Page 10 of A Whim and a Prayer

“Front. That way I won’t feel like a third wheel with you two.” She bumped his shoulder with her own as he opened Winnie’s door. “Scoot over, Cuz. Unless you prefer I sit by Handsome?” She pumped her brows, making Beck laugh and shake his head while he closed the door.

As always, he was pointedly aware of Winnie’s body next to his after Abby got in, issuing a silent groan when she picked up the conversation where they’d left off while he started the car.

Like a dog with a bone …

“Abby, Beck says I’m spontaneous, but he makes it sound like a bad thing. What do you think?”

“Mmm … well, no question spontaneity can be a very good thing—”

Winnie elbowed Beck. “See?”

“For someone stuck in a rut,” Abby continued, “helping to break them out of the same ol’, same ol’, you know? But as a way of life?” She grimaced as she peered at Winnie out of the corner of her eye. “For someone like you, Win, who tends to fly by the seat of her pants on a whim and a prayer and no planning?” She shrugged, an apology evident in the chew of her lip. “It could be a bad thing.”

Beck elbowed her back. “See?”

Winnie feigned frustration like she often did with a stiff fold of arms and mouth twitching in a near smile. “Oh, I swear you two are in league with each other, as thick as thieves! Okay, I’ll give you that whims can be misleading and possibly dangerous, but that’s an entirely different animal from spontaneity, which demonstrates enthusiasm, productivity, and a can-do attitude. And for your information, I do not engage in emotional impulse or whims.”

Beck cleared his throat. “Uh, jumping the Hassert Ravine in sixth grade and breaking your leg?”

Winnie’s head swiveled Beck’s way, brows in a pinch. “Come on, Beck, what could I do? Lance Theissen dared me.”

“Stomping on Richard Meyer’s foot and breaking his toe in seventh grade?” Abby reminded.

Her head whirled back. “He tried to trip me, Abs—we both know that!” A touch of temper tainted her voice.

Beckett flipped his blinker on to make a turn. “It was probably an accident, Pooh, pure and simple, because everybody knows Richard wouldn’t hurt a fly.” He glanced her way with a teasing smile. “Besides, he had a crush on you.”

Abby chuckled. “That’s probably why she did it. We both know our girl doesn’t like boys who fall for her. She likes to fall for them.”

Yeah, tell me about it. Beck’s smile dimmed as he slowed for a stop sign.

“And let’s not forget the bubbles in the school fountain debacle,” Abby said with a firm hike of her brow.

“Oh, come on, Abs—it was a senior prank, for heaven’s sake!”

“Yeah, but you were the only senior who put red food dye in and then had the audacity—”

“Uh, uh, uh …” Winnie wagged a finger. “Spontaneity, if you please.”

“—to pose in front for a picture with pink hair, no less!”

Winnie bit her lip. “How was I to know Milton Wilson was going to send the picture to the school newspaper? And that food coloring would be so hard to wash out? Mama grounded me for a solid month after that.”

“Which just proves our point, Win.” Abby hooked an arm around her cousin’s shoulder to give her a quick hug. “Sometimes you need to think things all the way through before you jump the gun on a whim.”

“And pray before you jump,” Beck added as he turned onto the street for Cathedral High School.

Winnie expelled a heavy sigh of surrender, which Beck hoped was an indication that she was finally willing to listen to her two best friends, but he didn’t hold out much hope. “Okay, I know you guys are right—but whims can be good too, can’t they? Like the time I beat up that bully who made little Cindy Sloan cry, the new neighbor two streets over, remember?”

Beck shook his head with a ghost of a smile. “Who turned out to be her older brother that her mother sent to bring her home for dinner.”

“Well, he was a bully, nonetheless, making her cry like he did,” Winnie said with a tight cross of arms, and Beck was pretty sure she never really understood why Mrs. Sloan had called her mother to complain. “Yanking his little sister’s arm like that to drag her home is just plain awful, and I wanted to make sure he didn’t do it again.”

Abby gave her a slow nod. “Yes, your heart is often in the right place, Win, but sometimes you just rush ahead and act without getting all the facts or thinking things through. Like the time you gave old Mrs. Haggerty those flowers when she was sick?”

“Because she was nice to me, Abs,” Winnie stressed, the whites of her eyes circling in emphasis. “For heaven’s sake, she was always giving me cookies when I fetched her mail and paper, putting them on her kitchen table. So I just wanted to surprise her is all.”

“Which is a nice thought,” Abby said with a nod of agreement, but not when you cut them from Mrs. Lawson’s prized garden.”