Forbidden Boy by Abbott, Hailey (moboreader .txt) 📗

he’s such a bad guy after all,” Julianne blurted out. “I think it’s all just kind of … messy.”

“Oh, Jules.” Chloe sighed like a deflating beach ball.

“Of course he’s a bad guy. Look what they’re doing next door.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Julianne continued. “We had this talk at work today, and he was showing definite, concrete signs of having a soul. I think he may just be going along with his family because they’re his family.

Plus, his family seems kind of rough. His dad showed up at the site last week, and you wouldn’t believe the things he was saying to Remi! He was awful. I have no doubt that his dad is a destroyer of all that is good, but I just don’t think Remi’s the same way. He said these things, Chloe, about making something meaningful and bigger than him that just felt really … true.”

“Yeah, but philosophical differences and parental pressures aside here, Jules, he’s still going along.

Whether he’s heart-and-soul on board or not, his loyalty is still with his family. What’s your deal, Jules? I mean, I know you guys, like, had a moment at the Malibu party, but that was ages ago! Besides, what prompted this heart-to-heart anyway? It sounds totally manipulative, if you ask me. If I were you, I’d watch your back. He absolutely, positively can’t be trusted.”

“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 Julianne’s mouth, she realized how silly she’d been acting, sneaking around, spying on Remi.

Julianne just didn’t know how to explain her mixed feelings to Chloe.

“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!” Julianne’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she felt a cold sweat break out along her collarbone.

“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!” Julianne gasped again, the intake of breath sharper this time. “They didn’t threaten Dad or anything, did they?”

“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.”

“Oh God.” Julianne breathed out a long, slow whistle. She closed her eyes. “Still, I really don’t think Remi’s like that, though.”

“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,” Julianne pressed, standing up and pacing across the room toward Chloe’s massive oak bookshelves. She trailed her fingers across the rows of alphabetized spines, comforting herself with their familiar texture.

“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,” Julianne agreed, flopping onto the mattress and sinking back into the cushy nest of pillows on Chloe’s bed. “You’re one hundred percent right.” Julianne knew she should actually feel as confident in her sister’s assessment of the situation as she was pretending to. Chloe had an annoying little habit of always being right about everything. Still, Julianne couldn’t get over the nagging feeling that there was 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. Julianne walked into her own room and clicked the door shut behind her.

Chapter Thirteen

Julianne excitedly pushed her small cart over the bright purple carpeting lining the aisles of Palisades Design. Other than the beach, there was no place she’d rather be on a beautiful day than stocking up on art supplies—especially with no supervision and a company credit card. That morning, Bill had called her aside and told her that the owners of the eco-house had asked for another new design concept. Apparently, they wanted a local artist to hand paint ivy in the courtyard. Julianne was still beaming that Bill had suggested her.

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 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!” Julianne said, tossing the stain into her cart for further consideration and dashing down the aisle to greet her friend. Even though Lucy’s back was turned as she made her way up the scrapbooking aisle, Julianne instantly recognized her by her red hair, freckled arms, compact frame, and regulation Mean Bean work T-shirt.

Julianne hadn’t seen her in ages. During the school year, they ran into each other all the time. Lucy worked at the Mean Bean, Julianne’s favorite Palisades coffee shop, and occasionally contributed a comic strip to the Cliffview, the school arts magazine that Jules co-edited.

Since Julianne’s failed attempt to track Lucy down at the Malibu beach party where she’d met Remi, though, they hadn’t seen each other once this summer.

“Oh my God, Jules! Long time no see!” Lucy squealed, running over to hug