He Sat Me by the Warming Racks, So I Pulled the Funding novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Name Beside the Pavilion

At a church luncheon, Maureen exposes Curtis's claim to the pavilion she funded, reveals that he refused her nursing-school place, and books a Monday meeting to discuss returning.

'Maureen stole money meant for patients,' Curtis told the luncheon guests. 'Now she's here to punish me.'

Kendra Pruell's annual report, which she stood beside at the luncheon, named Curtis as the donor of the pavilion I had paid for.

The report lay beside the church luncheon program, with his name beneath the building's photograph.

My name appeared nowhere on the page.

The program welcomed Curtis Ainsley, Chief of Cardiology, and his mother, Rosalind.

My place card said Mrs. Curtis Ainsley.

The organizer had set my chair beside a folding table stacked with spare programs.

I put Kendra's report flat on the cloth.

The woman across from me stopped unwrapping her silverware.

A man near the coffee urn looked down at his plate.

I had paid for the pavilion, and Curtis had made me sound like a thief.

My fingers shook against the tablecloth.

I pressed them flat and drew a breath before I spoke.

Curtis pulled out a chair for Rosalind.

He left me standing beside the report.

A guest moved her purse off the chair next to Rosalind to make room for Rosalind.

Nobody offered me a seat.

The organizer handed Curtis a glass of water and passed me a stack of programs.

'Could you set these at the back table, Mrs. Ainsley?' she asked.

I kept my hand on Kendra's report.

'Maureen is perfectly capable of finding a place,' Rosalind said. 'She has always been so practical.'

The guests heard the compliment.

They heard the order in Rosalind's remark too: I should find a place.

Rosalind settled into the chair Curtis had pulled out for her.

'She chose Curtis over nursing,' she said. 'I kept the school's letters safe, though I'm sorry that kindness has been misunderstood.'

A woman at the next table nodded at Rosalind.

The place card gave Curtis my name, but not my own.

His napkin lay across his lap; mine remained folded beside the spare programs.

Kendra stood by the report, accepting congratulations from two guests who had not read past Curtis's name.

'It's a lovely pavilion,' one guest told her. 'Your foundation must be proud of Dr. Ainsley.'

Kendra gave her polished smile.

'The hospital is proud to have him.'

I had hoped someone would ask who paid for the building.

I wanted to hear Curtis answer in front of everyone.

Instead, his accusation reached the room first.

I looked at the offer Lowell had slid toward me earlier.

It remained on the table beside Kendra's report.

I picked it up and laid it beside the report.

The school's letter offered me a place to return.

Curtis's signature sat at the bottom of the page.

A guest leaned toward the table to read it.

'The school offered me a place,' I said. 'Curtis signed the refusal without asking me.'

Curtis's smile stopped.

'Must you make a private family matter part of lunch?'

'You made my work a public accusation.'

Rosalind touched the edge of the letter.

'The letters were kept safe, Maureen.'

'They were kept from me.'

The guests had stopped eating.

Curtis looked at the offer instead of at me.

'You told me you wanted a life with me.'

'I told you I was tired.'

I let the answer stay in the room.

I had built my billing firm from a card table and paid the bills that kept Curtis's career moving.

'My firm paid for the pavilion,' I said. 'The money came from my company.'

Kendra's report still named Curtis as its donor.

The guest who had praised him read the page again.

'The pavilion cost two hundred thousand dollars,' Kendra said. 'The report credits Dr. Ainsley's pledge of two hundred thousand.'

'My company paid two hundred thousand,' I said. 'I entered the payment myself.'

Kendra reached for the report.

I kept my hand on it.

The guest who had praised Curtis turned toward him.

'You told us this was your gift,' she said. 'Why did you take credit for her company's payment?'

Curtis opened his mouth, then looked at Kendra.

The guest pulled her chair away from his table.

'I won't praise you for this,' she said.

Kendra's hand fell from the report.

The organizer picked up my place card and turned it over, but she did not write a new name.

Curtis faced the guests.

'She's angry, and I understand that. But does this really belong here?'

'You told them I took patient money,' I said. 'This is where I correct you.'

No one answered for him.

I looked at Rosalind.

'I'll ask the nursing school to let me return.'

Rosalind's lips parted, then closed.

Curtis pushed back from the table.

'You're going to tell the school this was our decision?'

'I'm going to tell them you refused my place and your mother kept the letters from me.'

His hand stayed on the chair he had pushed back.

I called the number Lowell had written on his card.

Curtis remained beside Rosalind while the school office answered.

'My name is Maureen Tolbert,' I said. 'I'd like to discuss returning to nursing school.'

The woman on the phone offered me a meeting on Monday.

I looked at Curtis and Rosalind across the luncheon room.

I pictured my name on a nursing-school roll again, and the thought hurt with how much I wanted it.

'Monday works for me,' I said, and ended the call.

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