Although she’d tried really hard, she hadn’t been able to resist temptation, and more than once she’d glanced over at Kaegan. Thankfully, he’d been paying rapt attention to what the others were saying, as if she hadn’t been there.

“Anyone want to work on the music committee to assure we have a blend of all types to satisfy everyone attending?” Susan asked. “Like I said, the response has been overwhelming. Since we’re encompassing five graduating classes instead of just one, we’ll have a large group coming. Music will play an important factor.”

“I suggest we get a band,” Charlette said.

Susan nodded. “Any more suggestions?”

Bryce raised her hand. “Since this reunion will encompass several classes, I thought what would really be neat is that, in addition to getting a band, we hire a DJ to play a few songs that were popular during the year we graduated. It will be fun to hear them.”

Derrick nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“Well, I don’t,” Laura said. Even in school, she was the most argumentative person around. People usually gave in to her just to shut her up. “I suggest we do neither and just make our own playlist. That way we can save on hiring a band and a DJ.”

Everyone stared at her, but then, they really weren’t surprised. Laura was tight with her money and didn’t like spending it on anything. The thing was, the committee had the money to spend from the tickets they’d sold to the reunion. People were expecting something a little more special than just a playlist and the committee could afford it. When nobody said anything, probably too shocked to speak, Laura smiled and said, “I’m glad everyone agrees with me, so now we can move on to something else.”

Bryce waited to see if anyone would stand up and tell Laura they didn’t agree with her. When it seemed no one would, she raised her hand. Susan looked over at her. “Yes, Bryce?”

Bryce stood. “Thanks for making that suggestion, Laura, but I don’t agree. From what Susan indicated we have in the treasury, we do have the money to spend toward music, so we should. Some people are coming a long way and the least we can do is to have good music playing at the event.”

“I suggest we spend less on music and more on food,” Doug said.

Bryce drew in a deep breath when she saw a few of the others speaking up to side with Laura. Bryce knew one of the reasons was that Laura’s dad, although not as rich as Reid, was still a major employer in town. It bothered her that everyone would so easily accept whatever Laura wanted.

Instead of being one of them and sitting down like she figured everyone expected her to do, she remained standing and said, “I think we should spend more money for music.”

For a minute nobody said anything, and then, surprisingly, Kaegan spoke up and said, “I agree with Bryce. For years the reason I never attended a reunion was because I never felt included.”