Page 21 of The Perfect Deal
“Yeah,” I assured her, grabbing my camera out of its bag. “Why not? Anyone else wanna dress up?”
A flurry of activity erupted around the room as the girls began to grab whatever they had that was picture worthy—from the fancy to the absurd. One by one, they paraded down the center of the room, sashaying and being ridiculous. I took their pictures, all of us laughing until our stomachs hurt. Karrie sat on her bed, a stern look on her face, but she said nothing.
After some silliness, Monique shouted, “My turn, my turn!”
I looked up to see her wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a polo, a baseball cap tucked down over her ears, and her hands shoved down deep into her pockets.
“God, Mo!” Shayla shouted. “You look just like Coach Joshua.”
Deepening her voice, Monique said, “Thank you so much, Shayla. I’m so glad that you’re here at camp with us. It’s going to be a great summer.”
Her impression was spot on. I would’ve recognized him anywhere. “We’ve gotta get some pictures of this.” I began to take her picture as she continued to prance around the room, pretending to be Joshua. My sides almost split, I laughed so hard.
Later, after Karrie declared lights out, I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how much fun the first day had been. The room was quiet—except for the sound of Karrie snoring. How could such a small person be so loud?
Tossing and turning, I tried putting the pillow over my head, but it didn’t help. I’d noticed a lot of the girls putting in earplugs, and now I knew why. At this rate, I’d be lucky if I got any sleep at all.
Lying there, I couldn’t help but think about Joshua. I might look like a wreck tomorrow, but at least I’d get to see him in his element. I couldn’t wait to see what day two of camp brought, even if I was exhausted.
13
JOSHUA
The sound of my alarm going off had me rolling over with a smile on my face. I was used to waking up happy at camp, but the first thought that entered my mind was that Liberty was there with me. No matter what happened, it was going to be a good day.
I took a quick shower and got dressed in khaki shorts and a polo, making sure I had a hat and sunglasses. I didn’t want to get too hot. I’d slathered sunscreen on in places the sun would never see when I’d gotten out of the shower, but I packed a can of the spray-on kind to take with me. The nurse, Helen, was great and would spend half the day walking around reminding the kids to reapply. The counselors were great at making sure no one left the cabin without spraying themselves, too.
Already, I could see the sun beginning to climb above the trees, and it was going to be a scorcher. I’d have to make sure the kids took plenty of water breaks. We had plenty of stations where they could refill water bottles or grab a cup to throw over their heads, and some of the staff were assigned to make sure the water stayed cool, so we should be in good shape.
With a whistle around my neck and my water bottle in hand, I headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. The scent of bacon, eggs, and biscuits greeted me at the door. I paused for a moment to breathe it in.
“Good morning, Josh.” Karrie’s voice behind me almost had me leaping out of my skin. “How are you today?”
I moved out from in front of the door, not wanting to keep her girls from coming in. “Good, Karrie. How are you?”
“Slept like a baby,” she said with a giggle. “Doesn’t breakfast smell amazing?” She took a deep breath and batted her eyelashes.
“Yep, sure does. Think I’ll go fix a plate.” I wanted to get away from her because she was acting a little weird, but then I remembered that Liberty was assigned to the same cabin as her, so I stopped for a moment, watching the girls come in and get in line.
Liberty came in last, barely picking up her feet as she came in. She was as gorgeous as ever with her hair pulled up under a hat, wearing a sundress with Capri-length leggings under it, but I could tell that something was wrong.
“Good morning,” I said as I walked over to her, hearing the concern in my own voice. “Are you all right?”
Liberty yawned and held up what appeared to be an empty coffee mug. “Nothing a little caffeine won’t fix. You know, you should consider putting coffee machines in the cabins for the counselors. I could barely roll out of bed this morning. I think I got approximately forty-five minutes’ worth of sleep.”
“Really?” I was shocked. Most of the time, everyone fell asleep pretty quickly on the first day of camp because they were so worn out from all of the activity. “Coffee machines are a good idea, but then, the kids might drink it and be bouncing off the walls until two o’clock in the morning.”
“Not in our cabin,” she said. “Stepping out of line is a serious infraction.” She rolled her eyes, and I puzzled over what she could be alluding to, but I wasn’t sure. “I’m going to hop in line. I’m famished.”
I moved toward the breakfast line with her, still glad she was here even if she was struggling. “I think you’ll sleep better tonight. We’ll keep the kids so busy with the basketball tournament you’ll fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow.”
“I sure hope so,” she said, piling eggs and bacon onto her plate. One thing I loved about Liberty was that she didn’t eat like a bird. She wasn’t one of those girls who pretended like she could survive off a piece of lettuce and a carrot every six months.
When we reached the end of the service line, I realized I had to go the other direction. “I’m eating breakfast with Sam’s group today,” I explained.
Nodding, she looked up at me and smiled. “I’ll see you out there.”
“Have a good one.” I didn’t want to walk away from her, but I hoped I’d get to see her throughout the day. Having her here was a slight distraction, but it was worth it. Her smile made everything better.