Josh tied Pal to a tree, patted his head, and said, “Stay, boy.” Pal sighed and flopped down. His big brown eyes watched Josh, Dink, and Ruth Rose enter the building. The fitness center was one enormous room. One end was filled with exercise equipment. A bank of windows looked out at Wren Drive. A shimmery pool took up the other end of the room. A lifeguard watched three swimmers doing laps. Other people were using the weights and machines. The clang of metal hitting metal fought with the rock music blaring from hidden speakers. Dink wrinkled his nose. He smelled a combination of sweat and chlorine. A green awning was stretched over a counter where juice and health foods were being sold. “I need a milkshake!” Josh said, shouting above the music. “I feel weak.” “They sell health shakes,” Ruth Rose informed him. “They make ’em from seaweed and tofu.” “What’s tofu?” Ruth Rose giggled. “It’s white and wiggly,” she said. “You’d hate it, Josh.” “There’s Flip,”
