“It is out there,” she told him with a shrug. “Oh, did I tell you I got a letter in the mail yesterday?”
“From whom?” he asked with a wink, and she was glad she’d kept the mail from his view last night when he didn’t mention anything about if he got one or not when they got there.
“Whitmore, how about you?”
“I got one, but I was going to wait to see you to open it.”
“Me too…Jordan didn’t mind he knows I’ll tell him as soon as I open it,” she assured him at his raised eyebrow.
“Want to do it now?”
“Right here in front of everyone?” she teased aware that part of the class had tuned into what they were saying.
“Absolutely, I’ve got to see if mine’s bigger,” he stated and she nearly died at the startled looks on the faces around her.
“Alright on three?” she said glancing towards his bag that was resting between their chairs.
“One…two…three,” he laughed pulling out his envelope as she slid hers out of her books. “Ah…they’re the same size.”
“Told you they would be,” she teased sliding her nail under the flap and opening it. “Well come on, I want to see the letter.”
“Alright, alright pushy woman; okay hand it over,” he said as they pulled them out. She took his and they smiled at each other before glancing down at them.
“Dear Mr. Tatum…blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…”
“Dear Mrs. yada, yada, yada…”
They read together aloud. “We are pleased to inform you…you’ve been accepted.”
Mel reached out and hugged Tate as he passed her letter back to her and she gave him his. “Well, nothing saying you can’t help out now if we get the bid.”
“When’s the meeting?”
“Friday, the board’s going to listen to the last arguments and then they’re going to take a vote,” she said feeling her heart flutter a bit at the thought of them not getting it.
“But unlike you I don’t have bags of money lying around to pay for school, or a scholarship from the school,” he told her pointedly.
“You’re going Tate. We’ll have a blast and if you take most of the classes I do then we’ll always know what the other’s studying and can help each other out.”
“We’ll see Mel,” he stated kissing her temple.
She kept repeating that motto to herself over the next few days. When Friday evening rolled around, her stomach was in knots, and she wasn’t the one doing the presentation. The first company gave a good presentation, but she didn’t think it was as good of an option as theirs was.
Jordan squeezed her hand and got up to present their ideas and she smiled proudly. He was finished with his outlinewhen the board began asking questions and she hoped it meant something good.
“Mr. Holmes, you say with your bid priced where it is that you’ll still be able to complete the facilities on time. How do you plan on doing this with paying even minimum wage?”
“Our plan hinges on the very thing this entire endeavor for new buildings did, using resources to create something new and that means something to everyone working on it. As my wife pointed out to me when we sat down to begin writing our bid, the plans for each building cost nothing because the school and the board used their resources wisely. They used the ideas from the students and the knowledge that Whitmore provided them. That is what we plan to do with the next phase. If you look at the end of the bid you will find a list of several of the local high school tech programs who are willing to contract with us, providing real experience for their students under the watchful eye of seasoned builders and both the engineering and electrical departments right here at Whitmore are willing to come aboard as well. It will provide an education for those working on it and pride within them when they see the final products. We want to help bring the vision of past students into completion with the help of current and future ones. What better pride is there than to say you helped create something?”
Mel grinned when no one said anything after his answer, and she felt good about their chances.
“Any other questions?” the chairman asked. “Thank you, gentlemen. We’ll retire for further discussion and a vote. We’ll let you know by the end of next week what our decision is.”
Dwight stopped them at the door and shook Jordan’s hand. “Impressive and I hear it was your idea.”
“Guilty,” she said with a smile.
“Between us, I think they’ll go for it. You included a nice cushion for increase in building materials and that list is impressive. As was your application Mel,” Dwight added.
