Beach Blanket Bijou (Pajaro Bay) Read Free

finally meets his match."
    Quinn picked up the dog and held her up to his face. "What's going on in that tiny brain, Bijou?"
    Bijou smiled enigmatically at him.
    "I swear she knows something she's not telling us."
    He set her down and then rubbed her back. She rolled over for a belly rub.
    Carmen sighed. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea. You don't have to stay if you don't want to. We can scrap the segment."
    "Are you kidding? I love a challenge." Then he looked up at Carmen with an expression she couldn't decipher.
    "What?" she said.
    "I don't mind a challenge, Lefty." He brushed his hand along her arm, and it sent a shiver through her.
    She looked down, embarrassed. "What are you trying to tell me?" But she was afraid she knew.
    "Marry me," Quinn said.
    "How can you say those horrible words after the month I've had?"
    But he looked completely serious. "What better time? You've wasted enough time on the wrong guy—we've both wasted enough time. You know I've loved you since the third grade."
    "When I ran over Kyle's foot after he made you drop your ice cream cone," Carmen whispered.
    "We both know how we feel."
    Carmen shook her head. "But I don't. I just don't."
    "You don't love me?"
    "I know you care about me. But I don't know what I feel, can't you understand?"
    Now it was his turn to shake his head. "I don't understand. I'm sorry. What I feel for you is so clear to me. Do you think I'm lying? Have your father offer me a million dollars so I can turn it down."
    She backed her chair out of his reach. "It's not that simple."
    He looked up at her. "Yeah, Carmen. It is. It's that simple. You either love somebody or you don't. I love you. I want to know if you love me."
    "I just don't know how to trust you," she said, feeling helpless to explain the confusion inside her.
    "You just make the leap." He stood up. "You're the bravest person I know—you can do it." He clenched his fists and then turned away. He walked over to the windows that overlooked the glistening lights of Pajaro Bay.
    She watched him standing there, his back to her, his whole body showing the frustration he felt. How could she explain? It just wasn't that easy. How did other people decide who to open up to? She didn't understand how someone could just let go and fall in love. "I'm afraid to fall," she said softly.
    He turned to her, a tall figure so familiar yet so distant. "I'll catch you," he said.
    She just shook her head at him, and he turned back to look out the window.
     
    •••

    "Bijou's gone."
    Quinn turned around to face her. "What do you mean, gone?"
    Carmen spread her hands out to take in the whole room. "Gone. Ella se fue . Took off."
    He went over to her. "Did you see where she went?"
    "I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking."
    He waited for her to say more about that, but she just turned her chair and headed out of the room. "Let's find her."
    Soon they spotted her little figure tromping resolutely across the lawn toward the Eucalyptus grove.
    "She's heading to the lab," Quinn whispered.
    They followed, and sure enough she made a beeline for the lab door, where she stood and barked in her piercing little voice for a minute.
    Then the door opened and she went inside.
    "That's weird," Carmen muttered. "Dad's asleep."
    At the lab door they waited for a minute. The lights were on inside, and there was no sound of Bijou barking, so Quinn opened the door and they went in.
    Bijou was gorging herself on what appeared to be a whole box of dog biscuits tossed all over the floor. She busily marched from one biscuit to the next, devouring them one by one.
    Ben was furiously typing on the computer. The desk was cleared off, the dinosaurs and robot parts in a heap on the floor. Now only a small cardboard box sat on the edge of the desk, next to the aquarium.
    "How could you?" Carmen shouted. She wheeled over to Ben. "You jerk! We've been working so hard and you lied to me!"
    At her first words Ben had jumped up. Now he stared at her in shock.
    "What