Page 175 of Banter & Blushes

I held my breath until he was far enough away, then Amelie and I burst into giggles. Last night, Daddy had asked Mr. Jack to help him connect the long white and yellow yarn strings he made to form a sunny-side-up egg. We thought that was silly but didn’t ask what he planned to do with it!

After sharing the story with our friends, we got back to talking about the cake prank. By the end of snack time, the plan was all set.

Flynn and Meggie were going to be so happy they were so loved by us kids!

“Becareful going down the steps in your dresses, girls!” Wynnie led us down the wooden stairs to the beach. Isla was behind me, and Daddy last.

Wynnie worried too much. Me and Isla had lots of practice with stairs in our princess dresses. Tonight, we were just wearing regular sundresses. Piece of cake!

I giggled.Cake!It was almost time for our prank!

The sun was setting, and the beach was getting dark. Wynnie took my hand, and we followed Daddy and Isla past the shack to the end of the beach where the party was. A big fire and lots of tables were spread out in the sand. Behind the tables were more stairs that went up the rocky wall. A DJ was playing old-people music.

We had to leave Laffy and Vennie at the cottage. That made me a little sad, but Daddy said they could get lost and that would make us sadder.

“Our friends are over there!” Isla said. “At the bounce house!”

I stretched my neck to see where she was pointing, and I saw them. “Can we go over there and play?”

“Sure. Just be careful,” Daddy said.

Isla and I let go of their hands and ran for our friends. This was going to be so fun!

Hallie was standing on the bounce house step holding the flap open for us. “Take your shoes off and come inside!”

Isla and I kicked off ourFrozenCrocs and crawled up onto the step and into the bounce house. It was the big kind that had a bouncy room and tunnels to a ball pit and a rope ladder to a slide and even a tunnel underneath! We followed Hallie through the bounce room and crawled through a circle opening to get to the ball pit. All of our new friends were already there.

Isla and I jumped in, and Harlan and Archer moved to block the entrance tunnels to keep other kids out.

“Okay, people!” Isla shouted. Everyone looked at her. I was glad she was taking charge. She was good at that kind of thing. She lowered her voice. “There are two assistant camp counselors watching the kids’ area, so we have to be careful they don’t hear us. Hallie, did you bring the note?”

Hallie reached into a pocket on her dress and pulled out a piece of paper. “I did!”

“And Bianca, you got your daddy’s key to the shack?”

“It’s in my pocket!” she confirmed.

“Okay.” Isla waited for everyone to lean toward her. “The cake is on a table with the gifts. In a little bit, everyone who is coming should be here, and that’s usually where they go first. Right, Amelie?”

“Right!” I said. “And sometimes it’s decorated like a tuxedo. For the groom. Because the bride gets to pick the fancy cake on wedding day.”

“I saw it,” Bianca said. “Itdoeslook like a tuxedo!”

“Good!” Isla said. “And it’s close to the shack, so we can move it quick. But we need a distraction.”

“I brought my Frisbee again,” Archer said. “I can throw it into the water and get grown-ups to help.”

Paisley piped up. “I don’t know. They might not want to get their clothes wet.”

“That’s true,” Nicki agreed. “You could throw it at the fire. It’s just a Cliff Walk Resort one, right? Meggie would probably give you a new one.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Isla. “And you should cry when it burns. Then all the grownups will feel bad and try to make you feel better, and they won’t even think about the gift table!”

“I can try,” Archer said. “I’ll fake cry if my eyes don’t work.”

“Good,” Isla nodded. “Let’s play until it gets dark. Then wait for my signal, okay? I’ll yell ‘wheeeee!’ and go down the slide. Then meet me in the tunnel underneath.”

“Okay!” all the kids shouted.

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