Page 29 (1/2)

"Sure, but that’s different"

Her son, the sexist, she thought, faintly annoyed Apparently there needed to be more conversations about equality and tolerance Perhaps Ethan should be the one doing the explaining Then he could be more than the fun parent

While she appreciated that Ethan and Tyler got along so well, she knew they were a long way fro and new He’d yet to have to make any hard decisions, to stand up to Tyler or punish him

"How is it different?" she asked

"Guys don’t care about how they look and girls don’t care about coames Melissa takes forever in the bathrooirls like Melissa than there are like Abby"

"You know this how? Did you take a survey?"

He frowned "You’rewaffles "Because you’restatements about people thata lot It’s easy to say a group of people always acts a certain way, but it’s not accurate"

"But why does it matter?"

"Because people are a lot est problems we have in this world are because of e assume about each other People ender or race, without getting to know anyone in that group Or they have a very lis and other people hear them and start to believe them Pretty soon we have a cultural bias that affects all kinds of decisions"

Tyler stared at her blankly

Liz shook her head "Let me try it another way When Melissa and Abby move to San Francisco with us, Abby will be in your school, right?"

He nodded

"She’s from a small town Let’s say a few students and teachers think that people from small towns are stupid So they find out about Abby transferring and they tell everyone at the school that Abby is stupid Is that right or fair?"

Tyler’s eyes widened "Abby’s not stupid She’s really smart and nice and fun She’s my friend"

"I understand that, but so what? You said it didn’tabout someone that wasn’t true"

He was quiet for a few seconds "They’ll hurt Abby’s feelings and I’ll get et into trouble And all et in trouble"

"That’s a big mess," Liz said as she used a fork to pop the waffle onto a plate "All because souess it does matter e say, huh?"

"Yeah And a little word can have a big iirls don’t care about coirls don’t care about cooals, I rong Sooals"

"Exactly" She passed hirinned at her "You’re really smart"

"Thank you"

"You’re probably the shed "That’s very possibly true"

LIZ HAD LIVED THROUGH CABINETS being torn out, carpet being ripped up, drywall installation and insistent banging of hardwood floors being laid But the noise that finally drove her out of the house was the high-pitched scream of a tile saw

She took her laptop and a blanket to the far end of the yard and stretched out in the shade of a tree The sound was still intense, but not so distracting

She glanced up at the house Even froes What had once been poured foundation and a few atte had become a real room attached to the house The ht think about leahtness and the carpet was plush The house had co way since she’d first arrived in town It was practically new

But no es occurred, she couldn’t seem to shake the sense of doom and defeat when she walked inside Maybe theWhatever the cause, this house would never be her ho, she would move out as soon as possible

She returned her attention to her coraes she’d finished the previous day

It only took a few lanced at her plotting notes, then began to type The serial killer in this book targeted teenaged boys The scene took place at a high school basketball gaine what it would sound like and feel like to be in that gyainst the tree The scene was nearly finished, her back ached frorown ’s work

The back door of her house opened and Ethan stepped onto the patio He had a bottle of water in each hand

God, he looked good, she thought as she took in the faded jeans, the long legs and narrow hips He race--a man couessed

"They defeated ht you were indestructible" He offered her a bottle, then settled across frolanced at the house "They’re doing great work Thank you for that"

"You’re welcoood tea?"

"Good I’inning is always a night what they do That sort of thing"

"You lared at him "Don’tin fear"

They smiled at each other and she felt a quiver low in her belly

"Are you going to keep killing edall innocent

"What didn’t you do? You’re raising mental when it co about?"

"Girls don’t have goals? Since when? I know he got that froroaned "I didn’tabout how iure out what you want and just go for it"

"And?"

He shrugged "Iinterested in anything but fashion and talking on the phone"

"If I didn’t need my laptop, I’d throw it at you"