Page 44 of Life and Death

“I don’t remember which one she was.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t catch many names, either. I only remember yours because you used to pull my hair.”

“I did? I’m so sorry!”

She laughed. “Your face. No—that was just my brothers. But I totally could have convinced you that you were guilty.”

It was easy to laugh with her. “Guess so. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“What did that girl—Sam—what did she mean about the doctor’s family?”

Jules made a face and then looked away, toward the ocean. She didn’t say anything.

Which had to mean that I was right. There was something more to what Sam had said. And Jules knew what it was.

She was still looking at the ocean.

“Hey, um, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything.”

Jules turned back with another smile, kind of apologetic. “No worries. It’s just . . . I’m not really supposed to talk about that.”

“Is it a secret?”

She pursed her curved lips. “Sort of.”

I held my hands up. “Forget I asked.”

“Already blew it, though, didn’t I?”

“I wouldn’t sayyoudid—that girl Sam was a little . . . intense.”

She laughed. “Cool. Sam’s fault, then.”

I laughed, too. “Not really, though. I’m totally confused.”

She looked up at me, smiling like we already shared a secret of our own. “Can I trust you?”

“Of course.”

“You won’t go running to spill to your blond friend?”

“Logan? Oh yeah, I can’t keep anything from that guy. We’re like brothers.”

She liked that. When she laughed, it made me feel like I was funnier than I really was.

Her husky voice dropped a little lower. “Do you like scary stories, Beau?”

For one second, I could hear Edythe’s voice clearly in my head.Do you think I could be scary?

“How scary are we talking here?”

“You’ll never sleep again,” she promised.

“Well, now I have to hear it.”

She chuckled and looked down, a smile playing around the edges of her lips. I could tell she would try to make this good.