A Child's Heart (Trent & Cassie's Story) A River City Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

Winston.
    “This came for you from Fitzgerald’s office.”
    “My budget?”
    Mrs. Winston nodded. “Yes, and it’s not good.”
    “That’s impossible. We’re doing very well.”
    “Not according to this.” She passed the faxed pages
to Cassie.
    “Thanks.” She took the papers and quickly skimmed
through them. “Where are our bank deposits?”
    “This is a budget, not a ledger.”
    “I want our bank statements.”
    Mrs. Winston pushed her glasses up on her nose. “We
don’t get those. They go directly to the city’s accounting
office.”
    Darn! “Do
you keep copies of what we do?”
    “Of course.”
    “Good. I want all of it for this entire year.”
    Mrs. Winston raised her eyebrows. “A fiscal year or a
physical year?”
    A sigh escaped. “Which one is longer?”
    “Fiscal. It ends in June.”
    “Good. That’s what I want.” She shot Mrs. Winston her
best smile.
    It was after lunch when Mrs. Winston returned with
copies of every check they had written and all the deposits, along
with copies from a small ledger where the woman had recorded every
transaction. Her small script with tiny flourishes revealed her
age, and her dedication to her job.
    Cassie poured over the paperwork and came to the
conclusion that she wanted bank statements. Getting any such thing
out of City Hall would take weeks, so she called the bank.
    “What?” Her mind tried to wrap around what she was
told. “My deposits go into the general coffer? But our checks and
deposit tickets say The Museum of River City.” “I see. Thank
you.”
    She hung up the phone and then ranted, “Bill
Krumpler, I hate you! You probably kissed their butts for every
little increase they gave you in the budget, and you never bothered
to look at what you were doing.”
    She pushed her chair back and
stared at the door separating her from the museum traffic. Maybe I should call the University and tell them
I’m coming back fulltime. I’ve kept my foot in the door when I
promised to teach two classes a semester. Do I really want to go
back to grading tests and term papers? What have I gotten myself
into? I need a vacation and time to think! Oh my gosh, Trent. I’ve
got to call him.
    She was about to pick up the phone when it rang. “Dr.
Jones, how may I help you?”
    “You’ve got visitors in the lobby.”
    “Thanks, I’ll be right
there.” I don’t need another interruption.
I want to call Trent.
    She walked down the hall to the lobby and was
pleasantly surprised to see Trent and Shawn standing there. Shawn
broke into a full run when he saw her, and she braced for an impact
that never quite happened. She scooped Shawn's skinny body into her
arms and carried him back to his dad.
    “Hi. Shawn wants to take you up on your offer. He’s
bugged us non-stop since the other night.”
    She lowered the boy to the floor. “Go pick out
whatever you want. I want to talk to Daddy.”
    “I told him one book.”
    “He can have whatever he wants.”
    Trent caught his son by the shoulder. “One book.
That’s all.”
    Cassie rolled her eyes. “He’s a little boy. Let him
have fun.”
    “He’s four, and he wants one of everything.”
    “That’s normal.” She put her hand on Trent’s sleeve.
“If you don’t mind, we can sit over here. I just need to speak to
Gail in the gift shop for a second.”
    “One book, ma'am. Don’t go against me.”
    She nodded and stepped into the gift shop. “Gail,
Shawn Callahan is allowed to pick out one book, but if there’s
something else he really wants, put it aside for me. He can be in
here alone. He’ll be fine without an adult.”
    Gail made a face, but Cassie ignored it and went back
to Trent.
    “I was going to call you when I
was told I had visitors. I meant to tell you last night, but Jim
from River Lights stopped by, the place was crawling with people, and we had
two toilets stopped up before the night was over, so I’m so sorry
to be getting back to you this late, but here’s what I’ve come