She isnt. But those two are stronger, and she cant please both.
Shes done a good job with your portfolio since Victor died, hasnt she? Aunt Tally mentioned Inezs late financial adviser.
She has, but shes not really chairman or chairwoman material. Im an interim, but we need to elect a new chair. Of course, first I have to convince Liz to resign.
Easy. Tell her well both pull our accounts.
Blossom!
Inez, thats the way the world works.
Im not doing that. You know me better than that.
Meow.
Pewter wanted Inez to continue petting her, as shed stopped.
Yes, I do, but that doesnt prevent me from telling you the fastest way to achieve the desired result.
Me. Me. Me!
Pewter raised her voice.
Inez looked at the cat, smiled, and resumed petting her. The trick is to make Liz think this is her own idea.
Well, if anyone can do it, you can.
Yes, I think I can, but it gets back to my feeling old. Once I would have seen this as a game. Id make up little goals and tick them off until I reached the final goal. Oh, you know, stuff like, first ten yards, introduce the concept in an offhand way. Second ten yards, mention the time this wrangling takes away from her true calling. You get the idea.
Clever.
Clever it may be, but I resent it. I
am
getting old.
Chickpea, people can feel management fatigue at forty-two. You just need a break.
Perhaps. Inez felt better after listening to her dear friend. There is one other little item, and this gets to the benefits of old age: One has many contacts, friends. When Mariah said at the meeting today that her computer crashed
Aunt Tally interrupted, Wait a minute, I dont know about this.
No one does, although I did have to tell Jahnae, who, being herself, remained calm and suggested a few paths to clarity. And youd better be quiet. This is board business.
Oh, balls! Im your best friend, your second skin and, furthermore, I will be one hundred years old tomorrow. Im entitled to secrets! She grinned, and in that grin, Inez saw her friend again as she was at twenty.
I know it, but I had to say it. Okay, heres the rub. Mariah is our treasurer. We open every meeting with the secretarys report, followed by the treasurers report. Mariah said her computer crashed. She didnt keep a written record.
Idiot. Young people really are stupid to trust machines.
Well, Blossom, we were idiots in our own way. We believed the War to End All Wars had done so.
All right. Aunt Tally grimaced but held up her martini glass in a silent toast to Inezs insight.
I called Billy Bonito, who is president of the Big River Bank, where our account smolders. She smiled.
Billy Bonito who drove fine harness horses?
Still does, although he hasnt the time to compete as he once did. You werent there in 77. Sugarcane collapsed in a workout at the Kentucky State Fair. I was there as the guest of Paul Hamilton.
I miss him. Aunt Tally recalled Joans late father, who had purchased Kalarama Farm after World War II. Frances, too. She mentioned his wife, Frances Paralee who passed in 2005 at age eighty-five.
We were standing at the workout chute that led into the grand arena when she just dropped in the traces. I ran over, as there wasnt time to find Billys regular vet. To make a long story a little shorter, I managed to save her. She retired to become a foundation broodmare for Billy.
Wonder if hes still so handsome?
Spect he is. Anyway, I flatly told him our problem and knew I was asking him to do something improper. He understood. For one thing, if something is amiss in that account, weve got to catch it right away.
And? Aunt Tally was keen on this now.
The account is in good order. However, Mariah did withdraw twenty-five thousand dollars, in cash, which she replaced today at 2:12 P.M. She transferred money from a joint accountpersonalat Big River.
Sitting bolt upright, Aunt Tally whispered, Thats not right.
I know it. I suspect that is why the computer crashed, and I put crash in quotation marks.
Does she have the right to issue checks?
She does, but the twenty-five thousand was cash.
A silence followed. Get rid of her. We cant make a big deal out of it, but this must never happen again. No officer can write a check to herself. Another pause. Mariah doesnt strike me as dumb enough to pull a stunt like this.
Me, neither. Thats what really worries me. The incongruity of it.
Any withdrawal, check or cash, is on a computer file.
Right. Inez paused. She then contributed twenty-five thousand to your fund with a personal check.
Oh, dear.
Inez sighed. This just doesnt compute, forgive the pun.
Still, she has to go.
I know. I know. While I was at it, I did a little snooping around through friends. Her businessFletcher, Maitland, and DAngelois losing money. People arent buying much jewelry these days. Her husbands construction business is down. Hes laid off thirty percent of his workers, but he does have large projects rolling, one of which is the new hospital near Independence, Missouri.
A very long silence followed this. Can you remove her without fanfare? But Im not sure we should right at this moment. It would be easier to get the board to pass an amendment saying all checks need to be countersigned by the secretary. In fact, we should have done that years ago. Aunt Tally nodded. Andrea from Omaha is the secretary, and that one is sharp as a tack.
She is. I need to speak to her first, then build a consensus in a nonthreatening way. Even if I dont specifically mention the twenty-five thousand dollars, if I float this issue it means Flo will take the warpath. Shell sense Mariah has dropped the ball, and shell be relentless until she finds out. Even if she doesnt, shell create more problems. I doubt Mariah will take this calmly, even though shell know I know.
Why?
Ill tell her.
What a pickle.
Exactly.
L
ooking out the window of the classroom, Liz saw Gayle giving Harry, Mrs. Murphy, and Tucker the garden tour of the Bancroft Center, the new Rowland Applied Riding Arena, and fenced areas.
She returned her blue-eyed gaze to the two women standing before her, neither one in good humor this afternoon. It was as though shed overheard Inez and Aunt Tally discussing her lack of leadership. Had she known being chair of the alumnae board would prove so onerous, shed never have accepted. Seeing Inez forcefully maintain order and keep the group on track only underscored her failings. She wanted to get herself back on course, not least because some of the women were her clients. Mostly it was due to ego. Shed resign soon enough, because this was a real pain in the rear end, but she wanted to do it on her own terms and after some small success.
She didnt hustle the board for business any more than any of the other women did. Flo was a broker, as was she. Mariah owned and operated a high-end jewelry store in Kansas City. Andrea, along with her husband, owned a large trucking operation based just west of Omaha. DeeDee, from L.A., was one of the most successful real estate brokers in the vast easy-money citywell, easy one day, hard the next. Another member ran a large paving-stone company; one was a boutique grocer. The range of activities was impressive. A physician and a lawyer
were also on the board. Trudy Sweetwater worked for an irrigation company and Mo Avola bred Red Angus cattle.
Interestingly, no academics served. Liz once asked Inez why, and the thin old lady quipped, They dont know how to make real money.