Front Country by Sara St. Antoine

Author:Sara St. Antoine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC

* * *

“We need to talk about trust,” Brooklyn said at dinnertime. The playfulness of pine cone baseball was gone, replaced by a reminder that we were at TrackFinders and we needed to get back with the clipboard.

“We were trusting you to follow through with those tasks we assigned you. Did anyone do anything?” she asked in a semisevere tone.

“We washed our clothes,” Maddox said with one of his trademark winks.

“Yeah, like, inhabited,” Elijah giggled.

I smiled. It was the most fun I’d had in a long time.

Brooklyn flashed us a warning look and continued with her lecture. “Trust is a powerful currency,” she said, sounding weirdly like a Wall Street executive. “You do the right thing, it builds trust—just like building up coins in a piggy bank, like building credit. And if you earn enough credit, you can cash in on it.”

“Cash in on it how?” Maddox wanted to know.

“Well, at home if you build up trust with your parents, they might let you stay out a little later. They might not jump to the worst conclusion the next time you miss a meal or a homework assignment,” she explained.

“And around here, we might start relaxing some of our rules,” Kai added.

“Which ones?” Elijah asked, looking eager.

“Which one are you closest to breaking?” Kai joked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t mean …” He scratched his head, looking nervous.

“Nah, it’s cool, Elijah. This is probably a good time to tell you. Brooklyn and I were talking, and we both agreed that you and Ginny have built up some nice trust sharing your stories during your campfire sessions. Anyone else feeling ready to share?”

Vidal rubbed away a scuff mark on his sneaker and Greyson stared at the campfire, as closed up as he’d been on our first night of camp.

“I’ll go,” Maddox said, casually tossing something into the firepit. “More than happy to pop the lid off that can of worms. Dash, feel free to back me up here any time, all right, bro?”

Dash nodded and made one of his nervous sniffs.

“So, our parents are insane. Certifiably,” Maddox began. “Dad makes so much money he doesn’t know how to spend it all. All he can think about is how he could lose it. Or someone could cheat him out of a whole precious dime. Dude’s totally paranoid.”

Brooklyn cleared her throat. “What do you think, Dash?”

Dash nodded. “Insane and paranoid.”

“Our mom’s a stress puppy,” Maddox went on. “She has some job, but her main job is self-care.”

“‘Some job’?” I repeated. I mean, I got that their parents were annoying, but they could at least name their mom’s work.

Dash shrugged.

“What’s self-care?” Vidal asked, like it was a phrase he’d never heard before.

“Making herself look and feel good,” Maddox said. “Getting massages and manicures.”

“She likes anything lavender,” Dash put in. “Also podcasts. And white wine.”

“Okay,” Kai said. “Talk about yourselves now, guys. What’s your relationship with your parents like?”

“What relationship?” Maddox asked with a crooked smile. When Kai looked confused, he added, “Twin boys and self-care? Not a good combo.

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