The Sweetest Summer: A Bayberry Island Novel by Susan Donovan

Author:Susan Donovan [Donovan, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Gather ’round, ye ’maids.” Mona gestured for everyone to sit. “As we know, the Island Day opening has been delayed two hours. This has thrown us off schedule.” She inclined her head toward Darinda Darswell. “Thankfully, Darinda has reworked our assignment flowchart. Darinda?”

Mona knew she was being sly. Every member present would notice that seemingly innocent statement and it would be fun to watch their reactions. Slowly, it began to dawn on them. Some women dropped their jaws. Some scrunched their faces in confusion. Some looked as if their eyeballs would spring from their sockets.

By turning over festival-week scheduling to Darinda, Mona had made the first, blatant indication that she was ready to step down. After thirty-six years, she had decided this tourist season would be her last as the president of the Bayberry Island Mermaid Society. In Darinda, she had finally found a natural leader who both understood the sacred nature of the job and possessed the skills to pull it off.

Most important, she had agreed to put her name on the ballot.

“What the fuuuh . . . ?” Polly Estherhausen caught herself, slapping a hand over her mouth.

At least she was trying. Mona recently received a formal complaint about Polly’s language penned by Izzy McCracken and signed by eight other members. They claimed curse words had no place in the spiritual domain of the mermaid. They said Polly’s fondness for the “F” word, in particular, tainted their rituals and diminished the sacred nature of true love itself, although her frequent use of the “sh” word and the “a-hole” word weren’t so great either.

Abigail jumped to her fins. “Shit just got real up in here, people!”

“For crying out loud!” Izzy threw her hands around in exasperation. “I give up. Maybe this group should abandon all pretense of decorum. I know—let’s forgo the costumes and run around in obscene T-shirts. Something like . . . YEAH, WE GOT A FUCKIN’ MERMAID.”

After a moment of stunned silence, Layla O’Brien raised her hand. “If you order twenty or more you can get a discount.”

Darinda glanced at Mona with a wide-eyed and worried expression.

“You’ll do just fine,” Mona whispered to her, patting Darinda’s hand. “But it does look a little different from this angle, doesn’t it?”

Darinda nodded.

“Hold up.” Polly stiff-armed the room as a whole. “Let’s get back to the point. Mona—what’s going on?”

Mona took a deep breath and turned to address her dearest friends in the world. “Ladies, I think the time has come for a transition. Darinda is thirty years my junior, full of energy and wonderful ideas, and she has excellent organizational skills. She’ll be on the ticket come our October election. I am going to hang up my shells.”

It took a while for the general shouting, jumping, and hugging to stop so that Mona could continue. “We’ve talked about this many times, ’maids. The leadership role has become too much for me, and God knows Rowan has no interest in continuing the tradition and taking over as president. She doesn’t even want to be among our general membership.

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