heard no.”
“I vote yes,” Wendy said in a voice loud enough that no one could dispute.
Be
ttina and Sherry stared (or rather gawked) at her as if they couldn’t believe it. Mimi could hardly believe it herself. Thanks to Wendy’s vote, her proposal had just been passed by the committee!
“Well! That settles it, then.” Viola rubbed her hands together gleefully. “The vote is four to two, so Mimi’s proposal is voted in.”
Doreen made some final notes in her pad and glanced around the table. “Now that the vote is settled, I say we adjourn this meeting.”
*~*~*
This time, Mimi was careful to watch where she stepped. The parking lot was once again empty, except for her and Bettina, who always seemed to be the last to leave. She had hoped to have a chance to talk to Wendy and thank her for keeping an open mind on the vote, but Wendy had practically run out the door the second the meeting had adjourned. Mimi didn’t blame her. She was probably hoping to escape the wrath of Hurricane Bettina. Sooner or later though, Mimi was afraid it would catch it up to her. She could only hope Wendy had the fortitude to stick to her guns and keep following her conscience.
Mimi put her key in the car lock.
“Congratulations.”
She whipped around to find Bettina standing a few feet away. Tofu blinked at Mimi with those dark, soulless eyes of hers (okay, so maybe she was actually kind of cute when she wasn’t snarling).
“Thanks, Bettina. I know you and Sherry weren’t on board with my proposal, but I hope we can all work together for the good of the festival.”
“Of course we can. And I don’t want you thinking my vote was anything personal now. Just give me a job and I’ll do it. You’re in charge, Mimi. The fate of the festival is all on your shoulders now.” Bettina walked off toward her car. Tofu turned her head and kept looking at Mimi with a sad, almost wistful expression. Sorry, no more bacon for you, Tofu.
The fate of the festival is all on your shoulders now.
The way Bettina said it sounded almost ominous. Mimi had wanted to be mayor. She’d promised during her campaign that she’d do what was best for Whispering Bay. It looked like it was now time to make good on that promise.
*~*~*
The house seemed empty but Claire’s car was parked outside. “Hello?” Mimi called, dumping a bag of groceries onto the kitchen counter. She’d stopped by the Piggly Wiggly to pick up the ingredients for dinner. A part of her wanted to make something and bring it by Rusty’s cousin’s cabin to surprise Zeke, but he was probably already swimming in casseroles. Mimi still got all itchy whenever she thought of it.
Toby ran up to greet her, leaving a big drool stain on the side of her black linen pants. “Hey, boy.” Mimi opened the door to the backyard and let him outside.
Claire walked into the kitchen and began poking inside the bags. “What did you get?”
“I thought I’d make tacos.”
“Cameron will cry when he finds out he’s missing tacos.” At the confused look on Mimi’s face, Claire said, “He’s at soccer practice and afterward the team is going out for pizza. He told you this morning at breakfast. It’s Mr. Donalan’s turn for carpool, so he’ll bring Cameron back home afterward.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Mimi had been so tired after staying up late to work on her proposal that she’d felt like a zombie this morning. Cameron could have told her he was going to the moon and she’d have forgotten. Tacos were his favorite meal, although pizza came in a close second.
“So I guess it’s just the two of us, then, huh?” she said. This was actually good. She hadn’t had a chance to be alone with Claire since forever.
Claire nodded. “Yep.”
“How about I brown the meat and you chop up the lettuce and tomatoes?”
“Okay.” Claire reached into the cabinet to pull out the cutting board and began dicing the vegetables.