newbies the ropes next year, Jayden.”
“Oh, no!” Novalene threw up both hands. “Y’all leave me out of this. I’m not teaching anyone jack squat. This is my last year here, too. Everything runs its course, and I’m tired. It’s time for me to hang up my Moonbeam Cabin cap and go home, drive fast, and listen to Elvis.”
“Y’all are leaving and yet trying to talk me into staying,” Jayden said.
“Honey, you belong right here,” Novalene said. “You’ll wake up and see what we’re seeing pretty soon. We’re ready to move on, but you should move in.”
“Got any proof to back that up?” Jayden asked.
“Just that we can see the chemistry between you and Elijah,” Diana said.
“I’m changing the subject.” Jayden smiled. “Before y’all throw in the towel, will you tell me if we celebrate July Fourth here?”
“We always have,” Diana answered. “We spend the day as usual, but at dark, Elijah will put on a fantastic fireworks display for the girls, and then he brings out the watermelons and slices them into wedges. The girls eat them without forks and have a seed-spitting contest. He’ll tell them all about it after breakfast so they can look forward to it, but if even one of them gets a demerit today, all the fun is off. You can bet they’ll be on their very best behavior.”
“Speak for your own girls,” Novalene said. “Keelan and Bailey just might do something stupid so none of them get to have fun.”
“Rita will kill them both if they do,” Diana said.
The girls filed in and most of them headed straight to the end of the line and got a bottle of water, guzzled it down, and then came back for food. That three-mile hike must have gotten to them. Ashlyn tossed her empty bottle into the trash, slung an apron over her head, and tied it in the back, then put on a pair of gloves. “I’ll help dish it up so we can get through the line faster. It’s our day to clean the stalls, and we’re worried about Dynamite, so we want to hurry up and go see about him.”
“What’s wrong with Dynamite?” Jayden asked.
“He’s been off his feed for a couple of days, and when we walk him, he goes real slow.” Ashlyn slipped a hash brown onto Keelan’s plate and got one ready for the next girl in line.
“I want two of those,” Keelan said. “I’m starving this morning. There’s nothing wrong with that horse. I cleaned his stall yesterday and he was fine.”
“I walk him every day, and I know more about horses than you do.” Ashlyn put another hash brown on her plate and turned to Tiffany, who was in line behind her. “One or two?”
“Two,” Tiffany answered.
Keelan shot them both a dirty look and moved her tray on down the line.
“Don’t start anything,” Jayden whispered to Ashlyn. “This isn’t the day for it, believe me. You’ll understand when Elijah makes his announcement after breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ashlyn said and then lowered her voice. “There’s always tomorrow. I’m savin’ my demerits up until the last week, and then I’m going to use two of them on Bailey and Keelan.”
“Good mornin’.” Elijah caught Jayden’s eye and smiled when he started through the line.
“Mornin’ to you.” She smiled back at him. “Happy Independence Day.”
“Is it July Fourth?” Ashlyn asked as she put food on her tray. “Do we get to go to town and watch fireworks?”
“Do you want to do that?” Elijah asked.
“Of course I do,” Ashlyn answered. “Can we leave the Moonbeam girls at home?”
“Nope, it’s all or none,” Elijah answered.
“Well, crap!” Ashlyn carried her tray to her table and sat down.
Jayden was the last one to dish up food onto her tray and take it to the adult table. Elijah waited until she was seated and then tapped a spoon on the edge of his coffee mug. As usual, when he did that, all the noise in the whole dining hall ceased in a split second.
“In the past we have celebrated Independence Day right here at Piney Wood. If not one single girl got a demerit all day, we always had fireworks and then watermelon and a couple of freezers of homemade ice cream. Since all of you have been pretty good kids through the first half of this session, I’m going to change things up a little bit this year. After supper, we are going to make homemade ice cream and then let it set while we take all y’all