Faith scoffed. “Take a guess.”
“Him, of course!” Char flung her arm in Leo’s direction. “He’s kind. He’s thoughtful. He works hard. I’ve got a shop full of people sobbing right now because they heard he’s being forced to quit.”
“How does everybody know about this?” Leo muttered, and Faith slipped an arm around his waist.
“The whole town’s talking about it apparently.” She squeezed him close. “My man’s got community support.”
He gazed down at her, lost in love for a second, when a knock sounded on the open door.
“While people are offering evidence,” Darla said, stepping into the room with a stack of notes and papers, “I’d like to say that since the community grants rolled out, I’ve gotten more phone calls and thank-yous than I’ve ever seen. They’re not all directly about Leo, but people in town are seeing the work that Digham’s doing, and they’re responding.”
Savannah clapped in delight. “That’s wonderful! See, Carlisle? All that important work we’ve always done overseas, but it’s happening here now too.”
Carlisle turned his furious gaze on Leo. “Is that everyone? Or should we expect more people off the street to join us?”
Was it wrong to enjoy his boss’s discomfort as much as he did? He tugged one of his shirt cuffs a little straighter and said, “I had to beg my mother and sisters to stay away. If you thinkthisis a scene, just know that it could be even louder.”
Faith snorted, Char guffawed, and Carlisle slammed his hand on his desk.
“If everyone would please! Shut! Up!” he bellowed. “I’ve been trying to get him”—he pointed at Leo—“to explain inconsistencies in her”—the finger moved to Faith—“application.”
Next to him, Faith’s body tensed. “What’s he talking about?” she asked quietly.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut briefly, then forced them open. This was it. No amount of defenders could explain this away.
He stepped forward, wanting to distance himself from Faith as Carlisle pulled two pieces of paper from the folder and held them up triumphantly.
“This is the original Beaucoeur BUILD application, time-stamped for a few minutes after the deadline.” He glared at Leo and sniffed. “Already making exceptions.”
Everyone in the room gave varying degrees of muttering and eye-rolling as Carlisle continued. “But you’ll see that this original application cover sheet only has the community grant box checked and not the Dig Greener grant. Buthere”—he pointed to the second sheet with a flourish, like a prime-time defense attorney—“we see a different application cover sheet, time-stamped half an hour after the July meeting of the board. And what do we have?”
He brandished the sheet and got dead silence in return, so he answered his own question. “It’s a check mark next to the Dig Greener box.” He slammed the paper down on his desk in triumph. “That woman didn’t apply for the environmental grant on her original application. It doesn’t take a genius to wonder who changed her paperwork after the vote.”
All eyes fell on Leo, but in that moment all the turmoil he’d been feeling for hours was gone. This was ludicrous. If Carlisle wanted him gone so badly, he could trust Savannah to carry on his work.
“I amended her application,” Leo said in a clear, carrying voice. “Her program was a good fit, and I believed that it deserved full consideration by the board.”
“It’s not your place,” Carlisle hissed, folding his arms over his chest.
“Actually, it is.”
Every single head swiveled to look at the doorway as George Voit, the Big Dig CEO himself, strode into the room. The crowd parted so the small man could walk directly up to Carlisle, who’d fallen into a trembling silence.
“Mr. Lockhart, you know as well as I do that we hire our strategic grant managers to vet these applications and make sure the funding is going to the best possible sources,” Voit said in a chiding tone.
As if they were watching a tennis match, everyone in the room turned to see Carlisle’s response. His pink face reddened. “Yes, but he had no right—”
“Mr. Morales had every right,” Voit said. “It’s precisely why I hired him. He brings a unique perspective. I want him to be hands-on in all aspects of this job. The question is whyyouwouldn’t want that.”
Carlisle’s mouth flopped like a fish. “Well, I… I mean, there’s this inappropriate relationship.”
Voit turned to Leo, who reached for Faith’s hand.
“Inappropriate?” Voit laughed. “I saw these two together at Ms. Fox’s high school graduation party years ago, and I’m glad to see them together again.”
Leo slid his eyes to Faith, who looked as poleaxed as he felt. This leader of industry had enough space in his brain to recall a relationship between two random teenagers from years ago and to then champion them now? Faith’s eyes got even rounder as she apparently came to the same realization. All Leo could do was shake his head and wonder what surreal twist would come next.
It came from Darla, who delicately cleared her throat.
