Page 13 of Ice Princess

But who the heck is that guy?

“Mom,” I mumble, eyes still on Rebel. “Weren’t you going to give a speech before the food was served?”

“Oh, right.” She squeezes Victoria’s hand. “I’ll be right back, sweetie. I’ve got Lady Luck Society duties.” Mom waddles to the front of the large tent and knocks on a microphone hooked up to a speaker. “Yoo-hoo!”

Rebel and the guy stop in their tracks and turn to look at mom.

Success.

“I hope ya’ll have been enjoying the desserts. Before we serve the food, I wanted to say a few words.”

The suit gestures for Rebel to continue their walk to the exits, but she shakes her head and I nearly cave in half from relief.

“Thank yousomuch to everyone for coming and for being such big supporters of our Lady Luck Society. If you don’t know, the Lady Luck Society or just ‘the Ladies’ for short, are a group of highly esteemed, community-oriented, and dare I say… extremelybeautiful…”

That earns a hoot from my dad, who’s standing at the front of the crowd with a beer bottle in hand.

“… townsfolk.” Mom smiles at his antics. “We started this community with the park beautification initiative, planting trees and flowers in the park to spruce things up. After that brutal storm in ‘95, we donated fifty baskets of food and toiletries to the families surrounding the area.”

The people around me all nod at the memory.

“And then, after years of moving with our own efforts and finances, we were recognized by the Lucky Falls city council and given a yearly grant to help with community projects. Thank you, Mayor Kinsey.”

My uncle, Kit, lifts his drink in acknowledgement.

“Since then, the support from the community has been overwhelming. As most of you already know, a portion of the entrance fee from today’s competition will be donated to the Lady Luck Society to be put to good use.”

Cheers go up from the crowd.

Mom smiles heartily. “Thank you all for your continued support. Please enjoy the luncheon as a small token of our appreciation. Now, we’ll ask Pastor Derrick to say grace and after that, we can dig in!”

Everyone bows their heads while Pastor Derrick takes the mike.

After, mom flits over to me. “Victoria, come sit with us.”

I twist around and realize Victoria had been sticking around me this entire time.

“At the Ladies table?” Victoria’s voice turns high-pitched with excitement. “Really?”

Mom winks.

“Are you coming too, Gunner?” Victoria asks.

“Yes, come sit with us, son.” Mom subtly juts her chin at Victoria and wiggles her eyebrows.

I look away, searching for Rebel.

She’s not in the crowd.

Where’d she go?

I whip my head back and forth. Did she leave already?

“Come on, son. Your mother’s hungry.” Mom loops an arm around my elbow. With me on one side and Victoria on the other, she steers us to the Ladies’ table.

The other Ladies are already present and giggling together. The mean Davis sisters who were rude to Rebel earlier are there too.

At the sight of their heavily made-up faces, my stomach turns. The last thing I want to do is sit and eat with them.

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