Page 25 of Serial Burn

“Is this a bad time?”

“No, not at all.”

“You have company, don’t you?”

“Well—”

“Is it a man?”

The gleeful tone in her aunt’s voice sent her brows into her hairline. “Aunt Carol...”

“Okay, okay. I have a brilliant idea.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Oh stop. We need to have an event. I already have it all planned and want to go over your part.”

“My part?”

“We’ll have a dinner and you get up and give a speech. Talk about your family and why you’re doing this to honor them.”

“A dinner? I thought you were just going to be calling a few of Dad’s friends and coworkers.”

“I was. I mean, I am. Along with anyone in the community who wants to attend. They’ll have to RSVP, of course, but I think a lovely dinner would be a nice touch. If we’re going to ask people for money, we should at least feed them.”

“Right. Okay. Sure, that’s a good idea. So, what you’re saying is we’ll do a full-blown thing. I’ll talk about Dad and Mom’s dream to give back.”

“Exactly. Because think about it. While the initial investment will go to renovating the space, you’re going to need regular donors tokeep it going. And if we have people in the community giving money, then they’ll be invested in making sure it succeeds.”

That was true enough. “And that’s why I hired you,” she said. “You’re right. It’s brilliant. Just send me the schedule and I’ll be there to do whatever you need me to do.”

“Perfect. Thank you, darling. I’ve decided that I’ll match donations up to a certain amount. I haven’t come up with that amount yet, but I will. Now, I’m off. Tell your young man I said hello.”

“Aunt Carol...”

But her chuckling aunt had already disconnected.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“What was that all about?”

“My aunt and the benefit that’s now turned into a dinner.”

“You sound really excited about that.”

“Just thrilled.” A low groan slipped from her. “I also sound really ungrateful. I’m not, I promise. And I can’t say this wasn’t my idea. It was totally my idea. I will say it took some convincing on my part that she would be the best one to organize this, but she agreed. She also just decided to donate a lot of the money for the project.”

“A youth center in downtown Lake City. Nice.”

“The McCormick Youth Project. My dad was in commercial real estate, but volunteered with a local program that tries to help troubled kids. He was very vocal about his opinion that if they had a place to go after school and during holidays, they wouldn’t get in nearly as much trouble.” She shrugged. “At least the ones who don’t work. He was mostly talking about those who come from violent and broken homes, those who are angry and just looking for an outlet, but anyone, from any walk of life, was welcome. He was passionate about that, from what my aunt has told me.”

“You don’t mind public speaking. That’s awesome.”

“You don’t like it?”

He grimaced. “Nope. I hate it and avoid it if at all possible.”

“Ha. Well, you’re not the first one to say that.” She shook her head. “I should have known putting my aunt in charge would helpmake this into something I didn’t envision.” She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “And it’s fine. Truly. Or it will be once I get used to the idea.”

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