June realized that everyone had stopped talking to listen to her. She was amazed by the vehemence of her own words and by the admiring looks the family were giving her.
“Listen to you talk. I hardly recognize you,” Linda said, beaming at her.
“To June!” Clare said, and there was a roar of boisterous toasting around the table.
•••
On Tuesday morning, June left the house with butterflies circling in her stomach. For all her bravado on Saturday, she was terrified about what she’d find when she turned up at the library today. Marjorie would be furious with her, of course, and no doubt there would be trouble from the council. But she’d get to see Stanley and the other members of FOCL again, and they could make a plan for the last leg of the campaign. She’d been thinking about it all weekend and had several ideas about how they could keep the momentum going.
June was rounding the corner onto the Parade when she saw Vera standing outside the post office.
“Morning, Vera. How are you?”
“Mustn’t grumble. Although my hip is—”
“I’m sorry, I’d love to chat, but I have to get to work.”
“What’s going on there today?” Vera said.
“Marjorie’s due to host a Techie Tea this morning. Do you want to join?”
“No, I mean now—there’s a group of people outside. That man from the council is there.”
“You mean, Richard Donnelly?”
“The one who’s an oily wan—”
“I’ve got to go. Sorry, Vera.”
June turned and hurried toward the library. As she approached, she could see Donnelly outside, talking to a man and woman.
“What’s going on?” she said when she reached them.
“Good morning, Miss Jones,” Richard said. “I was wondering if you’d turn up. Did you receive our e-mail?”
“No, I left my phone here. What’s going on?”
“I think we’re all done,” Richard said to the other two, who nodded and walked away. He turned to June. “The council has decided to conduct a full inquiry into the events of last week, including the involvement of a council employee in the occupation and subsequent damage to the library. Until the inquiry is finished, you are to be relieved of all duties at Chalcot Library.”
“What?”
“You’re suspended. On full pay, of course, until the council have clarified your role in the matter and decided if any further action needs to be taken.”
“Hang on—what do you mean, damage?”
Richard looked down at his clipboard. “For a start, there was damage to the paintwork in the main room...”
“We only hung those posters up for a few days.”
“Chips to the tables...”
“Those tables are at least twenty years old.”
“Stains on the carpet...”
Damn, the coffee. “But I scrubbed that myself.”
“Our surveyors have been around and say that we’ll need to replace the whole carpet.”
