“Really?” I asked, pleased she was so enthusiastic. I’d given her the flash drive with both designs and she was staring at her screen in awe. “I wasn’t entirely sure about what I was doing.”
“Oh my goodness, yes,” Joanne answered, nodding her head up and down. Her brown curls bounced like springs. “Like night and day from what I was able to dream up.” She looked over the laptop screen at me. “So does this mean you’ll do them?”
“Tell me which one you like best and, sure,” I told her. “I’ll do it.”
She took a deep breath, clearly relieved. “This is great. Okay. If I have to choose one, I like the second design the best. I like the colors and the way you’ve laid everything out. But if you prefer the other, I’m okay with that, too. They both look terrific.”
She’d picked the one I’d already decided I liked best. “I like that one better, too. Okay. We’ll run with that.”
She spun the laptop around so we could both see the screen. We spent a few minutes going over some of the details and she told me she’d get me the name of the printer so I could make contact with them and make arrangements for the printing. I made notes in my phone so I wouldn’t forget anything.
“I really appreciate this, Daisy,” she finally said. “You’re really saving me here. I’ll let Eleanor know we’ve got it all under control.” Something flashed in her eyes. “Well, at least this part under control.”
Before I could say anything, the side door to the theater slammed and Madison marched across the backstage area. She stalked toward us, a scowl on her face.
“I need to talk to you,” she said to Joanne, completely ignoring me.
Joanne looked up from the computer. “What is it, Madison?”
Madison folded her arms across her chest. “I was supposed to have a custom wig. That thing you bought me looks like it came from the thrift store!”
“I bought it online from a wigmaker,” Joanne told her.
Her voice was calm but her hands were tightly fisted and I knew she was struggling to maintain her composure. I didn’t blame her.
Madison snorted. “Then return it and find another one. Because I am not wearing that piece of crap onstage.”
“It cost two hundred dollars,” Joanne told her.
Madison’s hands moved to her hips and she stared Joanne down. “I don’t care how much it costs. Fix it. Or I’m telling Mother.” With that, she turned on her heels and flounced out of the room.
“Let me guess. Madison is another one of your problems?” I asked. She looked more than a little stressed and I felt bad for her. Anyone who had to work closely with either Bandersand woman deserved a bit of sympathy.
“I can handle her,” she said with a weak smile.
“Anything I can help with?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I think we’ve got the volunteering projects under control now. It’s just…” She looked around the empty backstage area. A few people were milling around on the stage, but they didn’t seem to concern her. “It’s the money thing.”
“The money thing?”
“Remember how I mentioned Eleanor was concerned about the revenue the other day?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I think it’s a bit more dire than I realized.” She swallowed and shifted in her chair. “The activities director here at the high school called me at home last night. We pay to use the facilities.” She paused and then lowered her voice when she spoke. “Apparently, the check I wrote her bounced.”
I stared at her. “You mean from the theater group’s account?”
She nodded. “Yes. And, well, it’s not the first one.”
A knot formed in my stomach. “It’s not?”
“No,” she said. Her eyes were bright with worry. “I had to pay the man who films and cuts DVDs of the performances. I had to give him a deposit. He called me two days ago and told me there was a problem. And we had to purchase the wood for the set backdrops. The lumberyard called me last week.” She sighed. “When the lumberyard called, I assumed it was just a mix up, and Eleanor told me she just hadn’t made last week’s deposit. So I wasn’t worried. But now?” She shook her head again. “I think there’s something else going on.”
Three bounced checks wasn’t the result of a late deposit. It certainly sounded like there was a problem to me. I wondered how bad it actually was.
“How did you pay for the wig?” I asked. “Did that check bounce, too?”
“I have the theater credit card so I used that,” she said. “But I have no idea how we’re going to pay that bill when it comes. Especially if there’s no money in the account.”
“Oh gosh,” I said. “That’s not good at all. And that might explain what you told me the other day… about the tickets and trying to drum up business.”
She nodded slowly. “I know. Anytime I ask Eleanor, though, she tells me it’s just miscommunication, or that it must be a mistake. But I’m not dumb.” Her mouth fixed into a tight, tense line. “And it’s making me rethink a few things.”
“Rethink?”
She looked toward the stage again, her hands fidgeting on the table. Then she ran a hand through her hair and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.
“Um, no one really knows this right now, so I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it between us,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper. “But when Eleanor brought me on for this play, she told me it could become permanent. It’s a volunteer position now, but it was a job in the past.”
I remembered hearing that at the coffee shop. I nodded.
“As in, paying,” she said. “And… well, we could use the money.”
I nodded, my sympathy kicking into overdrive. “I understand.”
“That’s why I’ve paid so much attention to everything Eleanor has asked of me,” she said. She looked toward the stage. “And I’ve done everything I can think of to try and drum up publicity for this play.” Her eyes glazed over a bit. “Everything.” She stared at the stage for a few moments before shaking herself from whatever she was thinking about. “And now I’m thinking I’ve done all of this for no reason and that I should just finish up and start looking for another job. One that might, in fact, be real.”
I nodded again. “Right. I can’t fault you with that. Have you asked Eleanor about any of this? Just to get a better sense of the finances?”
“I’ve tried, but she just gives me the runaround,” she said, frowning. “Which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. And yet she prances around here acting like there are no issues.” She leaned into the table. “You realize that if we can’t pay for the facility rental, she’ll have to cancel the play?”
I sighed. “Of course.”
“I mean, I know this is a high school and not a private entity, but they aren’t going to just let us keep coming here if we can’t pay them.”
What she was telling me made me both sad and angry. Sad because I was already thinking about how disappointed the girls would be if they had to cancel the play. They’d both been so excited about trying out and once they were cast as dwarfs, their enthusiasm had increased ten-fold. Well, once Grace had gotten over her disappointment at not being cast as Snow White. And I was angry, because it seemed irresponsible for Eleanor to be running around, acting like there wasn’t a problem and having Joanne act as the go-between. I hadn’t liked her from the first time I met her and it had only gone downhill since.
“I’m sorry, Joanne,” I said. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?”
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “No, there really isn’t. I think I just needed to vent. I’m sorry to dump all that on you.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said, smiling at her. “Venting is good.”
“Anyway,” Joanne said, shaking her head like she was trying to clear the cobwebs again. “I’ve bent your ear for long enough. I can’t thank you enough for taking over the programs. Thank you so much.”