Page 6 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“He’s usually perfect, though.”

“It’s been a minute since he saw me is all. I wasn’t ready to catch him.” He glanced around, trying not to make it obvious he was looking for his cane. The hip, which had been throbbing when he got out of the car, sent sharp, stabby pains down his leg and up under his ribs. He had to get it straightened out.

“Here.” Jet’s sullen whisper came from slightly behind him, and the smooth wood of his stick landed next to the hand he had clenched in the grass.

Concentrating on the blinding pain of his hip—so he didn’t have to think about the streaks of dirt on his palms or the light coating of oil from the dog’s fur on his fingertips—Myles gripped the cane, shifted his other foot to take most of his weight, then braced himself to get up.

He reached for the hand Kreed offered, but Jet slapped Kreed’s help away and bent to wedge his shoulder into Myles’s armpit. Bracing on legs stronger than they looked, he straightened slowly enough Myles could get his balance, his stick, and his good leg all lined up enough to stand.

Once he was upright, he expected Jet to back off, but his nephew stayed where he was. Hair, dyed blood red, dripped in front of his made-up eyes, and he tweaked a lip ring in his bottom lip with his teeth. The arm around Myles’s waist clamped almost painfully tight.

On Myles’s other side, Shelly moved in, patting his waist, then leaning in, copying Jet’s stance, though she wrapped her arm around his leg and clutched MJ’s leash with her other hand.

“Thank you,” Myles told them, stroking a hand over Shelly’s hair.

Jet grunted but still didn’t move.

“This is my nephew, Jet,” Myles said finally, turning to Lucky. “And my niece, Shelly. Guys, this is Lucky, his partner, Kreed, and the asshole that used to be my dog is Scratch.” He looked at the youth standing off to one side. “Who I guess is your dog, now? You must be Rod, then.”

“Yes, sir. Tris’s brother.”

“Lucky told me you were doing a short apprenticeship here or something?”

“I work here a few days of the week so Kreed can teach me what I need to know to run a kitchen. My real job is at the Egg Basket in the city. Oh! Um—” Rod glanced at Kreed. “I just meant⁠—”

Kreed chuckled. “We get it. Small town B and B. Not your jam.”

“But I am learning a lot,” Rod said quickly.

“Glad to hear it. Now take that animal back inside and get back to making the order, please. Has to be in before five today or we miss out on the tarts and the good muffins for the morning rush.”

“Yes, sir.” Rod tugged at the fur on the back of Scratch’s neck. “C’mon, asshole,” he muttered, and the dog abruptly turned and walked back into the house, side occasionally brushing against Rod’s legs, not a backward glance at Myles.

“Dog always was an ingrate,” Myles remarked.

“You sure you’re okay?” Lucky asked. “That was a pretty spectacular fall.”

“I’m good. Could have been worse.” He very briefly squeezed Jet’s shoulders. “Thanks to these guys, I’m still in one piece. Or at least in the same number of pieces I was when I got here.”

Again, Jet grunted, and this time, he did disengage, but carefully, making sure Myles would stay upright without him.

“Shells, I’d better take the dog.” He held out a hand for the leash as he shot a dark glare at the door of the B and B, like it was the pit of hell and Scratch the three-headed guardian of the underworld. He scooped MJ up, then took Shelly’s hand and led her up the steps. He didn’t look back, either, though Shelly did glance over her shoulder.

“Go on with your brother, sweetheart. I’ll be right behind you. Jet, get both of you something to eat. Something healthy.”

Jet waved but didn’t look at him.

The B and B door swung open, as though on a sensor, to let them in, then closed gently behind them.

“Didn’t know you could get a screen door that opens automatically like that,” he commented as he picked his way back up the steps.

“Oh, it’s not that sophisticated,” Kreed said.

“Isn’t it, though?” Lucky asked.

Kreed frowned at him.

“What did I miss?” Myles asked, directing his question to Lucky.