“How are you going to get down?” asked Martine.

“I should have figured that out before I climbed out here,” Julie said.

“Can you move backward?” André asked.

She attempted to scoot back on the branch, but it was too awkward. Turning around seemed a little sketchy. She looked down at the perfectly clear turquoise water far below, glittering in the hot summer sun. Then she let out a sigh. She still wore shorts and a tank top over her swimsuit. Everything was about to get totally wet.

“Only one way I can think of,” she said. Then she slung one leg over the branch and pushed off. The long, exhilarating drop was amazing. In those few moments, she felt as if she were flying. In those few moments, she could almost see her dad.

She plunged into the water feetfirst, letting the coolness engulf her, loving the deep silence of the sea. Hi, Dad, she thought, watching the sunlit blur of bubbles. I’m glad you’re part of this adventure.

With a slow scissor of her legs, she drifted upward, arching her back to look at the liquid silver surface above. Her dad had been fearless; at least that was what she remembered about him. She liked to imagine he would applaud her for being so adventurous this summer, making new friends and getting so good at French that she even spoke it in her dreams. I think you’d be proud of me.

She was about to break the surface when someone grabbed her arm. “Hey,” she said, twisting away from the phantom grip.

“Hey, yourself,” said Finn, treading water nearby. “Didn’t mean to startle you. I saw you go in, and I wanted to make sure you’re all right.”

“I’m fine.” She paddled to the rocky edge of the inlet. “What are you doing here?”

“I came with your mom and Anouk’s family.”

“Mom’s here?” Oh shit, Julie thought. She’d told her mother they were going to a museum in Aix today. Mom would freak if she saw her jumping off cliffs and out of trees.

“She’s over there, on the beach,” Finn said, clearly unaware of Mom’s tendency to freak. “We took a break from all the research. It’s too hot to think.”

“Oh.” As she climbed out of the water, she hoped he didn’t start asking questions. Mom didn’t know about all the cliff jumping and rope swings. That kind of thing made her head explode from worrying.

He glanced at her wet clothes. “So did you fall in, or jump?”

She indicated the rope, dangling from the thick branch high above them. “After I hung up the rope, it was the only way down.”

“Seriously? Damn, Julie.”

Great, she thought. Was he a worrywart like her mom?

“That’s really cool,” he said.

All right, so he wasn’t a worrier. That was a good sign. She had liked Finn from the start, and she liked him even more now. And what she liked about him the most was how happy her mom was since they’d started going out.