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Apples and Endowments

Photo by alam kusuma on Unsplash

Of course he would make her meet him at the yacht club.

So wealthy Annette had to ask which one.

“Cutter Sound, he was at a ribbon cutting in Val-”

“I’m not meeting grandpa there so he can yell at me for changing my name. Two hour drive so he can let his disappointment ooze through his tan? No thanks.”

Annette’s grandmother said “Explain it to me. I’ll explain it to him.”

“I’m thrilled that grandpa is generous, Nana, really I am. I’m proud of him. But I have to distance myself. There are a bunch of blue collar parents at my new school who are not going to deal with me in the same fashion if they know I’m Allan DesRosier’s granddaughter.”

“You’ve never been not proud of him before, angel. Is it the politics, the Reilly donation?”

“Nana, I just said that I’m proud of him. It’s not the politics. Just maybe he could extend some generosity without taking so much credit for it.”

“He’s very proud of his philanthropy, dear, always has been.”

Annette blew the exasperated breath away from the phone.

“I saw my new classroom today. A plaque with his name is above the defibrillator. You’d think he could give a piece of lifesaving equipment without needing his name plastered right above it. Besides, Nana, I’m teaching 3rd Grade. The only person likely to have a heart attack in that room is me.”

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