Lucky Breaks Read Online Free PDF Page B

there.”
    When the minivan stuffed with geologists and Paloma arrived that afternoon, Lucky was still working hard on a plan for the next weekend. It would be one of the last with balmy, warm nights, and Brigitte had talked about a little celebration for Lucky’s birthday.
    Through her porthole window, Lucky watched everyone climb out of the minivan. Pete and Uncle Rocky set up a laptop at one of the Café tables and hunched over it, talking excitedly and peering together at the screen. The seismologist, sedimentologist, and mineralogist stood around stretching and drinking from their water bottles.
    Carrying a tray outside, Lucky scrunched up one side of her mouth as a way of showing Paloma that she didn’t have an actual plan yet but was working on it. Paloma nodded at the brownies as an answer that at least everyone would be in a good brownie-eating mood. They could tell what each other was thinking, as if their brains had a wireless connection.
    “Check out these rock layers—beautiful data from right up on the hill,” Pete said to Brigitte, showing her the photograph on his laptop screen. “We’re going to look further next weekend, on our own time, just for fun, if Rocky can get away. We figure if we leave L.A. on Friday afternoon, we’ll have two good days to poke around and, most important, two Hard Pan Café meals.” Lucky and Paloma stared at each other with wideeyes and flopped into chairs. Lucky eyebrowed Paloma as code for This is going smoothly without our even having made a plan yet!
    Brigitte peered at the screen. “These layers of rocks are making me think of a croque-monsieur ,” she said, meaning a sandwich with layers of ham and cheese. “Maybe I will make them for lunch next Saturday or Sunday.”
    Pete’s eyes opened wide and his eyebrows jumped up. “Then I’ll be coming for sure, even if Rocky can’t,” he said. Lucky’s anxiety glands contracted. What if Paloma’s uncle Rocky couldn’t get away?
    “If they come, can Paloma come too and sleep over?” Lucky asked, aiming her question at Brigitte but hoping Paloma’s uncle would understand she was also asking him. “She’s already famous in Hard Pan—there’s an old legend about a beautiful woman named Paloma, and a piece of jewelry in the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center that Paloma has to come back and see because it was a gift to her namesake.” Lucky had told Paloma the legend with all its gory details, but she didn’t go into those now. She didn’t want to alarm Uncle Rocky or have him talk about murder to Paloma’s parents.
    “Please?” Paloma added. “It would be really educational and cultural, going to the museum.”
    Rocky shrugged and smiled at his niece. “It’s okay with me if your folks don’t mind. But your mother is a little concerned about supervision.” To Brigitte, Uncle Rocky explained, “Paloma’s mom thinks it’s the Wild West out here and got worked up about snakes and scorpions and sunstroke and who knows what-all.Dehydration. Paloma getting lost in the desert. Hantavirus. Wild burros. You name it.” He shook his head to show that he didn’t agree that all those bad things would happen. “She still thinks of me as her little kid brother who doesn’t take things seriously. I had to promise not to let Paloma out of my sight—don’t know if my sister will agree to a sleepover.”
    “Well, it is not really so wild in Hard Pan,” said Brigitte. Lucky had noticed that Brigitte’s back always got a little bit straighter when people said anything critical about Hard Pan. “Lucky and I are very happy to have Paloma as our guest. I call her mother to make the invitation if you give me her telephone number. I will explain that there was only that one time that I find the snake in the clothes dryer.”
    All the geologists laughed, but Lucky did not find this funny. “Brigitte, please leave out the part about the snake,” she said. To Rocky she added, “It was only a red