Montana. Chuck’s truck was registered in the state of Montana. Which meant we were in Montana, right? The first and only adult to round the corner was Flip. That made no sense since he was the one with the ankle cast.
“I figured it out,” I said, pointing to the registration. “We’re in Montana.”
Flip laughed, took a big bite of his ice cream, and took a long time swallowing it. “Looks like you win the crocheted bathtub.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughed again. “Oh, it’s something my granddad used to say at times like this.”
“Times like what?”
“Times when I thought I’d outsmarted him, but I really didn’t. You know, like winning a crocheted bathtub. It’s not really a good prize, after all, since it won’t hold water and —
Flip cleared his throat and sat down on the pavement. “Oh. Okay. Well, whatever. Anyway, we were going to tell you we’re in Montana, Riley. Not sure why you had to get all weird about it.”
“Weird? You think I’m getting weird? What about you? Until this week, I didn’t even know who you really were.”
Flip took another bite of his ice cream and took a long time to swallow again.
I sat down next to him. “By the way, I miss Flip.”
“Miss him? I’m right here.”
“Nah, you’re some guy named Dan.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Flip made me laugh. Dan makes me nervous.”
“So forget about him. You’re calling me Flip anyway. It really is my nickname.” He handed me a dripping spoonful of chunky stuff. “Want some?”
“What’s in there? Doesn’t look like Snickers or Oreos.”
“This is the Flip Special. Vanilla ice cream with smashed-up French fries. Loads of caramel sauce.”
I don’t know why, but I took a bite. Now I knew why it took Flip a long time to swallow it. I was trying not to heave.
“Eww, what was that spicy thing?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. I had them throw in a couple of jalapeños.”
“Yeah, well your ice cream is melting back in the car.” Flip stood up and offered me a hand. “Anything else I can do to make your stay in Montana more pleasant?”
“I miss my friends and my mom. And my brother, sort of. Can you fly them out here?”
Flip shook his head. “Jet’s broke.”
“But you have a backup, right?”
Flip nodded. “We’ll have to see about that. But in the meantime, I can introduce you to some new friends. There are some nice kids about your age who live at our secret cabin . . . uh, resort . . . place.”
“Kids? Really? That sounds interesting.”
“They are interesting.”