Only two parents out of the eight stayed to lend a hand—ridiculous. It was the weekend, and they couldn’t all be working. It broke my heart completely.
Standing on the corner with a glittery, puffy paint sign Riley had made held high in the air, we waved at cars as they rocketed by us.
As morale dipped, I forced myself to stay positive for the students. It was hard though. Not one car had stopped in a little over an hour. If we could get at least one car to participate, it would be a domino effect.
Blake ambled over to me, whispering, “Should we call it?”
Just as I was about to concede defeat, three familiar vehicles drove up to the tent.
Like white knights, Rhett, Trace, and Waylon exited their cars.
“Looks like we came at the perfect time,” Waylon hollered as I rushed to my friends’ sides.
“What are y’all doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be helping the girls get ready for the shower?” I asked as the kids started to sloppily get to work on Rhett’s truck.
“We just dropped them off at Annabelle’s and they told us what you were doing. Figured the extra business might be helpful,” Trace explained with a kind smile.
“You guys don’t know what perfect timing you have. We haven’t had a single customer all morning,” I admitted under my breath as they all took money out of their wallets, shoving way too much of a donation into my hands.
“It’s the least we can do to help support our favorite teacher.” Rhett winked at me.
“Gentlemen, thank you for coming.” Blake shook their hands quickly.
“Anything for Miss Waters.” Waylon chuckled, putting his hand on my shoulder.
The three guys ambled over to the kids, helping them get to the hard-to-reach sections of the cars.
“You have some impressive friends,” Blake remarked.
“You have no idea. I didn’t even ask them to come, and here they are.”
I whisked Riley into the air, putting her on my shoulders so she could use the soft bristle brush on the roof of Trace’s restored Camaro.
We laughed and played around with the soapy water while the kids seemed to really get into the spirit of things. The two moms who had stayed were the only ones being Debbie Downers, sitting under the tent with their legs crossed, lost in gossip. I couldn’t believe how apathetic they were about the entire situation, but I wasn’t going to let that spoil the fun.
Like clockwork, right as the kids were about to finish toweling off Waylon’s truck, the skies opened up. As the heavy, unexpected rain cascaded down on us, we rushed for the tent.
Rhett, Waylon, and Trace all erupted into laughter as they gaped at their freshly polished vehicles getting pummeled.
“Murphy’s law.” Trace snickered as he pushed back his soaked hair.
“Do y’all want your money back?” I asked quickly, pulling the wad of bills out of my back pocket.
Waylon pushed my hand away. “Don’t you even dare. These kids are fantastic. Tommy told me all about the tournament they qualified for. They deserve to go.”
“Thanks, guys,” I muttered as they said their goodbyes to me and the kids.
“Now I really think it’s time to pack it in,” Blake stated, looking up at the dark clouds rolling in.
The two moms finally got off their lazy asses, helping the children dry off.
“I’ll start making the calls to have the kids picked up.”
As I dialed each of the six parents, I watched Blake wrap the children in plush towels he had stashed in his truck. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
It didn’t take long for the children to be rescued from the foul weather. As I started to help Blake dump out buckets and retrieve all the gear that was scattered around, he turned to me and asked, “Don’t you have a party to get to?”
Standing in the rain with soap running down my legs, I shrugged. “They’ve waited this long for me. I might as well do my part to pitch in on cleanup.”