Halloween Hijinks (A Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

science fair, math Olympics, and spelling bee I entered from the day I first laid eyes on him in the seventh grade to the day we both graduated in the twelfth. But that was years ago, and you’d think I’d be over it by now. Could it be that everyone is right and I really am being spiteful?
    I was saved the agony of further self-analysis by the arrival of the other members of the Ashton Falls Events Committee. I receive a good 30 percent of my budget from fund-raising activities, so I have a good reason to be involved. Other committee members include Levi, whose after-school sports program is largely supported through the high school booster club and local fund-raising events; Ellie, who runs an after-school dance program; Hazel Hampton, our local librarian, who like me, depends on a myriad of income sources; Tawny Upton, who owns and runs the Over the Rainbow preschool; Gilda Reynolds, who owns Bears and Beavers and runs a local theater arts program; Frank Valdez, who owns Outback Hunting and Fishing and runs a summer camp for teens; my dad, Hank Donovan, who owns Donovan’s, a sort of general store, and represents the volunteer firefighters; and our leader and Ashton Falls town representative Willa Walton.
    The money earned from fund -raising activities is funneled through the town’s discretionary account. In theory, the money can be used in any way the town sees fit, but custom dictates that the funds generally are funneled back to the programs whose representatives earned the money in the first place. Willa’s job as a representative of the town is to act as a mediator between the committee and the town council, which has final approval of all budgetary decisions. The Haunted Hamlet is one of our biggest- netting events and the members of the committee take their planning seriously.
    “Does anyone have anything to add to the minutes of the last meeting? ” Willa began once we had all given Rosie our breakfast orders. Willa is a good match for the job she performs. Controlled and professional in both dress and behavior, she runs a tight ship and can be counted on to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. Sometimes this makes for unbearably long meetings as she carefully and methodically makes her way through every step of the process, but having accurate records has saved more than one friendship over the years.
    “The m inutes state that forty percent of the kids at the preschool attended with scholarships provided by this group,” Tawny, a thirty-two-year-old single mother of two, began. “I updated my spreadsheet and realized that we were up to forty-six percent after this year’s enrollment was completed. With the current economic trend, I expect the percentage of parents requiring full or partial scholarships to increase by as much as ten percent next semester. Therefore I’d like to adjust the dollar amount of my funding request, if it’s not too late.”
    “Any objections? ” Willa asked, although I noticed a furrowing of the neatly maintained brows framing her medium brown eyes. She ran a hand impatiently through her short hair as first Hazel and then my dad objected, and the debate commenced.
    I listened and Willa took notes as the group discussed the impact Tawny’s request would have on the other projects the committee had agreed to fund . It was the same every year. Donations were shrinking at the same time needs were increasing. Holding a carnival, festival, or some other fund-raising event every few weeks was taking its toll on all of us, and as of late, the money we raised simply wasn’t enough. We needed another strategy, and fast.
    I watched as faces around the table changed from friendly to, in some cases, hostile, as representatives from each group fought to protect its territory. Were the needs of the preschoolers really more important than a free public library or food for the hungry? And if we cut the volunteer firefighters, how many homes and businesses would be left unprotected?