Lunch was ready as soon as we arrived back home at the Stevens’ resort. Someone had prepared a huge buffet of barbequed chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, rolls, watermelon, and chocolate cake.
Sunday was the first in line to fill his plate, and I was glad to see him eat as much as he wanted.
“Why is Diane not here?” Sunday asked my mom.
“I think she was tired from working so much and wanted an afternoon to rest,” Mom said. “She thanked me for the invitation and asked if she could take us up on it another time.”
“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t because she hated the cookies,” Rusty said.
“Aack! The cookies! I’ll be right back.” I had forgotten to take the leftover cookies out of the Jeep when we got home after church. I ran to get the keys from Dad.
But the Jeep wasn’t where Dad had parked it when we got home. Rats. I scanned the front of the Stevens’ property and finally spotted the Jeep over by the horse barns. It wasn’t too far, so I decided to jog over in my own pair of orange running shoes. Didn’t want Sunday having all the fun. As I got closer, I noticed a man in a cowboy hat talking to Eric. So, Eric was the Jeep and cookie snatcher!
I thought about running up behind him to flick his ear and give him a hard time about missing church, but it looked to me like the man in the hat was getting a little angry. I watched as he shoved his finger into Eric’s chest a couple of times, and then I slowed way down and ducked behind the side of the barn so they couldn’t see me. Eric pushed the man away, but the man charged back and slammed his fist down on the hood of the Jeep. Whoa — that would leave a dent. Eric made some gesture with his hands, kinda like a softball umpire does when you’re safe on base, and then the man stomped away, out of my view. I heard an engine rev up — a motorcycle or something — and then the sound faded in the distance. I peeked out from behind the barn and saw Eric get in the Jeep and start it up.
“Hey! My cookies!” I stood there and watched as Eric peeled out and left a cloud of dirt as he sped down the road that exited the Stevens’ property.