She nodded. “Yes. There’s a bathroom down the hall, the first door on your right.”

“Thanks.”

When he returned moments later he saw she had filled both plates with food, which consisted of red beans and rice, pork chops, Cajun cabbage and jalapeño corn bread. She had also poured iced tea into their glasses. She looked over at him when he entered the kitchen.

“I think my helping you study should get me more than just thanks,” he said.

She glared at him and he could imagine what she was thinking. “Something like what?”

“Friendship. Don’t you think I’m entitled to that at least?”

She sat down, and when he didn’t join her, she looked over at him and said, “I need to think about that friendship piece, Kaegan.”

Considering that a huge win, he decided not to press his luck anymore. Sitting down at the table, he glanced over at her and said, “Fine. You do that.” It was all he could do to keep a smile off his face.

* * *

“NAME AT LEAST three types of real-estate scams, Bryce.”

Bryce scrunched up her forehead. “I should know this. I just read about it yesterday, Kaegan,” she said, then ran frustrated fingers through her hair.

“Hey, just relax your mind while I give you a hint,” he said, stretching out on her living-room floor.

“Okay.” Bryce didn’t mind that he’d made himself comfortable for the past hour. At the moment all she cared about was that, thanks to his good studying techniques, she was actually retaining most of the stuff.

“What were the first names of the three girls in our eighth-grade class who were bona fide bullies?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, that’s easy. Rita, Monique and Faye.”

“Right. If you remember that then you will ace that question.”

She frowned again. “How?”

“I asked you to name at least three types of real-estate scams. If you can, remember Rita for rental, Monique for mortgage and Faye for foreclosure. Those are the three types of scams. Rental, mortgage and foreclosure. There are others, but if you remember at least three, you’re good.”

Bryce grinned, shaking her head. He’d been giving her word-association tactics for most of the answers to questions she would get stumped on. So far it was working. “Who would have guessed those three bullies would be helping me years later to ace an exam.”

“From what I understand, they’ve changed. I ran into Rita when I was stationed in Mississippi. She’s living in Biloxi and is a principal of a high school.”

“A principal of a high school? After all the trouble she gave our principal, Mr. Harding? You got to be kidding.”

Kaegan laughed. “No, I’m not. I asked if she kept up with Monique and Faye and she said that she did. Monique is a dentist, married, the mother of three and living in Texas. Faye is a divorced mother of two and lives in Oklahoma. She owns a chain of smoothie shops in that state.”