LITMIR.BIZ

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of red wine into the dining room. As she placed them on the buffet, Mimi’s commanding voice broke the silence in the parlor and carried into the dining room.

      “The monthly meeting of HHS is now called to order, and since I don’t see any visitors who need welcoming, we’ll move on to the reading of the minutes and the financial report. I’d like a motion to dispense with both.”

      Charlotte heard June make the motion and another voice seconded it.

      “Good,” Mimi said. “Thank you. Our next order of business for the day is our presidential election. After the election we’ll take a short refreshment break before tackling the rest of our business. Nominations for president of HHS are now open.”

      There were a few moments of complete silence, and then a crisp voice with a no-nonsense tone spoke up. “I nominate Rita Landers for president.”

      Almost immediately, a second, more vigorous voice chimed in. “I second the nomination.”

      As Charlotte headed back toward the kitchen, she heard June Bryant speak up. “I nominate Mimi Adams for president.”

      In the kitchen, Charlotte iced down the remaining bottle of wine in a silver wine bucket, and when she returned to the dining room with the wine and the first platter of pastries, Mimi was talking again. “Are there any more nominations?” A short silence followed; then she continued. “Voting will be by secret ballot. Our vice president, June Bryant, is passing those out now. And since there are no more nominations, we’ll vote. When you’ve finished marking your ballot, give it back to June and she’ll count them.”

      A murmur of protest broke out. “That doesn’t seem quite fair, Mimi.” It was the same voice that had nominated the woman named Rita. “We all know that you and June are friends, and besides, she was the one who nominated you.”

      “Are you insinuating that I would cheat?” June challenged.

      Personally, Charlotte thought that the woman had a valid point, so why on earth was June being so defensive? In spite of herself, Charlotte’s curiosity overcame her common sense. With her ears tuned to the goings-on in the parlor, she made a show of straightening the forks on the table while she waited to hear how the woman would respond to June’s question.

      There was a slight hesitation before the woman finally answered June, and even to Charlotte’s ears, she sounded embarrassed. “No, June,” she said. “Of course I don’t think you would cheat. Sorry…” Her voice trailed away.

      Charlotte rolled her eyes. June’s intimidation tactic had worked. The woman had given in. The woman might as well have said nothing at all if she hadn’t been prepared to back it up. Instead, all the poor thing had done was humiliate herself. Too bad, Charlotte thought, as she headed back to the kitchen for the remaining platters of pastries.

      A few minutes later, when Charlotte returned to the kitchen for the last platter, June was standing by the kitchen table. On the table were two stacks of small square pieces of paper.

      “Just counting the ballots,” June said absently, as she thumbed through the first stack. With a frown, she counted the same ballots again. Then, after only a moment’s hesitation, she wrote something down on a notepad.

      Charlotte picked up the last platter and carried it to the dining room. When she returned to the kitchen, June was tearing one of the ballots into little pieces. Startled by Charlotte’s return, June glanced up with the look of someone who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Then, with an expression of relief and a tight smile, she picked up her notepad and pen and walked over to the trash can. She dropped the pieces inside, and without a word, she marched out of the kitchen.

      Once June had disappeared through the doorway, Charlotte tilted her head and stared at the trash can. There was only one reason why June would have torn up one of the ballots.

      “Oh, for pity’s sake,” she muttered. Though she couldn’t be certain, she was pretty sure that June had just rigged the election to make sure Mimi won. More than likely, she’d forged a ballot to take the place of the one she’d destroyed. Charlotte shook her head in disgust. Too bad the woman who had protested had been such a coward and hadn’t stuck to her guns when she’d challenged June about counting the ballots.

      Charlotte turned to stare at the dining room doorway. There was no good reason to return to the dining room since everything was ready and waiting for the ladies to take their refreshment break. “Nope,” Charlotte muttered, “no reason at all.” But then she didn’t really need a reason, did she? Still, she hesitated.

      Mind your own business.

      Ignoring the voice of reason in her head, she grabbed a feather duster from her supply carrier and marched into the dining room. The moment she entered the room, she heard June’s announcement of the voting results.

      “The winner and new president of HHS is Mimi Adams.”

      “Who didn’t know that?” Charlotte grumbled to herself in the dining room.

      With June’s announcement, a murmur of disbelief broke out in the parlor, then, above the chatter, a louder voice. “Ah, excuse me please. Excuse me.” The noise died down. “I don’t mean to sound like sour grapes,” the woman said, “but I would like to know what the ballot count was.”

      Had to be the other candidate, Charlotte figured, as she brushed the feather duster along the edges of the buffet. Rita something or other was her name if she remembered right.

      “Of course, Rita,” June answered. “The vote was eight for you and nine for Mimi.”

      Charlotte winced. Even to her ears, June’s tone dripped with condescension.

      “It was a close vote,” June continued. “But we all know that ‘close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.’”

      “Or when there’s cheating going on,” Rita shot back. “May I please see the ballots.”

      Rita’s own condescending tone more than matched June’s, and Charlotte could just imagine the hateful looks bouncing back and forth between the two women.

      “Gladly,” June retorted. “Here, count ’em yourself.”

      Several moments passed, and the parlor was so quiet that Charlotte fancied she could hear the rustling of the ballots being counted by Rita. For all the good it would do her, Charlotte thought. The fix was in. June had made sure of it.

      “Well?” June demanded. “Are you satisfied now?”

      “Not by a long shot,” Rita snapped back. “Winning by only one vote is just a bit obvious, don’t you think, especially when you went slinking off to the kitchen to count the votes all by yourself. Without any witnesses, I might add.”

      “Now you just hold on there,” Mimi cried. “June would never—”

      Rita interrupted with a shout. “No, Mimi, you hold on! Secret ballots are one thing, but this is carrying things too far. And anyone with any scruples at all would offer to let everyone vote again and count the votes in the presence of everyone—which is what should have been done to begin with.”

      The silence was deafening. Charlotte held her breath, waiting to see if Mimi would give in to Rita’s demands. But Mimi didn’t say a word, and after a moment it was Rita who finally spoke again. “That’s it! I’m out of here. I don’t like cheaters. Never have. And you know exactly what you can do with your election and your precious HHS,” she added.

      “Hey, Rita, wait for me,” a voice called out. “I’m going with you.”

      “Me too,” another voice chimed in.

      “Me three,” yet another voice spoke up.

      Mere seconds later, the front door slammed so hard that the sound echoed throughout the house. There was a brief moment of dead silence, and then the room burst into an uproar.

      Buzzing bees, thought Charlotte. Angry buzzing

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