Page 32 of The Dreidl Disaster

“Exactly,” he said, fully aware that she was pretty much repeating what he’d said; was this her way of digesting it? Either way he wasn’t going to step in and cause her to second-guess herself. “Whatever happens next will work if the citizens of Briarwood buy in. Andonly if theybuy in. That process begins tonight.”

“Right. So, we do this.” She wasn’t tentative now. She was clear.

“Let’s do this.”

And then he followed her out of the room, waiting for her to show him where to sit.

Chapter Twelve

Liv took aquick look at the clock as she stood in the hallway just outside the auditorium. The force of conviction in Artur’s voice alone was enough to make her want to do things to him.

None of those things were appropriate to think about; all of them could derail her life before she got started.

Not everybody was Jerry McManus and yet Artur was…

Artur Rabinovitch was good at his job.

He was also smart enough to be able to bypass the wall of her concerns and force her to remember the thoughts she’d had before Burton Squires’ email had arrived.

That? Made her weak in the knees.

No.

She was a professional woman, an elected official, prepared to leave one elected post for another. She couldn’t be derailed by the way someone’s sense of professional responsibility made her feel.

Resolute and clear, she signaled behind her and headed toward the stage. She didn’t turn to see whether he was behind her; hearing his footsteps against the tile floor was enough.

After she walked through the curtain, she sat behind the table and podium that had been prepared for her and Artur’s use. Microphones, pads, pens were all prepared.

On the front of the podium was the village seal. Reminding her what her purpose was.

Disciplined by a symbol, she shoved her feelings aside and turned her attention toward the documents in front of her. Everything was ready to go, and in usual Briarwood fashion, the list of people wanting to speak at this meeting had grown since she last saw it. Even flipping through the stapled pages was an exercise in anxiety.

But Artur sat next to her, ready for target practice. If he was ready to make something out of this, she needed to be as well.

“Hello and good evening, everyone,” Liv began. “I want to thank you all for coming to tonight’s special session. Mr. Artur Rabinovitch is here to listen to all of your concerns. All I ask is that you voice them in an orderly fashion as we call you to the microphone. I now turn the microphone over to him.”

She watched him, doing her best to be mayoral or political or something professional, but failed miserably. The man looked too good in a suit, and wrapped as he was in the kind of conviction that appealed to her sense of justice made him impossible to resist.

“I want to thank Mayor Nachman and every single resident of Briarwood who came tonight and those who sent their concerns in by email or by petition,” he said amidst the total silence in the auditorium. “I’m looking forward to listening to your concerns and then helping you create and build an event you can be proud of.”

He paused, and she wondered as if he was allowing his words to sink in.

“Remember. Every single concern, no matter how small you think it may be, is welcome tonight. If something is important to you, it is important to the future of the event. We want a success, and an event won’t succeed without your support.”

“I want to make one quick note,” Liv added after he stopped speaking. “I don’t believe any direct questions need answers tonight amongst the comments we hear or have received.”

The room started to rumble, but Liv was clear. “If there are questions that do arise, Mr. Rabinovitch can answer the questions that are within his purview, and at his discretion.”

The rumbles continued and she turned toward Artur. The raised eyebrow was the only sign of his reaction; she didn’t think she’d gone too far, but it was clear both he and the residents did.

“Comments are the priority,” she said, attempting to clarify her own comments and defuse the tension that seemed to rise up around them. “Questions should come later but we’ll talk about it if they come up. The goal of this meeting is to figure out what you think is wrong and what has gone wrong, so we can make an honest attempt at fixing what broke.”

“More importantly,” Artur said, as if he’d felt the break in the moment, “I want to make it clear that our interest is in creating something that will do Briarwood proud.”

DoBriarwoodproud.

His sense of justice was going to send her into sensory overdrive. Every single time he spoke about the event, he made it clear that it wasn’t the team he was protecting or assisting.

---