You can miss him—it’s okay to miss him, Julianne told herself. She pulled her legs in close to her chest—careful not to disturb her camera—and looked out onto the empty ocean. After a few minutes of listening to the echo of the crashing waves, Julianne realized she was shivering slightly. She stood up, dusted the sand off the bottom of her jeans, and readied herself to head home.

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saw light coming from one of the stark, minimalist rooms of the Moores’ glass house. Julianne peered up the hill and saw Remi backlit against the August night.

Even from her perch frozen at the bottom of the dune, Julianne could tell that Remi was arguing with someone. A moment more of peering into the massive glass mansion revealed the designer-suit-clad silhouette of Remi’s father. Remi’s face was twisted into a determined grimace, and he was gesticulating wildly with what appeared to be a roll of paper. His father’s arms were crossed tightly over his double-breasted suit and tie. Julianne instantly remembered that Remi had told her his father only wore imported silk ties, and she rolled her eyes in spite of herself. Remi kept pointing to the paper tube in his hand, the very picture of an agitated, passionate fighter.

Julianne squinted. What the hell? Are they actually fighting over wallpaper samples? She didn’t want to stick around to find out. Clearly, despite his calls and text messages, Remi’s life was complicated enough without her. She shot a last departing look up the dunes at the feuding Moores before turning around. Then she walked back down the beach toward home, humming mourn-fully to herself the entire way.

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Chapter Twenty-four

!

The next day, Julianne and Chloe were sitting in the living room reading while their father worked in his studio. Dangling one leg over the side of an overstuffed armchair, Julianne asked Chloe, “So, wait, where does he go to school?”

Chloe popped a pale green grape into her mouth before answering. “Stanford.”

“And what’s his name again?” Julianne pressed.

“Aaron.” Chloe tossed another grape into the air and caught it in her mouth.

“And you met him on rotation at work?” After her own dating drama, Julianne found herself relishing Chloe’s postdate recap.

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junior.” Chloe’s cheeks were glowing a radiant pink. Her date two days ago had been such a success that Julianne thoroughly enjoyed hearing Chloe repeat all the details.

She loved the way her sister’s face glowed when she was this happy.

“And he took you out for Greek food?” Julianne continued.

“Yup. Definite points for that,” Chloe chirped. “I am getting sick to death of first dates with checkered table-cloths and drippy candles. So overplayed.” She giggled.

Julianne rolled her eyes playfully. “Okay, final question, but this one is the ultimate test: Did he ever, at any point in the evening, use the word ‘chicks’ or the delight-full phrase ‘smart for a girl’ in any context?” Chloe shut her eyes and let out a dramatic shudder at Julianne’s reference to her disastrous first/last date with Michael at the beginning of the summer. The sisters laughed wickedly at the memory. “No and no!” Chloe declared victoriously. “There was absolutely no chauvinistic ickiness whatsoever. He was a complete and total rock star.”

Julianne arched one eyebrow to let Chloe know that she was appropriately impressed. “Well, then, ladies and gents, I think we have a winner!”

“I hope so,” Chloe remarked. “Have you given any thought to art school applications yet?”

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thinking that the courtyard mural I did this summer might give me an edge. Not many people do outdoor art.”

“And don’t forget the pictures of our house! The sepia ones you took have ‘professional artist’ written all over them,” Chloe added excitedly.

“Well, I’ll clearly know who to call when I need a manager.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Chloe shot back glee-fully. “Do you want to hear my short-term educational plan for you, or the five-year business plan?” Just as Chloe was opening her mouth to share her (inevitably alphabetized and color-coded) strategies with her sister, the doorbell rang.

“Ooh, saved by the bell! You got lucky this time, Jules.” Chloe jumped up and ran to the door.

Julianne heard her sister scamper into the hallway and throw open the door without even pausing to look out the peephole. She heard the opening whoosh, but then nothing else. After a few seconds of total silence, Julianne ambled over to her sister and was struck dumb.

Standing on the stoop were Mr. and Mrs. Moore, dressed to the nines. At their side, Remi bounced slightly, like a runner getting ready to burst from the starting block.

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that his jaw had dropped at the sight of their visitors as well. She wondered for a second why the still-silent Moores looked as shocked to find themselves on the Kahns’ front steps as the Kahns were to see them there.

Hadn’t they had a few minutes to get used to the idea on theirwalk over? Julianne thought huffily. While we, on the other hand, were totally blindsided!

After an utterly awkward moment of Kahns staring at Moores and Moores staring at Kahns in complete and total silence, all attention shifted to Remi. While his parents sulked in the doorway, he rushed past Chloe, nearly knocking her down again , on his way into the Kahns’ living room. He was carrying a large poster tube in one hand. Julianne recognized it as the mystery roll of paper from the little show she’d witnessed through the Moores’ window the previous night. Now, standing this close to it, she was a little disappointed in herself for not recognizing blueprints when she saw them. Did these people actually think they could walk into her home with plans for remodeling?

“Remington! Come back here!” Mr. Moore snapped.

He turned to Chloe, mainly because she was directly in front of him and said, “I apologize for my son’s rash behavior.”

“It’s fine,” Chloe said slowly. “Your son is always wel-come here.” Her voice was icy. “We have no problem at all with him.”

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Remi’s words came rushing out, rapid fire. “Listen, Julianne, I know you said you never wanted to see me again, but please hear me out. Mr. Kahn, Chloe, I know we’re the last people in the world you want in your living room but I promise you, this will only take five minutes of your time. Mom and Dad—I’m your son. We share DNA. You’re stuck with me. So just try to pretend that you wouldn’t rather be having a root canal.” He took a deep breath as everyone gathered around him with varying degrees of caution. He popped open the lid of the poster tube and started to unroll large sheets of paper onto the Kahns’ living room table.

Standing across the room, Julianne felt her hands shaking. She glanced on either side of her—at her father and Chloe—and knew that she wasn’t alone in her anxiety. She cleared her throat, struggling to make words emerge from the dry, scared place between her heart and her mouth. “Um, what . . . what are you doing here?”

“I have an idea!” Remi burst out. Then he looked up from his pile of papers and blushed in Julianne’s general direction. Julianne assumed Remi had noticed his father’s stony-faced grimace, because he now spoke in his best “project manager” voice. “I’m here to make a . . .” He faltered. “I’m here to make an official business presentation. I think you may be, uh, very interested in the schematic I’ve worked up for this afternoon.” Julianne feared her heart was threatening to pound 226