Free Lucy’s “Perfect” Summer by Nancy Rue Page A

him this time. She just took the book and held it reverently.
    “What’s our topic?” Dad said.
    “Soccer,” Lucy whispered.
    “Why did I even have to ask?”
    Dad was smiling, but his grin faded as he took a few bites from his plate. Lucy looked at Mr. Auggy. He was looking suddenly serious about his supper too.
    “Okay,” Lucy said. “What’s the catch?”
    “What makes you think there’s a catch?” Coach Auggy said.
    “My champ is perceptive,” Dad said.
    Lucy didn’t know what that was, but her stomach did a nervous flutter thing. She should have known it was too good to be true.
    “There’s something else we want to talk to you about, Luce,” Dad said. “You know I went to the Town Council meeting last night — and we discussed the soccer field.”
    Lucy put the book down and got up on one knee. “They’re going to fix it, aren’t they?”
    “That’s one idea.”
    “That’s the only idea!”
    Dad looked as though the chili rellenos had gone sour.
    “Some of the business owners in town have been approached again by the big corporation that wants to buy the field.” Mr. Auggy’s said. His small smile was now far away.
    “The people that want to put a stupid mini-mart there?” Lucy said.
    “They’ve talked to Felix Pasco and Mr. Benitez and Claudia and Gloria, saying they — the corporation — will put money into the the café and the grocery store and the flower shop and the beauty salon in exchange for their votes on the council to sell the field.”
    Lucy got on both knees. “But they can’t do that, can they?”
    Both Dad and Mr. Auggy nodded sadly.
    “We just want you to know that some of them are considering changing their votes,” Dad said.
    “What?” Lucy cried. “I thought they were proud of the team!”
    “It isn’t that they’re not, but times are hard, Luce. People have to keep their businesses going or they can’t pay their bills.”
    It looked to Lucy as if her Dad had a sudden pain. Mr. Auggy was trying to smile, but Lucy didn’t believe it was for real.
    “Nothing has been decided yet,” Mr. Auggy said. “But we thought you should know what’s going on.”
    “It’s something we have to pray about,” Dad said. “Things are changing, and we need to be ready.”
    Nobody said anything for a minute, although Lucy’s silence was louder than anyone’s. She didn’t want ‘change’, and she had no intention of getting ready for it.
    Mr. Auggy finally cleared his throat. “Meanwhile, you and Marmalade — did I get it right that time?” He managed to get a grin going. “You two can dive into that soccer book. For the time being, you do have a field to play on at camp. How’s that going for you?”
    “Fine,” Lucy lied. She stood up and scooped Marmalade and the soccer book into her arms. “Could I be excused, Dad?”
    “You okay, champ?” he said.
    “Yes,” she said.
    As she escaped to her room, she thought that she was sure doing a lot of lying right now.
    Once she was there, she didn’t feel much like reading to Marmalade, but she did hold him on her lap as she slipped the Book of Lists out from under her pillow and wrote.
Dear God:
What Am I Supposed To Do About All This Stuff?
1. How am I supposed to keep Felix and Mr. Benitez and all those people from selling our soccer field?
2. How am I gonna stand being on the Select Team with Rianna in my face all the time? And Coach Neely not doing anything about it? And nobody else on the team even talking to me?
3. How can I convince J.J. that it doesn’t matter if they make fun of me? I want to be with MY team!!!!!!!!
    Marmalade didn’t even seem to notice the exclamation points. Not like Lollipop who was flicking a jealous tail up on the windowsill.
4. What if Marmalade doesn’t help me learn to read better? What if I don’t do it right?
5. How do I get that sad look off of Dad’s face? Because it’s way too worried for just me “improving my reading skills” or even us losing our