Free Flirting with Disaster by Sandra Byrd Page A

the plants on her porch. She’d come by last night to ask Mom about the library guild meeting. Mom had said she couldn’t go because I was going to be baptized.
    “Didn’t get it done as a baby, then?” she’d said to me. “Shame, that.”
    I had tried to give it another shot myself, saying it wasn’t an oversight that I hadn’t been baptized yet, but an intentional decision. “I wanted to wait until I was old enough to make my own decision to follow Christ. I wanted to choose this for myself and know what I was signing up for.”
    Vivienne had still shaken her head. But she’d brought over a pack of hot cross buns this morning, and this being months after Easter, I thought she meant something special by that. I gave her an extra-toothy smile as we drove away.
    “I heard there are still lots of eels in the River Thames,” Louanne shared.
    “You sure know how to put a person at ease,” I said.
    “Just saying.” She sounded older than her ten years. Then we both burst out laughing.
    When we pulled in front of Hill House, Penny was waiting. I felt almost as nervous about having Penny come as I did about sharing my testimony in front of everyone who was going to be there. What would she think? That we were religious nut cakes? Shame that I wasn’t baptized as a baby? I hoped she wouldn’t rethink our friendship. I didn’t want her to think our car was a clunker compared to her sports car. We five were going to be squeezed as tight as a stack of jam butties in cling wrap once she piled into the Ford too.
    “Hey, Savvy,” Penny said as I opened the door and scooted over. She grinned at me, same as always, and I felt my heart relax.
    Once we got to the park, we piled out of the car and went down to the riverbank, which looked like hardened brown sugar with a crumbling edge. I saw Joe down there, wearing a pair of plaid shorts and a polo shirt, his wife and their new baby next to him. I recognized a couple of other people from the class we’d gone to in preparation for this. Their families were there too.
    And so was Supriya!
    “Hey, what are you doing here?” I gave her a big hug.
    “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” She leaned over and, even before being introduced, hugged Penny. “You must be the famous Penny. Savvy told me you were coming.”
    “She just didn’t tell me you would be here!” Penny responded, but I could tell she was pleased to have been mentioned at all.
    Supriya nudged me. “Have a look over there.”
    Coming down the hill from the parking lot was Tommy.

Chapter 32

    He was in his soccer—um, football uniform. “I didn’t know he was going to show up,” Penny said.
    “I didn’t know either,” I whispered. Then I spoke up, trying to appear unfazed. “Hey, Tommy!”
    He came over and gave me a friendly hug. It was the first time he’d ever done so, and even though guys and girls hugged each other all the time at school, this time I was very aware that my dad was only feet away, watching the whole thing.
    “Hey, Sav,” he said. “I hope it’s okay . . .”
    I grinned. “I’m so glad you could come. But your match?”
    “I’ll be a little late,” he said. “My grandfather is waiting in the car to take me to the game in a bit.” I’d forgotten that Tommy’s mom had broken her foot and couldn’t drive yet, and his dad often traveled for work.
    “Thank you,” I said softly.
    “Not at all,” he answered. And then it was time for me to head down to the riverbank.
    I wasn’t sure, but I guessed that the River Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, was a bit warmer than the River Thames. Oh, and by the way, it probably didn’t have eels. But I still thought it was cool to be baptized in a river, just like Jesus.
    Two people went ahead of me, and then it was my turn to face the group of people gathered. I shared how I had become a Christian when I was a little girl. And also how I kept forgetting whether I’d really asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life, so my