The Perfect Escape (The Perfect Escape #1) - Suzanne Park Page 0,54
I bit my lip. “So, actually, I’d better try to get some sleep.”
Annie’s eyes widened. “Oh wow, good luck! That sounds so cool.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know how it goes.” We said our goodbyes, and when the call ended, I let out a deep breath and turned off my lamp.
Sliding the comforter to my armpits, I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep.
It never came.
* * *
In our front hall, I wrestled with the laces on my hiking boots. My mostly deflated ankle barely fit in there. I needed an ankle girdle, desperately.
A few yanks of a double knot, and finally, I was ready to go.
The weather forecast predicted no rain, but a chilly forty-three-degree low and sixty-two-degree high for each day of the competition. I put on my trusty Patagonia thermal jacket and hoisted my backpack. Carting around an extra fifty pounds on my backside turned me into a human packhorse.
A door down the hall creaked open, and a pitter-patter of tiny feet echoed in the darkness.
Lucy, in her PAW Patrol pajamas, padded toward me holding a ziplock bag. She rubbed her eyes and asked, “Where are you going?”
“Luce, go back to bed. I have to go on a quick trip.” I didn’t have time to chat. I had to meet Kate at the campground location at five a.m.
“But, your birthday. We were going to have pizza. And I have a present.” Her bottom lip jutted out, and her eyes brimmed with tears.
I reached out and ruffled her hair. “We can celebrate when I get back, I promise. Mom and Dad think I’m going to a track meet and staying over at Jaxon’s this weekend. Can you keep a secret? It can be my birthday present.”
“I already got you a present.” She held out the bag. Inside was a mix of play money (a few fake hundreds) and real currency (maybe about four bucks in coins). She gave me a firm midsection hug, the kind I’d imagine an octopus used to suffocate prey.
“Thanks, Lucy Goosey. Now go back to bed. I really have to go. I’m already late.”
Through the window on the front door, lightning brightened the dark sky. So much for the zero percent rain forecast.
Lucy loosened her death grip and cried all the way back to her room. Once her door clicked, I unzipped the plastic bag she gave me. Inside was a handwritten Post-it note in smeared washable blue marker: “ish creem cake munny.”
She’d drawn a picture on the back of both of us standing in jumping-jack formation, smiling ear to ear, with a giant birthday “ish creem” cake between us. I laughed and wiped my eyes with the palm of my hand. Thunder crashed again, drowning out the sound of my heart exploding into pieces.
Sometimes I liked being a brother.
Chapter Seventeen
Kate
Nate was late.
In the back seat of the Uber, I reread the driving directions on my phone. This was the right place. SUVs and RVs pulled into the parking lot around the same time I arrived. A procession of hardcore hiker-camper types walked northbound in the freezing rain.
And here I was, running up the tab, squatting in the back of a cherry-red Corolla. But that was better than standing out there like an idiot in the rain, waiting for late Nate.
My pulse mirrored the seconds ticking rapidly by. The competition started in less than half an hour—was it possible that my partner was not just tardy, but had abandoned me? In a remote campground. During a thunderstorm.
Maybe my middle-of-the-night visit freaked him out. Maybe my super quick, awkward, barely audible goodbye early that morning shouldn’t have been so super quick and awkward. Maybe I should have texted him a thank-you.
When Nate’s Accord rolled in, high beams blazing, I let out a deep sigh, partly relieved, partly angry that he could have ruined my chances in this competition.
“Thank you, that’s my ride!” I said to my driver. He popped the trunk for me to retrieve my backpack. Assaulted by the precipitation, my parka and gear darkened as I