Lucky Penny by L A Cotton Read Free Book Online Page B

quickening.
    The canoe seemed to ride the waves with ease, even if the slight rocking churned my stomach.
    “How long is this going to take? I hate it out here,” Erica muttered sounding almost bored.
    “Keep at it. I can’t do it alone.”
    Concentrating on the movement of the paddles, I didn’t notice Marissa instruct the girls to turn their kayaks in full circles. The force of their vessels cutting through the water created stronger waves that started lapping at the front of the canoe. “She’s crazy,” I murmured under my breath. My panic was rising; I was beginning to feel as if capsizing might be a valid concern now.
    We continued forward, despite having to grip onto the sides a couple of times, and by the time we reached Marissa and the girls, they were all in fits of hysterics.
    “That was not funny, Marissa. I thought we were going to capsize,” I said breathlessly. Really, I wanted to shout a string of expletives at her, but that would have to wait for later.
    “You were fine. We didn’t make big enough waves to flip you.”
    Sensing Erica watching me from the back of the canoe, I glanced behind me and smiled. “You good?”
    She nodded. It was the most positive thing I had managed to drag out of her all week. I returned her nod and turned back to Marissa, but not before I caught a slight smile on Erica’s face. It was barely there, but I saw it. Relief flooded me. Finally, I was getting through to her, and my mind immediately went to the one person who would understand the hugeness of my small win—the only person who would really understand how important this was for me.
    Blake.

T he sound of Troy’s guitar floated on the summer’s breeze. Tonight was group camp, the last one before the final goodbye camp in three days’ time.
    “I can’t believe it’s almost time to leave,” Lucy sighed dramatically, and Crystal pushed her from behind with a snicker. “What? I don’t mind it with the Peterson’s, but Camp Chance is so freakin’ cool. I don’t ever want to leave.”
    I chuckled amazed by how far the small girl next to me had come in just ten days. Troy had been right; Camp Chance really did change lives.
    “We all have to leave eventually, Lucy.” I ruffled her hair, and she ducked away from my hand smoothing it back down.
    Some of the girls took group camp very seriously. It was one of the few times they had to interact with the boys. Gone were their daytime scruffs, replaced with cut-off shorts and pretty tank tops and tees. Even Erica had made an effort tonight, and although she hadn’t spoken to me again since her slip earlier, something about her felt less detached.
    We entered the clearing, and my eyes did a quick count. We were the last cabin to arrive, it seemed, and everyone else sat quietly around the fire.
    “You made it.” Marissa came to the edge of the circle to greet us. “Hi, girls. Come on, Troy’s about to start.”
    We hurried behind Marissa to our section of the circle and the girls squashed in beside Sheridan’s group. When the girls finally settled, I looked up and my eyes found Blake.
    “Okay, now that everyone’s present and accounted for, how about a song? Everyone remember flea fly?” Troy strummed a note on the strings and a sea of heads nodded.
    “Flea,” he said.
    “Flea,” the circle responded.
    I tried to turn my head to Troy, but Blake’s intense gaze refused to let me.
    “Flea fly.”
    Flea fly. My lips moved but nothing came out, and a slow grin spread over Blake’s face. He knew exactly what he was doing, and yet, I still couldn’t drag my eyes away from him.
    What in the hell was happening?
    “Flea fly flow.”
    I heard the words, heard the circle repeat them, but they sounded distant as if someone was turning down the volume button.
    “Feasta…”
    Hi . Blake mouthed at me, his mouth hooking up in a smile.
    Just look away. This is dangerous territory. What are you doing?
    Hi. I mouthed back with a coy smile ignoring the little