Page 88 of The House on Blueberry Lane

She looked toward the front of the room where six men and one woman sat at a long table. The man she figured was Dwight Beaks occasionally glared over at her with what looked like disgust on his face. The other board members avoided eye contact with her. Now she was beginning to get concerned. Mr. Dunning had once said Allen Bordeaux was a popular person in town. She had suggested to him that if he didn’t like the required school’s curriculum that he should take it up with the school board. Had he done so in a way that made them question her integrity? Surely, failing Lenny Bordeaux wouldn’t constitute any type of conflict of interest when he didn’t deserve a passing grade, so she remained baffled about the purpose of the meeting.

She let out a deep breath. Even with her friends and their husbands sitting around her for support, she wished the man she loved were here, too. But it was her fault that he wasn’t. She accepted that now. Over the past few days, she’d had time to think about everything Jaye had said. Then there had been the look in his eyes when he’d said it.

Velvet wished that she hadn’t overreacted, but it might be too late now. A part of her refused to believe that it was. Love didn’t work that way.

If no further complications occurred in Birmingham, he would be coming home Thursday. She would have a lot to say to him. She had thought of calling him today just to hear his voice, but knew what she had to say was best done face-to-face.

“Are you okay?”

Velvet looked over at Sierra. Before she could answer, the lone woman on the board stood.

“Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this special meeting of the Catalina Cove school board. Since I only got word of this meeting today—” the woman didn’t hide her annoyed tone “—I’ll let Mr. Beaks inform everyone of the reason for this meeting.”

Velvet found that odd. A meeting was called by the school board, yet some of the members didn’t know why? She had never heard of such a thing. As if Sierra knew her thoughts, she leaned close to her and whispered, “Only in Catalina Cove.”

The microphone was passed to Mr. Beaks. Instead of standing, he remained seated and said, “Ms. Velvet Spencer, could you come forward, please?”

Sierra gave Velvet’s hand a squeeze as she stood. At that moment, she felt like more than a hundred pairs of eyes were on her, but since she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong, she walked to the front with her head held high.

When she came to a stop, she said, “I’m Velvet Spencer. Could someone tell me what this is all about?”

“We will in a minute, but we need you to confirm a couple of things,” Mr. Beaks said.

She lifted a brow. “Confirm what?”

“That you teach ninth grade at Catalina Cove Junior High School. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And you’ve been teaching there for close to two years. Is that correct?”

Velvet wondered where all this was leading. “Yes, that’s correct.”

It seemed Dwight Beaks was taking his time to ask the next question, clicking his ink pen with his fat little fingers like he, and everyone present, had all the time in the word. She suddenly understood his ploy. If he thought for one minute that he would make her squirm, he was mistaken.

“Your next question, please,” she said, not hiding her annoyed tone.

Dwight Beaks frowned when he heard several chuckles from the audience. “Do you think this is an amusing matter, Ms. Spencer?”

She lifted her chin. “No. In fact, I have no idea what the matter is. Amusing or otherwise.” If she sounded flippant, that was too bad. She refused to let this man intimidate her.

He leaned back in his chair and eyed her speculatively and said, “You were once overheard saying you intended to purchase some of the property in Reid Lacroix’s new development. In fact, you spoke specifically about a tract of land on the ocean.”

Velvet wondered what that had to do with anything and what business was it of his or anyone else’s. “Yes, I said that.”

She could recall just when she said it and who was around her when she had. It was at the town hall meeting when Reid Lacroix announced the news about the development. She had been talking to Sierra, but her words had been overheard by Webb and his sister, Laura.

“Of course, you knew at the time you said it that such a thing was impossible on a teacher’s salary.”

At that moment, Velvet was tempted to tell the man that she could buy anything she wanted, but decided not to. She wanted to see how this all intended to play out. In the end, she would put Mr. Beaks and anyone else who thought her business was their business in their place.

“What concern is it of the school board how I spend my money?” she asked.

“It deeply concerns us if it’s money you don’t have.”

She heard a few chuckles and snickers from the audience and refused to look back, certain one of them was from Webb. “I honestly don’t see why.”

“Obviously, you didn’t read your teacher contract thoroughly. If you had, you would have noted that any gifts over a thousand dollars that is exchanged between teachers, administrators, or school partners must be disclosed.”

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