Page 99 of Slumming It

"You don't need to convinceme," I said. "I'm not a PhD."

"Yeah, but you don't need to be. Everyone knowsyou'resuccessful."

No shit."But I wasn't always."

"Yeah, right," Emily laughed. "Your story's all over the internet."

I'd seen some of those stories. "And you believe everything you read?"

"Well…" She appeared to give it some thought. "It can'tallbe lies."

Now that was hilarious. "You'd be surprised. But back to your sister – so what happened?"

"Well, here's where it gets a little crazy. But before I tell you, you've got to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"That you won't get all judgy."

I laughed. "Okay, now I'm really interested."

"Yeah, but you still need to promise."

I held up a hand. "Scout's honor."

Her eyes narrowed. "Were you ever a scout?"

"No."

Her mouth quirked in a smile. "Well, I guess that's as good as I'm gonna get, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"Okay, but at the very least, you have to promise not to tell anyone. And just so we're clear, this includes Jason if you ever meet him, becausehedoesn't know the full story either."

"Deal." The promise came easy, considering I wasn't the yapping type. And even if I were, my odds of meeting Jason were low at best.

"Alright, but remember you promised." She paused as if collecting her thoughts. "So, anyway, Vivian calls me from the under bed, hoping that I'll have some idea what to do."

"And did you?"

A faint blush appeared on Emily's cheeks. "Sort of."

I smiled. "Alright, spill it."

"Well…what shereallyneeded was a distraction, right?"

Oh, yeah. This was getting good."So, what'd you do?"

"I drove up there, and um…" She cleared her throat before finishing in a rush, "Lit some fireworks in their garbage can."

I grinned. "You didn't."

"I did." She lifted her right hand. "Scout's honor."

"Wereyouever a scout?"

"No. But if it worked for you..."