Текст книги "Forbidden Boy"
Автор книги: Hailey Abbott
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before turning and calling back, “Hey, you should bring this mystery guy out with us sometime. Or, you know, at least bring yourself. Call me! ” Julianne decided to stop at home before heading back to the site, just to pick up her camera and her favorite paintbrushes. She preferred working with brushes that she already liked the feel of, plus she wanted her camera to document her progress on the mural for her portfolio. Julianne burst through the door of her house like a husband in a ’50s sitcom.
“Oh, honey, I’m hoooome!” She could hear Chloe and her father murmuring in another room, but neither of them called back to her. “Hey!” she called out again.
“I’m home!” Again, there was no response. Julianne wandered into the dining room and found Chloe and her dad sitting at opposite ends of their oval dining table, both looking like they’d just been through a natural disaster.
Chloe’s cheeks were tearstained, and Dad’s eyes looked pale and empty. They were both staring in the general direction of a pile of papers that had been tossed into the center of the table. Julianne hadn’t seen either of them look this lost since the doctors had told them that Mom’s cancer was malignant. Her throat started to close up at the memory. She walked around the table and placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, careful not to muss the lace of her sister’s puff-sleeve shirt. “Hey,” she murmured. “What’s going on?” Chloe just shook her head.
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Finally, their father spoke. “Court papers, Jules.” Julianne felt all the blood drain from her body and she slumped against the arm of Chloe’s chair. “The Moores’
lawyer served us with papers today. They’re suing us over our property rights.”
“They can’t do that!” Julianne burst out. “I’m sure they can’t. They haven’t even been here two months.
Mom bought this house thirty years ago. The mortgage is paid off. They can’t do that. There’s no way.”
“Jules, I’m not sure we can do anything,” Chloe whispered. Julianne felt her heart plummet from her chest.
They couldn’t possibly have to leave the house where their parents were married, and where Julianne and Chloe were born. The house where their mom had died.
“No. Absolutely not,” Julianne said, rising to her feet.
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This couldn’t be happening. “No, they can’t do this. This is ridiculous!”
“Girls, I am so sorry,” their father whispered. “I don’t know if there’s a case here or not, but, either way, we don’t have the money to fight it. I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.” Dad buried his head in his hands. Slowly, Chloe pushed her chair back from the table and went over to wrap her arms around her father.
“Daddy, it’ll be okay,” she whispered. “It’ll all be okay.”
Julianne felt like someone had poured gasoline down 139
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her throat and dropped in a match. Her entire body was twitching, burning. She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t just stand there and watch her family hurting.
She raced out of the house—not even bothering to shut the door behind her—and ran down to the beach. The wind off the ocean was cold and sharp, and the sand felt unstable under her feet. She ran all the way down the beach, her feet rolling under her with every step, until she reached the edge of the water. She thought, vaguely, that the Moores would probably try to have her arrested if they found her down here. Silently, she dared them to try it. Just go ahead, she thought. Julianne stood there until what was left of the day had slipped by and night had begun to roll down onto the beach. She stared out at the ocean, a mass of darkening ripples against the rising moonlight. The reflection of the moon was tossed off the waves, like someone had drizzled the water with liquid gold.
She sat down at the edge of the ocean as the night sky deepened, her feet tucked under her and her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Almost imperceptibly, she began to whisper. She couldn’t even hear the words forming. She felt ridiculous, but Julianne needed her mother right now, and the beach had always been their special place.
“Mom, please. I don’t know what to do. I can’t let them take us away from you. I don’t know what to do.” 140
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Fat tears started to slip down Julianne’s face and she knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t stop calling out to her mother. “Mom, I don’t know how to make it better. I don’t know how to keep us together without you here to show me. What do I do?” Julianne put her head in her hands and just sat there, listening to the tide pumping in and out like a heartbeat. She wasn’t expecting to hear from her mother, but breathing in and out in time to the pulse of the tides, she knew she wasn’t alone.
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Chapter Fourteen
!
Julianne snapped awake when the weight of a hand touched her shoulder. She looked up to find the tousled brown hair and concerned face of Remi Moore. Silently, Remi sat down next to Julianne.
Keeping her gaze on the ocean, she told him flatly, “I don’t want to see you right now.”
“So don’t look at me. But you shouldn’t be alone.
It’s almost midnight. You’ve obviously been crying.
You’re a total wreck. Someone should be here with you.” Concern poured out of every syllable Remi spoke.
“I came looking for you as soon as I heard about the papers.”
“I don’t need you trying to take care of me right now.” Julianne’s tone remained completely flat. She was 142
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shocked to hear her own voice sound so dull. “You’ve done enough already,” she finished.
“Julianne, I . . . I don’t even know what to say.” Remi’s voice was tinged with regret.
All of a sudden, Julianne’s voice came coursing back into her body. She turned to him. “I don’t want to hear how bad you feel, how sorry you are. I don’t want to hear any of it. I am just so tired of this. I’m done. I can’t walk around with all of this negativity and worry all of the time—it’s going to consume me. I can’t care anymore. I just can’t.”
The sand looked blue-gray, spilling out under the night sky. Julianne stared absently out at the ocean.
“I hate this.” Remi’s voice sounded like it was choking in his throat. “I . . . I hate this.”
“What?” Julianne finally turned her head toward him and stared at his profile.
“I hate this. I hate everything about this situation,” Remi repeated. He was tracing tiny circles in the sand.
“There is nothing about this that feels okay to me right now. I mean, I love my dad. I know how important these plans are to him. He’s a great architect and I hope I can be as successful as he is some day. But I don’t want it to happen like this. It’s not right. I hate looking out the window of my bedroom and seeing the landscape being chipped away every day. I hate that I can already see that, and I haven’t even lived here three months. I hate what 143
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it’s doing to you and your family. I hate that every time I see my parents, I think about what they’re doing to you. I know it’s not enough, and I know it probably doesn’t matter, but Julianne, I am so, so sorry.” They sat there for a while, staring alternately at the ocean and the sand. Julianne didn’t know what to say, but somehow, hearing Remi apologize made everything feel a little bit better. She knew it wasn’t his fault—he was just as powerless as she was. Nonetheless, hearing him say the words meant something. It felt like there was possibility buried in there somewhere, like she had been right when she defended him to Chloe. She turned and looked at him, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Julianne, I . . .” This time Remi was the one to stop himself. Starting again, haltingly, he looked down at the sand. “I wanted to give you something that wouldn’t change. That you could have forever and no one could take away.” She looked up at him, not understanding.
“That’s why—” He cleared his throat and tried again.
“That’s why I talked to the owners about commissioning you for the mural. I wanted you to have something perfect, and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than your art.” He reached out and brushed a tear off of Julianne’s cheek with the side of his hand. Julianne’s eyes widened and the slightest hint of a smile flashed across her face. He rested his hand on the nape of her neck, buried under her hair, and pulled her close to him 144
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for a kiss. It was slower and sadder than their other beach kisses had been, but Julianne still felt the same electricity crackling between them.
“Remi, I . . .” Julianne put her hand on his chest, pushing him back. “Thank you. That’s the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. It’s amazing. But . . .” Her voice faltered and threatened to break. “Remi, I can’t. I can’t be with you. Not with the house and with work. I can’t do this to Chloe and my dad. I can’t lie to them. I mean, I won’t. Why does it have to be so complicated?”
Before Julianne could finish her sentence, Remi leaned over and kissed her again. For just a second, his warm lips on hers made the entire world dissolve into nothing more than the lapping of the ocean. And this time, Julianne didn’t push him away.
“Julianne, you have no idea how special you are,” Remi said, gazing at her adoringly as she settled into his arms. “You’re smart; you’re funny. You’re more talented than you think you are. I’ve never met someone who just . . .”
“You get me.” They finished the thought together.
“I know. You understand me like no one ever has before . . .” Julianne trailed off.
“It’s like we’re meant to be together,” Remi offered, his shining eyes fixing her gaze. Julianne leaned in and kissed him again.
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Lucy’s advice in the art store came rushing back to Julianne . If you’re meant for each other, all the pieces will come together somehow. And Julianne knew it was true. She was meant for Remi, and he was meant for her. Really, truly, and absolutely.
“Remi,” Jules said with renewed determination.
“Everything that’s going on with the building and the beach—it sucks, but it’s not about us. It may be our families, but it’s not us.” She looked over at him and knew he understood. She leaned her head against his strong shoulder, shut her eyes, and listened to the ocean’s heartbeat mixing with his.
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Chapter Fifteen
!
Julianne popped her head around the corner, checking to see if the coast was clear. Turning her head so quickly that she was whipped in the face by her own curls, she decided she was good to go and shimmied up the ladder. Halfway up, she heard a low wolf whistle from below and looked down.
Beau and Randy, two of the guys she worked with, were standing at the base of the ladder, smirking.
“Now, where would you be going in such a hurry, Jules?” Randy teased as Beau sang, “Jules and Remi, sitting in a tree . . .” under his breath.
“Very mature, you guys.” Julianne grinned. “So glad to have such evolved, professional role models to look up to around here.”
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Ever since Mitch had spotted Remi kissing Jules outside the trailer a few days earlier, the news that they were a couple had spread like wildfire. Now it seemed like their relationship suddenly included two dozen construction workers. The “little sister” dynamic Julianne shared with them was now extending to Remi, who couldn’t walk by a member of the crew without a friendly punch to the shoulder or tousle of his hair.
Julianne had never heard someone called “champ” or
“pal” by so many people in such a short span of time.
“Eh, we do what we can.” Randy winked at her playfully before lowering his voice conspiratorially, “Just so you know, Bill’s not in until after lunch today. Just sayin’.”
Beau shook his head at Randy and then turned to Jules. “We should get back to, um, building something.
But you have a great morning, kiddo. If you happen to run into our favorite project manager, do give him our best.” He tipped an imaginary hat at Julianne, then strode off with Randy, chuckling.
Julianne laughed as they walked away, then took one last look around and scooted back up the ladder. She pushed the flat wood panel that separated the crawl space from the rest of the house aside and pulled her body up through the trap-door slat, into the makeshift attic. The wood and plaster for the walls had been filled in over the past few weeks, and Jules was glad to use the 148
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space to its full advantage. After a moment of panic, where Julianne’s legs seemed to want to stay downstairs, acting completely independent of the rest of her body, she half-tumbled into the space. Wiping away sawdust, she turned to Remi and smiled. “Good morning.” Remi was sitting in the crawl space on an old tarp with boxes of Pop-Tarts on either side of him. “Good morning.” He yawned, before reaching for the red ther-mos of coffee just beyond his right hand.
“Ooh, Pop-Tarts!” Julianne laughed, looking over at the boxes. “I just love a man who can cook.” Remi half-blushed as he ripped open a silver foil pack of Frosted Strawberry. “You’re just lucky it’s not some sort of special occasion. I don’t think you could handle my cinnamon toast.”
Julianne imagined Remi in a chef ’s hat and a checkered apron and had to suppress a giggle. “I think you’re right. I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I may need to work up to it.”
Their laughter was interrupted by the sound of work boots clomping underneath them. They both froze, holding their breath out of habit. The footsteps lingered, and Julianne was afraid she would pass out from holding her breath so long, but she was more afraid of making any noise by breathing out. Next to her, Remi had frozen in mid-reach, twisted up like some sort of human pretzel.
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“Don’t fall!” Julianne whispered under her breath as the footsteps started to fade away.
Remi, already shaking a little from the effort of squeezing himself into hiding mode, did exactly that.
He stayed sprawled out on his back, silently shaking with laughter for the next couple minutes. Julianne crawled over and placed herself gingerly next to him, careful not to make any noise that could draw unwanted attention to the attic, just in case the guys were wrong about Bill.
She knew that the crew had their backs, but she also didn’t want to test that theory. She rolled over in almost mimelike slow motion to look at Remi. “Next time,” she breathed, “I think we should just go out for bagels.”
! ! !
For the second time in one summer, work was turning into Ocean’s 14. Jules and Remi spent all day waiting for stolen moments to see each other. Julianne used her well-honed spy skills to scout out any opportunity to catch Remi alone—even for five minutes. Remi requested lots of “consultations” with Julianne to discuss her progress on painting the ivy in the courtyard. Every time Julianne walked into the trailer, the guys hooted and hollered. Most of the time, though, despite the support of the crew, they avoided even looking at each other.
Julianne and Remi were both afraid that if they made eye 150
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contact, they wouldn’t be able to stop staring, and they’d never get any work done ever again. In the trailer, they tried to keep things as professional as possible, but even the accidental touch of their hands caused them to forget all the official business they were supposed to be plotting out.
Between their warring families, and the constant procession of lawyers, co-workers, and even Bill, it seemed like every bit of their time was spent trying to deal with what other people’s reactions to their relationship might be. Neither Jules nor Remi was sure what, exactly, would happen if their respective families found out that they were together, but they were both sure that it would turn their summer romance into a Shakespearean tragedy.
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Chapter Sixteen
!
Julianne tiptoed toward the front door. Even though it was early evening and still light out, she felt like she was making an escape under cover of darkness.
She already had one hand outstretched toward the waiting doorknob when she heard a quiet sound—almost a purring—over her right shoulder. She wheeled around to find Chloe there, clearing her throat softly.
“And where are you going, young lady?” Chloe’s voice was light, teasing, but Julianne could tell the question wasn’t entirely a joke.
“Oh, just down to the beach. Meeting up with Lucy and some of the guys from the site. We might wind up at Lucy’s later, or maybe the Fishtaill. . .” Julianne trailed off, trying to make the details of her plans sound 152
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especially mundane. She didn’t want to lie to Chloe any more than was totally necessary.
“Some guys from the site, or a particularly special guy from the site?” Chloe teased, clicking her tongue against her teeth.
Julianne’s heart raced. “Like who?” she asked, trying to be nonchalant.
“Like who? Like anyone! You work with two dozen hot guys, it’s almost impossible to narrow the field.” Chloe giggled.
“Sorry, Chloe. Not a date. Just hanging out.” Julianne felt bad for the half-truths, but, really, it wasn’t a date.
She couldn’t wait until she and Remi were actually able to go on dates like other couples. But all this sneaking around was decidedly not dinner and a movie.
“Darn. Okay, well have fun.” Chloe shrugged before adding, “I was over at the Fishtail the other night and the band was really good.” She headed for the steps, and Julianne completed her beeline for the door.
Julianne walked down the beach, flip-flops in hand, her stomach doing a few funny little jumps every now and then. She couldn’t tell if she was just having excitement butterflies because she was going to see Remi—just the thought of spending time with him was enough to make her totally giddy—or if they were little pangs of guilt from lying to Chloe. After a few minutes, though, they went away entirely and so did the question. After 153
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walking for what felt like forever, she saw the familiar shape of Remi’s tousled hair and broad shoulders.
Julianne broke into a sprint and dashed toward him.
Plopping herself down on the sand, she laughed and mock-gasped for breath.
“I feel like I’ve been walking for six hours. How did you find this place? I’ve lived here all my life and barely knew it existed.” She linked one arm through Remi’s and leaned in close. When they had decided they should try to meet farther away from their respective houses, Remi had, in true project manager style, undertaken a massive site search. As a result, they were now sitting on an out-of-the-way stretch of beach silhouetted by craggy sloping cliffs. The sunset coming down around the cliffs and breaking through the bowing palm trees was amazing.
Julianne sighed happily. It was totally worth the nearly forty-five minutes she had walked to get here.
Remi squeezed her hand. “I know. It’s pretty random, isn’t it? But it’s so beautiful. The cliffs are amazing.”
“The cliffs aren’t the only thing that’s amazing,” Julianne said softly, squeezing his hand in return.
“Yeah, you are pretty great, aren’t you?” Remi responded seriously, but there was a laugh in his voice.
“I wasn’t talking about me, and you know it!” Julianne laughed back, before being pulled into a giant bear hug. Between the towering cliffs and Remi’s strong arms, she had rarely felt so safe and so warm.
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Julianne was pretty sure that this stolen time was worth all the sneaking around. More than once, Remi had driven over to Palisades Design and waited in the back by the oill paints so he and Julianne could see each other while she picked up supplies to finish her mother’s painting. Those few minutes alone, not hiding from anyone or anything, completely justified all the times they felt like sketchy stalkers hiding in the bushes outside of a celebrity’s house.
At work, both Julianne and Remi tried to keep a low profile. Partially because the teasing could get embarrassing, but mainly because they didn’t want the guys to have to lie to Bill—no matter how many times the crew offered to keep an eye out on their behalf. Julianne spent a lot of time in the courtyard working on the mural, or laying down tiles or solar panels. Remi tried to keep himself constantly busy elsewhere, doing daily check-ins with Bill and seeing if any of the guys had overflow projects they needed help with. Remi also had a special project of his own that he was planning for the house, and he spent his lunch breaks holed up in the trailer with a pencil and graph paper, planning it out.
Julianne did have to admit, though, now that she was scared of getting caught, she was a million times more productive at work. She had never been more focused in her life.
But now they sat staring at the ocean. The sunset had 155
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melted into evening, but the water was still shining just as beautifully as ever. Every so often, the quiet on the beach was punctuated by a burst of laughter or a happy sigh and Julianne felt like she could stay here forever.
Then her moment of bliss was interrupted by the sharp beep of her cell phone ringing. She dug into the pocket of her shorts, pulled out the phone, and looked at the display. It was Lucy.
“Hello?”
“Jules? Where are you? You were supposed to meet us an hour ago!” Lucy didn’t sound annoyed, just a little worried.
“Oh, damn! Luce, I totally lost track of time. I am so sorry!” Julianne jumped up from the ground and brushed a dusting of sand off of her legs.
“Don’t worry about it. I figured you were probably painting and spaced out for a while. You’re still coming out, though, right?” Lucy asked.
“Totally. Of course! I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell the guys I’m sorry!” Julianne felt awful. She had been so excited about sneaking off with Remi before meeting her friends that she had forgotten about the actual meeting her friends part.
“No worries, Jules. We’ll see you soon,” Lucy chirped.
Julianne clicked her phone shut and looked over at Remi, who was shaking his head knowingly. “I knew we forgot something.” He laughed. “I’m supposed to meet 156
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some of the guys from the site in fifteen minutes for night soccer.”
Julianne shook her head as she shook off her flip-flops. “Remington Moore, why do you have to be so distracting?” she teased.
Remi chuckled. “I could say the same for you, lady.
Hey, do you need a ride to meet your friends? I’m parked over at a shopping center down the road.”
“That would be great. Only . . .” Julianne blushed.
“Only what?” Remi asked, his eyes crinkling.
“Only, could you maybe drop me off a few blocks away and I’ll walk the rest of the way myself?” Julianne looked down, a little embarrassed that Remi had made such a sweet offer and she wasn’t able to entirely take him up on it.
“No problem. I used to make my parents do that when they would drop me off at school when I was a kid.” Remi laughed his warm laugh, and Julianne’s whole body relaxed. She could listen to him laugh forever. He slipped his hand around hers and led her to the car.
Hours later, Julianne was walking down the beach near her house on the way back from hanging out with Lucy, Mitch, and Hunter. The night had been a blast—
Frisbee on the beach, checking out a band at the Fishtail—and her late entrance hadn’t put the smallest crimp in the fun. Despite her awesome mood, she 157
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couldn’t help but stop and stare as she passed Remi’s house. She knew he wasn’t home—his soccer game hadn’t started until after she met up with her friends, and those guys could play all night—but it didn’t look like anyone else was home either. Julianne thought it was odd. For a massive glass compound, there were very rarely people visible in the windows. She wondered if anyone was ever home over there, other than Remi, or if Mr. and Mrs. Moore were holed up someplace else while the house was being enlarged. The thought made Julianne instantly annoyed. As much as she didn’t blame Remi, she still couldn’t forgive his parents for what they were doing with their gigantic McMansion. And to think that they were going through all of this trouble—with the lawyers and the papers and the near daily pressure of offers and threats levied at the Kahns to sell their land—
and they weren’t even living there? It was a worse thought than she could stand. Shrugging the tension out of her shoulders and allowing the good mood her night out had put her into return, Julianne turned her eyes away from the Moores’ house and walked the rest of the way home in the warm summer air.
She slipped quietly through the back door, making as little noise as possible. She wasn’t being sneaky this time; she just didn’t want to wake anyone. As she crept to the landing on her way up to her room, she noticed that a ribbon of light was escaping from under Chloe’s 158
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door. She climbed the stairs and paused for a moment outside of her sister’s room. If Chloe were asleep after all, she would pop her head in and turn out the light for her. As Julianne stood there, she could hear Chloe’s teary, panicked voice on the phone. Julianne shook her head sadly—she knew exactly what Chloe was crying to her friends about—but she turned away and headed into her bedroom anyway. There was nothing she could do to help her sister tonight, and she needed to rest for work in the morning.
As far as Julianne was concerned, work was both the best and the worst part of this summer. On one hand, anything that kept her away from the tension at home was a good thing. Between the constant harassment from the Moores’ lawyers, her dad walking around the house like a zombie, and Chloe’s constant careening among normal Chloe, desperate crying Chloe, and Chloe-who-was-determined-to-fix-everything-and-comfort-everybody, Julianne felt like she was living in some bizarre, alternative universe. The only thing that felt constant was Remi, but with his comfort came the need to act like neither knew the other one existed ninety-eight percent of the time. On the other hand, a huge portion of the time that Remi and Jules needed to avoid each other was at work. So every weekday they had the opportunity to see each other was also a day in which they had to pretend they couldn’t care less that 159
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the other one was around—or risk getting busted by Bill or ribbed by the guys from the crew at an inopportune moment.
! ! !
The following morning she was out in the courtyard sitting up on top of a ladder, working on her ivy mural. She felt like some sort of queen holding court—every few minutes, someone would pop their head into the courtyard, stand at the bottom of the ladder, and compliment her on how well everything was coming together, how professional it looked, or how much the owners were going to love it. Perched on top of her ladder in her paint-stained cutoffs, a black-paint-splattered T-shirt, and her new pink retro Pumas, with her oversize sunglasses obscuring half her face, Julianne felt (at least for that moment) like she was doing everything she could have hoped to do with her summer. With every brushstroke, she counted one thing that was going even better than she could have hoped. Stroke—she had an awesome job. Stroke—where she got to spend all day outside. Stroke—working with her hands. Stroke—on something really cool. Stroke—and, sometimes, even painting. Stroke—for money. Stroke—
only a few feet away from one of the most amazing guys she’d ever met.
As if on cue, Remi popped his head out into the 160
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courtyard. His sneak attacks had lost their effect now that he and Julianne knew each other well enough to anticipate the other’s next move.
“Hey!” he called up the ladder. “How’s the painting going?”
“Why don’t you come up here and tell me?” Julianne called back down. Remi shimmied up the ladder two rungs at a time, until his face was almost level with Julianne’s. “So, what do you think?” she asked, tilting her head down toward him.
“Brilliant,” Remi assured her, his dark eyes darting from wall to wall, surveying Julianne’s work. Julianne could tell from the way his eyes brightened as he looked around the courtyard that he liked what he saw.
“Wherever can I find the gentleman who discovered such sparkling local talent? Clearly he’s a genius with discriminating taste.” He looked up at Jules and grinned.
She had never met anyone who grinned like that. It made her feel dizzy and warm.
Julianne arched her eyebrows and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s going to be pretty hard to track him down. I heard he used to be a project manager around here, but they had to let him go because he was always slacking off and hanging around with his girlfriend.”
“Poor guy,” Remi said quietly, looking down the ladder.
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worth, I heard that the girlfriend was totally hot, if that makes you feel any better.”
“You know, oddly enough, it does. Actually, I heard that, too.” Remi ran his fingers over Julianne’s cheekbone. “She was gorgeous. And insanely talented.” Julianne laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sure this guy must have had something going for him, to get together with her.”
“Not much. Mainly, he was charming.” Remi laughed. Then he reached up, rested his hand on the back of Julianne’s head, and kissed her. As soon as their lips touched, Julianne heard a noise in the doorway.
Remi quickly hopped up another rung on the ladder and leaned over Jules’s shoulder, pretending to admire the detail work on a section of the painting.
Julianne peered down around Remi to see who’d come into the courtyard. Bill Cullen was standing at the bottom of the ladder, looking bemused. “What are you guys up to?” he asked.
“Bill, have you seen the detail work on Julianne’s painting here?” Remi asked thoughtfully. “It’s . . . very impressive. The client is going to be really thrilled.” He climbed down a few rungs of the ladder before turning his eyes back to Julianne. “Keep up the great work,” he said as neutrally as possible. He hopped off the ladder and turned back to Bill again. “It’s really . . . just great.” Bill raised one graying eyebrow. “Jules is great. That’s 162
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not news to me,” he said matter-of-factly. Then he turned and headed out of the courtyard, calling over his shoulder, “Lunch break’s at one-thirty today. If you want pizza, it’s three bucks.”
