She's Got a Way by Maggie McGinnis Page B

breath made Gabi laugh, but she didn’t ease their minds by arguing with him. She’d said yes for today, but he was making it sound like she’d okayed them as his work crew for the rest of the summer.
    For some reason, she was totally okay with that right now.
    â€œWhat kind of projects?” Sam’s pose matched Madison’s.
    â€œThe work kind of projects. Building, painting, cleaning—you know. Projects. We needed a work crew for the summer. Instead, Briarwood sent you. Maybe there was a mix-up and maybe there wasn’t, but that’s where we’re at. You’ve had almost a week of vacation here in paradise, but today we get serious. I’ve got a list of stuff to do, and you four have nothing to do. It’s a perfect match. You can be my work crew.”
    Five minutes later, the girls were seated at the picnic table outside the administration cottage, their arms crossed, their faces grim as Luke tacked down four copies of the list he’d made. He handed each of them a pencil.
    â€œAll right. This is the stuff that needs doing before the end of August, but I’m going to let you help figure out what order we do it in.”
    â€œGosh, thanks.” Madison rolled her eyes. “And how did we end up your slaves, anyway?”
    â€œI prefer work crew. And you don’t have to vote.” Luke shrugged. “But if you don’t vote, you don’t whine. Got it?”
    She narrowed her eyes, but she kept her mouth shut for once. He paused for a long moment, waiting her out, but finally decided she was going to stay quiet, so he continued.
    â€œI figure we’ll work out a reward system. We get the work done, we get to play.”
    â€œPlay?” Sam snorted. “We’re not five.”
    â€œJust an expression, Snarkasaurus. If we get the stuff done that needs doing, then we can take a break and do the fun stuff.”
    Eve sighed, her expression bored. “And what exactly is the fun stuff?”
    Luke smiled. “There’s a big lake, a big mountain, and a big forest. We’ll figure it out as we go. You’re in paradise, girls. The fun never ends.”
    Madison scanned the list, landing her finger on an item halfway down the page. “You can’t be serious. You think building a new bathroom is the tenth priority on this list? Behind repairing the dock?”
    Luke shrugged. “You disagree?”
    â€œAre you kidding ? A bathroom—with an actual toilet—is definitely top priority.”
    â€œEverybody else agree?” The other three girls nodded as Luke pointed to each of them in turn. “Gabi? How about you?”
    Gabi rolled her eyes, trying not to think of how many types of insects she’d seen in the outhouse over the past week. “A bathroom would be nice, yes.”
    But wait a minute. There was no way they could build an entire bathroom in a day. She narrowed her eyes. That had to be at least a week-long project. Had he snowed her into turning over her girls so he could have free labor?
    She tried to feel mad, but was sobered to realize that all she actually felt was relief.
    â€œAll right. Bathroom it is.” Luke gathered the lists and rolled them up, then stuck them in his back pocket. “I’ll give you girls fifteen minutes to go do—whatever girls your age need to do in the morning. Report back here at nine sharp. We’ve got a lot of lumber to haul.”
    The girls sat still for a long moment, like they couldn’t quite believe they’d been hired out—for free—as Luke’s personal work crew, but when Gabi didn’t intervene, they mumbled and muttered as they unfolded themselves from the picnic table and headed down the pathway toward the tent.
    Gabi studied Luke as he leaned over to scribble on another piece of paper. “Did you really think a bathroom was the tenth priority?”
    â€œNah.” He slid his pencil behind his ear as he turned to