Page 59 of The Perfect Deal

I arched an eyebrow at him as Axel ran over to me. “Come on, Coach Josh. It’s fun. Slide left, kick right, turn, wave your arm like this, then twirl and jump.”

I watched him go through the steps, confused, but I wasn’t opposed to giving it a try. A few minutes later, I’d mastered the Fox House dance, and the kids were all cheering for me. “All right, guys. You all good? You need anything?” I’d spent too much time here and needed to move on.

The kids were fine, so I headed to the next cabin. I made my way through most of them before it was time to meet at the flagpole. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to Bear House, but when I saw Liberty walking across the grass with her girls, I knew she would’ve already handled any problems that arose. It was great to have her here.

Once everyone arrived, we formed into different groups under the supervision of head coaches and headed into the woods to explore the various paths. I made sure two to three houses were together so that the kids had a chance to visit with people from other cabins.

As we walked along, the coaches and I pointed out different flora and fauna around us. I’d decided to go with Bear House, Raccoon House, and Fish House since I hadn’t made it down to visit any of them, and since Coach Christina was with us and knew everything about the plants and animals in the forest around our campsite, I let her take the lead. She pointed out various flowers and wild grasses, as well as some poison ivy the kids needed to steer clear of.

The constant click of Liberty’s camera was a welcome sound to me. I loved knowing she was here, that she was a part of this, and I could only imagine how many great candid shots she was getting.

The kids broke into a well-known hiking song, and I found myself joining in as we wound our way through the woods. When we reached a clearing, Coach Christina motioned for everyone to be quiet. Up ahead of us, a couple of deer stepped into the clearing. A doe and her fawn, the two majestic creatures paused, looking right at us, before taking off into the woods.

Liberty gasped beside me, turned, and smiled. The look of pure joy on her face had me grinning from ear to ear.

I wanted to reach over and grab her hand, but I kept myself from doing it. Instead, one of her girls, Elizabeth, grabbed her arm. “Did you see that, Miss Liberty?”

“I did,” she said, wrapping her arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “They were so beautiful, I forgot to take a picture.” Liberty pressed her palm to her forehead, and the girls laughed. “I hope we see some more.”

“Let’s keep looking,” Coach Christina suggested, and we took off again. The kids started singing another song, this time more quietly so that if we came across any other wildlife, we wouldn’t scare them away.

The wind whipped through my hair, the sun warmed my skin, and my heart sang as I walked along with the kids that fueled my passion and the girl that gave me purpose. Could this life get any better? I had no idea how.

36

LIBERTY

“Liberty? Liberty?”

The sound of someone calling my name seemed far away, like on the other side of a thick door. I turned over, pulling my blanket up around my neck. The earplugs I’d remembered to bring with me this time helped a lot with Karrie’s snoring, and now, they just might be preventing me from acknowledging the outside world altogether.

The feel of a hand on my shoulder had me opening my eyes. Turning over, I blinked blearily and looked up at the outline of a man standing next to my bed in the dark.

Sitting up, I pulled out one earplug, staring at him. “Joshua?” Was this a dream? Why was he standing in my bunkroom before the sun even came up?

He pressed a single finger to his lips as a signal for me to be quiet and then gestured for me to follow him outside. Still having no idea what was going on, I slipped my feet into my shoes and grabbed a shirt I had lying next to me in case one of the girls needed something in the middle of the night, tossing it on over my pajama top. Pulling my shorts down to cover my thighs, I got out of bed and stumbled outside.

Joshua was standing a few feet outside of the door, an anxious look on his face. For a moment, I thought maybe someone had gotten hurt. Was there an emergency back home? “What’s going on?”

“Melba has the flu,” he explained, shaking his head.

I stared at him, having no idea who he was talking about. “Like the toast?” I asked. God, I really needed to wake up. “Who is Melba?”

He snickered at me, probably thinking my question was ridiculous—which it was. “She’s the head cook,” he told me. “Sweet older woman who always smells like cinnamon.”

“Right.” I remembered her now. “That’s terrible. Is she in the infirmary?”

“No, the nurse said she needed to go home right away. At her age, the flu can be very serious,” he explained, and I nodded along, waking up now. “Some of the other people on her team were already starting to feel ill. They’d already prepared dozens of muffins for breakfast this morning, but the nurse advised we throw those out in case they were contaminated.”

“That makes sense.” I thought that was one of the reasons cooks wore gloves, but I wouldn’t want to take any chances on making the kids sick. “So the entire kitchen staff has been compromised?”

“That’s right. They all went home a few minutes ago.” He dragged his hand down his face.

“And none of the food they prepared is viable?” I clarified.

“None of it.” Joshua had a desperate look on his face, and I was beginning to understand why.

“Cold cereal?” I asked with a shrug.