Read Online Flukes by Nichole Chase - Free Book Online

tone. “We don’t litter. Pick it up and put it in the trash.”
    I had never really thought about it before, but Dad was tall, taller than even Devin. He worked outside doing lots of manual labor that kept him in shape. When you paired that with the serious tone, he was intimidating. Devin seemed to size him up for a minute before slowly going to pick up the cigarette butt. He walked to the trash can, held his hand above the opening, and dropped the cigarette into the hole. Without another word, he turned around and sauntered down the path toward the exit. He jerked his chin and several of the workers peeled off and followed him.
    The ones that hadn’t left all nodded at Dad before making their way down to the bus. Dad shook his head once they were all on their way and the tension in his shoulders drained away.
    “I’m going to call and find out why they were sent here.” Dad’s eyes flicked to Blake and then away. “Did you guys come up with anything today?” I knew my dad well enough to sense when he was changing the subject.
    “Blake had an idea.” I busied myself in the shed, not wanting to let my expression give anything away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Blake pick up a stick and sketch something in the sand. Dad grunted but didn’t say anything until Blake was finished.
    “This is rough, but I think that works, too.” He didn’t say anything else. Just stood up and moved back so that Dad could get a better look. “Something loose that just suggests the theme.”
    “That would be easy to translate onto promotional kits.” Dad’s voice was thoughtful, so I snuck a peek at him. He was rubbing his chin and his eyes were thoughtful. “What sent you in this direction?”
    “Meena.” Blake’s voice was calm and nonchalant, but the memory of his fingers on mine made me blush.
    “Meena?” I turned around and looked at Dad. I knew my cheeks were red, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
    “When she’s swimming with the animals, she looks just like a mermaid should. Happy and peaceful. It goes with the name, too.” Blake tossed the stick back into the brush. “If you think it’s too whimsical I can come up with something else.”
    “No. I like it.” Dad’s eyes focused on me and I wondered what he was thinking. There was something sad in his eyes I didn’t understand. “Can you make something a little more definite? If we get this nailed down soon, we can start production of the new sign and design some shirts for the staff.”
    “Sure. Need me to do anything else before I leave?” Blake looked at Dad as if waiting for homework.
    “Would you mind moving that cart with the bags of concrete? Looks like it’s going to rain tonight.” Dad pointed to where Devin had left a loaded wheelbarrow by the bird hut.
    “No problem.” Blake’s eyes cut to me quickly before going back to my father.
    “Thanks.”
    I watched him walk away and was surprised that I was sad to see him go. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I liked being around him. Even though he was kind of a mysterious and frustrating.
    “Meena?” Dad’s voice brought me back to reality and I winced. He sounded nervous.
    “I swear, I didn’t do anything wrong.” Technically, I shouldn’t have swum after my hat, but that wasn’t a big deal.
    “I know.” Dad closed the shed and slipped the lock in place. “We named Flukes after you. It’s not that long of a shot, you know? And really, it fits. I think it would work.”
    “But we try so hard to not let anyone find out.” I sat down on a large rock next to the path.
    “Sometimes the best hiding place is right in the open.” Dad leaned against the shed and looked at me. “If you’re flaunting it in their face, they won’t think there’s any way it could be real.”
    “Seems risky.”
    “Meena, it’s all risky. All of it. The only way to be safe would be to pick up and move somewhere where you wouldn’t have any friends.” Dad frowned. “We thought