Read Online Welcome to Dog Beach by Lisa Greenwald - Free Book Online Page A

since they’re out on the front porch.
    Then Bennett points to a flashing gray walkie-talkie-like device. I’m guessing it’s some kind of baby monitor, and I understand why Dawn was so comfortable leaving the triplets sleeping outside.
    â€œThey sleep best out there,” she explains. “I’m going to give it a second and see if she falls asleep.”
    â€œYou can tell which one is crying just by listening?” I ask.
    She nods. “That was Mia. The other two are boys, Felipe and Alexander. Mia’s cry is distinct, and she cries the most.” Dawn puts her head down on the table and stares at the monitor. Bennett and I eat our ice cream quietly and quickly. I think we’re both getting the feeling that it’s almost time to go.
    â€œListen, I’m going to ask you something,” Dawn says. “You can totally say no. I’m sure you’re busy and everything. But Oscar really responded well to you. And as you can probably tell, I’m in over my head with these babies. Would you be interested in watching him? Like a dog sitter? Walks, trips to Dog Beach, stuff like that? We’d pay you and everything, of course.”
    Bennett and I look at each other. I think he’s talking with his eyes, the way we used to do when we were little, but I can’t be sure. The summer we were seven, Bennett and I made up this intricate blinking code, so that we would always be able to communicate, even when other people were around. Micayla tried to learn it too, but it was really just a thing between Bennett and me.
    I can’t wait any longer to figure out if Bennett wants to do this or not. If Calvin and Claire were here, he might say no. But they’re away, and so Bennett’s my friend again, the way he used to be.
    â€œI’d love to,” I say. “Dogs are my favorite animal, and we spend a lot of time at Dog Beach, anyway.”
    â€œOh, you have a dog?” Dawn asks.
    Now Bennett is blinking a little too much, and I know he’s speaking with his eyes; that was our code for danger, which ultimately became our code for when people asked us awkward questions, like if we were going to get married someday, or when we’d eat dinner over at Mrs. Shanley’s house and she’d try to serve us mushy cauliflower.
    â€œI used to,” I tell Dawn. “He died this past year.”
    She nods. “Are you guys brother and sister?”
    Bennett and I widen our eyes—the signal for shock, which is probably not a very good secret code, but we never came up with anything better.
    â€œNo,” Bennett says, laughing a little. “We’re just friends.”
    Brother and sister? We look nothing alike. Bennett hasfloppy brown hair that usually falls into his eyes until his mom bribes him to get a haircut. My hair is somewhere between blonde and brown. Plus, Bennett’s, like, three inches taller than I am.
    I don’t know why that question bothers me.
    I hate it when people ask us if we’re in love or if we’re going to get married. We’re only eleven and it’s a dumb question. But now I’m annoyed that Dawn asked us if we’re brother and sister.
    Something in the way Bennett says “We’re just friends” makes me upset. It’s true. We are just friends. But not like any pair of friends you’d find in a school or on a soccer team or something. We’re different. We’re lifelong Seagate friends. Best friends, even.
    All our lives Bennett told everyone that I was his best friend. I have two best friends—Bennett and Micayla—but as far as I knew, I was Bennett’s only best friend. And I liked it that way.
    I wonder why he didn’t say it just now.
    I wonder if things changed and I didn’t even notice.
    â€œI’m sorry about your dog,” Dawn says, and I remember that’s what we were talking about before I got distracted about me and Bennett. “It’s