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“Watch my back? What do you think he’s going to do, impale me with a solar panel? Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic?” As soon as the words were out of Julia

Julia

“I’m not being melodramatic. I’m just being cautious,” Chloe explained, choosing her words very precisely. “Did Dad tell you that Remi’s parents were over here the other day while you were out painting?”

“No!” Julia

“What did they want?”

“This is what I’m trying to tell you!” Chloe exclaimed, as though she were talking to a confused child. “We really can’t trust these people. They offered to buy our house and the land from Dad. They were really, really pushy about it. Calling it an ‘offer’ is pretty gener-ous.”

“No way!” Julia

“Nope, but they did basically everything but,” Chloe said in a conspiratorial whisper. “It was more of a strong-arm than an offer. I mean, obviously Dad didn’t cave, but they were really all over him.” 130

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“Oh God.” Julia

“I wouldn’t let my guard down if I were you,” Chloe insisted. “These are the people who raised him. Just keep that in the back of your mind, okay?”

“I just don’t understand why everything has to be so us-versus-them all the time,” Julia

“Because that’s what it is, Jules. This is definitively an us-versus-them situation. They want to do something completely self-serving that will really hurt us. We want to stop them. That’s sort of what ‘us versus them’ means.

There’s no way to be neutral here. You can’t compromise—you can’t be on both teams!” Chloe’s face was darkening.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Julia

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much more to Remi Moore than his family. She cocked her head toward her sister before getting up and walking out of the room. It didn’t matter what she said about Remi; Chloe’s mind was made up, and there would be no convincing her. Julia

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Chapter Thirteen

!

Julia

As Jules cruised through the aisles of Palisades Design, she was beside herself. What could be better than an entire store devoted to art supplies? She tossed 133

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a few different colors of green paint for the ivy walls into her cart, and was checking out a terra cotta stain when she noticed a familiar ponytail bouncing across the aisle in front of her.

“Lucy! Hey!” Julia

Julia

Since Julia

“Oh my God, Jules! Long time no see!” Lucy squealed, ru

Ohmygod, how’s Kat? Has she run with the bulls yet?” Lucy looked great. Her summer tan brought out the sparkle in her green eyes, and she had paired her black work T-shirt (which Julia

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and skulls. Lucy took a step back to appraise Julia

“You look awesome, babe.”

“Thanks! You too.” Julia

“Oh, it’s been great.” Lucy gri

“I know! I’ve missed you guys, too. The summer has just been really . . . intense so far,” Julia

“Well, good intense or bad intense?” Lucy queried, leaning against a shelf full of glitter letters as she awaited Julia

“I mean, mainly good,” Julia

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doing a huge mural for the courtyard, starting today,” she explained, gesturing toward her cart of art supplies.

“I get to hang outside, paint, and ”—she paused for dramatic effect, the way Chloe did whenever she referred to Julia

“Sweet!” Lucy giggled. “The Bean could use a serious infusion of testosterone. We’re, like, seventy-five percent female this summer. It’s crazy. I mean, everyone’s great, but it isn’t exactly a breeding ground for love.” Lucy rolled her green eyes playfully. “Speaking of love . . .

spill, Kahn. Tell me everything.”

“Sorry to disappoint, Luce, but there really isn’t much to tell.” Julia

“Fibber!” Lucy practically shrieked. “We don’t see you all summer and there’s no guy involved? There’s no way.”

“Fine.” Julia

“That’s more like it. Details, please,” Lucy prodded.

“Okay, so I met this guy, and he seemed really great,” Jules started.

“At work?” Lucy asked.

“Well, sort of. I mean, I didn’t meet him at work, but it turns out he’s at work.” Julia