Page 174 of Banter & Blushes

“We wanted to,” she insisted. “You’re a blessing to us, Wynnie, and we’re so happy for you. Now go sit in the comfiest chair out there. You can’t miss it. It’s the one with the ‘Bride to Be’ sign taped to the window behind it.”

I’d never been the recipient of a big fuss like this. I felt so loved.

Taking a deep breath, I strode purposefully toward my designated seat and pushed away all the insecurities that wanted to steal my joy.

I was getting married in two days!

CHAPTER 8

AMELIE

It was Friday, our last day at Camp Cliff Walk, and Mr. JC was filling in for Meggie all day again ’cause she’s getting married tomorrow! In the morning, he took us on a big yellow bus to Acadia National Park to see the harbor seals. He said he was friends with one of them, but I couldn’t be sure if he was fibbing or not. But she did bark at him when he called her Pepper.

Mr. JC barked back, and we all laughed. He told us to try it because barking like a seal wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Then Bianca told us that her Auntie Molly had the best seal bark and it sounded real! Hallie and Harlan told us they heard it and it was definitely the best. Then we all tried. We were not very goodat all,but we sure had fun trying!

It was more fun than potato sack races and ziplining and even the mini sticks game we played with Flynn’s group during our sports rotations yesterday. His group was our partner group. We each got paired up with a big kid for sports and some other activities. Me and Isla were on the same team, and we won!

On the bus ride back to camp, I added harbor seals to the “Animals” list in my camp diary. I had so many lists! My favorite one was all the new words I learned from our new friends, like bubblah—that’s what they call a water fountain you drink from; pockabook—a purse!—jimmies, which are chocolate sprinkles, and fluffahnuttuh. Those were sandwiches with peanut butter and marshmallow Fluff. So yummy!

When we got back to the pavilion, Monty was there! That man was so silly. He and my daddy are friends. They prank each othera lot.Once, Monty made our hot tub into a koi pond! That was after Daddy filled his truck with birdseed.

Monty even pranked our RV. On the first night of our trip, me and Amelie’sFrozensheets were Ridgie the Bear sheets! Ridgie is Daddy’s team’s mascot, and Monty is the guy in the suit. Then, when Wynnie pulled back the blankets to go to sleep in her bed, her blue sheets were gone and there was a white one with Monty’s picture on it instead! It was as big as him—and he was only wearing shorts! He should have been here yesterday for the Oreos we brought for the kids. Daddy helped us scrape out the cream and fill them with white mint toothpaste. It was really funny when the kids took their first bite. And Noah almost threw up!

Daddy and Monty were so crazy! Their prank war gave me an idea.

I would tell Isla and the other kids during the afternoon snack. Group 1 always sat at the picnic table closest to the barn. I waited until Mr. JC and Noah went to talk to Kat and Jamie in the paddock. Monty was helping give Group 2 their snacks so no grown-ups could hear me. “We need to prank Flynn and Meggie!”

“Oh! Yes!” Isla agreed. “How?”

“Remember Rilla carrying the cake?” She nodded. “We’re reading a book, and the little girl carried a cake.” I explained to the kids about Rilla from our story. “And we can hide the cake tonight!”

Paisley looked unconvinced. “What’s tonight?”

“It’s the rehearsal dinner party on the beach,” Bianca said. “Remember? For the wedding?”

“Oh yeah! I forgot that was tonight! I have a new dress! And a new one for the wedding, too!” she beamed.

“You’re all going to be there, right?” Everyone nodded their heads. “Good. Rehearsal cakes are small, so me and Isla can carry it. We need a place to hide it on the beach.”

“I know!” Bianca said. “I can get the key to the shack from my daddy. There’s a snack freezer in there. We can put it on top.”

“And we can leave a clue on the table!” Hallie said. “How about … ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, we love you so much, so we had to prank you!’”

“Oooh, that’s perfect!” I exclaimed.

“My sister is so smart,” Harlan said. “She can write the poem, and at the bottom she can write a really small sentence that says where it is so they don’t worry.”

“Yes!” I said. “Shh! Monty is coming!”

We all got super quiet and smiled up at Monty. He raised his eyebrows and leaned down onto the table, putting his chin on his hands and sniffing. We giggled.

“I smell trouble,” he said. “Eight kids going silent,all at once?Verysus.”

“We’re just being polite,” Isla said. “It would be rude if we kept talking when you came over.”

Nice!I thought. Isla was a quick thinker.

“Mm-hmm,” Monty hummed. He stood up and stuck out two fingers, pointed them to his eyes and then toward us. “I’ll be watching you. And tell your dad I enjoyed the splattered yarn egg on my windshield.”

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