Plain Death by Flower Amanda

Author:Flower, Amanda [Flower, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781433676949
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2012-06-30T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A buzzing motor shook me from my daze. The maintenance guy ran a gas-powered bush trimmer up and around an evergreen bush, shaping it into a perfect circle. As Dean Klink had told me on my first day at the college, everything had to be shipshape for the students.

“Dear Lord,” I prayed. “Help me make the right decision.”

Back in my department, Miller and Clark huddled over a laptop at the conference table, their expressions sober. Joel was absent. I can’t say I missed him. “What’s up, guys?”

Clark waved me over. “The college just sent an e-mail to all the staff.” He elbowed Miller out of the way so I could read it.

I skimmed the e-mail, and my stomach tightened. If my staff didn’t suspect something before, they certainly did now. The e-mail was from Dean Klink, with the subject line Tightening Our Belt. Part of it read:

These are tough financial times, but Harshberger College will be leaner and stronger as the result. We will be able to give our students the education they need to be leaders who change the world.

“Wow.” Sarcasm dripped from Clark’s voice. “I feel like the last part should be on a billboard or something.”

“Don’t even say that,” Miller said. “Klink would be all over it.”

“Yeah, because a billboard is money well spent.” Clark took a step back from the table and stretched. He was so tall his fingers brushed the dropped ceiling when he reached overhead. “There are going to be layoffs.” Clark’s voice turned sad.

Miller pulled at his blond spiky hair. “Don’t say that!”

“Come on, man. Everyone knows that people are the most expensive piece of an organization.”

I bit my lip. “I’m sure the college wouldn’t be doing this unless they had no other choice.”

Clark fell into a seat on the other side of the conference table. “That doesn’t make it stink any less.”

No it didn’t.

“What if it’s one of us?” Miller asked. “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

Clark cocked his head. “I don’t know, man, I think you would fit right in with a bonnet and white apron selling cheese downtown.”

Miller groaned. “Like that’s my only option.”

Clark shrugged. “Most of the Amish are better off than the rest of us in the county.”

Time to change the subject. “Where’s Joel?”

Miller closed the laptop. “He said he needed to check on something in the server room.”

Clark rolled his eyes. “Code for coffee run.”

My brow wrinkled. What did Joel do for the college other than manage the servers, which were too old and in poor condition? If the servers were his sole responsibility, then why didn’t he give them more attention? I gave the men a reassuring smile. “I’ll be in my office.”

Clark nodded. “Sure thing.”

By twelve o’clock my eyes were crossed. I’d gone over my budget three times searching for every possible way to cut twenty percent without laying off a member of my staff. Each time, the money saved wasn’t enough—and that didn’t include the proposal the dean had ignored in which I requested an additional seven thousand dollars.

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