Robyn Read Online Free Page B

going to be beyond a golden tan.
    When I was finished, I put my sunblock away and sat back, absorbing the energy of the park. The cacophony of noises — - screams, yells, laughs, splashes — might give some people a headache, but I loved them. They generated excitement, confirmed that people were having a good time, enjoying themselves. From here, I could look in the distance and see some of the huge slides and tubes that gave Thrill Hill its name.
    I got one day off a week. I wondered if when that day came around I’d be sick of this place or if I’d want to come here to play.Right now, I really had an urge to sit in some water and cool off.
    I was thinking about taking a walk, wading through Lost Lagoon. It was a large shallow pool in the middle of Mini Falls. A wrecked pirate ship was in the middle. Kids climbed over it. Explored it. Slides brought them back into the water. Water guns were mounted along the deck so kids could spray water on those in the pool.
    Sean suddenly appeared and sat at my table on the bench across from me. He slid a little plastic cup of strawberry ice cream toward me. “Here.”
    “Did you get this from the ice-cream guy?”
    “Yeah, Jake. It’s no big deal. Employees can have free ice cream or drinks when they’re on break. Figured you deserved a treat.”
    “How did you figure that?”
    “Saw you dealing with that mom. What was her problem anyway?”
    “She thought her kid was being a baby. Hello?!? He is a baby.”
    “They’ll let anyone be parents.”
    His comment gave me a chill since I’d been thinking almost the same thing. I picked up the cup of ice cream. “How did you know strawberry was my favorite?”
    “ Puh-leze . Mom keeps a carton in the freezer with your name on it for when you come over.”
    I don’t know why I was surprised he knew my favorite ice cream. I knew his. I could have told him without looking that he had chocolate.
    He took a bite and worked his mouth before asking, “So other than dealing with insane parents, how do you like working here?”
    “It’s torture. Absolute torture.”
    He took off his sunglasses. I was always surprised by how blue his eyes were. Caitlin’s were, too, but somehow his were a deeper hue. “What’s going on? Is someone not working?”
    Was he serious? Was he not looking around? Not observing everything? What kind of supervisor was he?
    Now was the time to mention Whitney, but in a moment of irony, she was, at that second, helping a kid into a tube. So how could I complain about someone not doing something when she was doing it?
    Besides, Sean looked so serious, so concerned, that I felt a little bad for making him worry. And I really didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was kinda nice. I’d never had a guy bring me ice cream before.
    “No, it’s just hard to work with all this water calling to me. Don’t you want to be out there making a splash, creating waves, plummeting down slides?”
    “You know, since I started working here, I’ve kinda forgotten how to enjoy it.” He shook his head and smiled slightly, like he was amused by the thought. He slipped on his sunglasses and looked out toward the park where all the action was.
    Three little kids scampered by. Sean blew his whistle. “No running!”
    They stopped immediately, walked for several steps, then ran again.
    “Kids,” he muttered.
    “Caitlin said you didn’t want to work in Mini Falls.”
    “She tells you everything, doesn’t she?”
    “Pretty much. So where did you want to work?”
    “Marketing.”
    I shook my head. I knew what marketing was, but I didn’t know how it worked here. “Where’s that?”
    “In the main office. You brainstorm ideas, create flyers, help with advertising. You get to be creative. Working the park, there just aren’t a lot of ways to tell kids to slow down. It gets a little boring.”
    Sean was very artistic. He’d taken art classes. His mom had framed some of his work and hung it in their game room, so I knew how