Juliet's Law by Ruth Wind Read Free Book Online

way,” Desi said. “How could you?”
    â€œGood.” She peered upward—up, up, up—to therugged red cliffs edged with stark white, and above them, the piercing blue of the sky. “I would hate to become immune. Every winter, I’d dream about being here. We never did come to ski, though, did we?”
    â€œWe begged enough, but I think our illustrious parents—” her voice was thick with irony “—thought it too plebian. If one were to ski in Colorado, it had to be Aspen, or at the very least, Vail.”
    â€œIs the camp still open?” All three sisters, Desi, Juliet and their youngest sister, Miranda, had come to camp in Mariposa every summer for years while their parents, afforded long vacations by their positions as college professors, stayed with friends in Crete, or hosted their set in Zurich, or ambled around whatever destination was approved for intellectuals that year.
    â€œI think so. I see kids pouring into town on the bus every June.”
    â€œPoor things.”
    Desi laughed. “I loved coming to camp.”
    â€œI liked a lot of things about it, but I didn’t like the bugs or the wild animals. I was scared all the time.”
    â€œYou were?” Desi said in surprise. “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me?”
    â€œBecause you were always so brave about everything. Nothing scared you.”
    â€œI was always an outdoor kind of girl, though. You weren’t.”
    â€œTrue.” She admired the vividness of the sky. “What I really hated was being away from home all summer. It was really lonely.”
    â€œYou poor baby!” Desi smiled. “You know me,though—I loved getting away from…” She paused. “Oh, let’s not be coy. I loved getting away from our parents. I couldn’t wait. Camp seemed a thousand times more real and reliable than anything at home.”
    â€œI got used to it eventually.” Juliet thought of those summers, her own wish to lean on reliable things, like the same room, the same stuff, the same friends, and Desi’s adventurous heart, which had led to her travels abroad, and Claude. “What happened to Claude?” she mused aloud. “He always seemed like such a good guy.”
    Desi said carefully, “Do you think so?”
    â€œYeah. Don’t you?”
    â€œYeah. I’ve just been wondering lately if I was blind or foolish or something.” She gave Juliet a little shrug. “I’m glad you liked him, too.”
    Juliet reached over and touched Desi’s shoulder. “You’ve always been wise and kind, Desi. Something changed Claude and his character didn’t keep up.”
    â€œThanks.”
    As they came down off the mountain and around a bend, they emerged suddenly from the trees and there was the narrow, long town of Mariposa. Five blocks wide, a mile and a half long. The sun had just climbed over the peaks to the east and now spilled into the valley, sparking on the snow-covered roofs. Juliet looked at her watch. Almost 8:30. “I bet it’s dark on winter mornings.”
    â€œVery. The sun doesn’t come up until nine.” She swung onto the main street. Once it had been called simply Main Street, but it had been changed to Black Diamond Boulevard when the ski runs were built in the late seventies.
    The tone of the town was half glitzy ski resort, halfmountain rustic. Stone bungalows built at the turn of the century populated the old part of town, along with buildings that dated back to gold rush days. At the ends of town, built to the very edge of the National Forest lands, were blocks of modern condos and faux Alpine shops housing restaurants and art galleries and shops selling sports gear and yoga clothing. Above it all rose the ski slopes.
    â€œUh-oh,” Desi said. “There’s Claude. Damn.”
    Juliet saw him ambling down the street in a black fleece vest and jeans and