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After straightening out his towel, Bo crossed his legs in front of him and leaned back, supporting himself with his hands. “Made a few snide comments.”
She craned her neck to be able to see his face since it was turned away from her. “Like...”
“Wemust’ve gotten pretty close during the storm,” he muttered. “Stuff like that.”
“How did you respond?”
“Didn’t. I think that’s why he gave up and left. He couldn’t goad me into a fight.”
Ismay began to draw in the sand beside her towel. “You don’t think he’s figured out that Jack’s staying with you...”
“No. I’m sure he would’ve made a big deal about that.”
“So what do you think he’ll tell his parents?”
“What can he tell them?” Bo countered. “That your brother is visiting the island and helping me while he’s here? I don’t see how they can get mad about that, especially because I’m handling the reconstruction instead of waiting for a contractor. Not only does that save them money, it means their property will be put to rights that much sooner.”
Bringing in her knees, she folded her arms on them and rested her chin on top. “I mentioned Lyssa Helberg to him.”
Bo wasn’t wearing sunglasses, so she could easily see the concern in his eyes when he looked over. “And? What’d he say?”
“Basically, he confirmed that he and Remy were at the party when she died.”
“How’d you bring it up?”
Checking to make sure she had time to explain before her brother returned, she saw Jack at the small table near the food truck adding ketchup and mustard to the hot dogs. “He assumed Remy mentioned her, and I let him. It made him mad that Remy would talk about it. It was obviously a touchy subject.”
“That’s interesting. You don’t think he’ll tell Remy about your conversation, do you?”
“I’m almost certain he will. But Remy and I have been together long enough that it’s believable hedidmention Lyssa and simply forgot—maybe one night when he was drunk.”
“So Bastian and Lyssa were friends, or were they something more?”
“I got the impression he liked her as more than a friend. Not sure if she felt the same. He told me Remy never cared about her, and she didn’t want anything to do with him. But knowing the two of them...”
“You can’t imagine anyone not preferring Remy.”
“There’s that. But I also detected some...jealousy or something.”
“You think they both wanted the same girl?”
“Maybe.”
“Remy’s never mentioned the party, the fire, or Lyssa?”
“Not that I can remember.”
Jack was approaching with the food. She gave a subtle signal with her head to let Bo know they were out of time and changed the subject. “So how long will it take to mend the fence around the garden?”
“Day and a half,” Bo replied. “We’ll get the posts in tomorrow, then let the cement harden before adding the slats. Won’t be too difficult.”
“What are we going to do after that?” Jack asked, handing Bo his hot dog.
“At that point, you’re going to have to start acting a little more like a tourist,” Bo joked.
Jack sat down beside Bo as he took his first bite and spoke around it. “I thought I’d get bored sitting on a beach all summer. But—” he finished chewing and swallowed “—there’s something cathartic about being on this island, isn’t there.”
It was a statement, not a question. “I think this place is just what you need,” Ismay said. “Maybe you’ll finally have the chance to decide what you want to do instead of letting the current of life continue to just...carry you along.”
