Page 67 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

Myles put an arm around him. “Yes.”

They both chuckled.

After a bit, Jet sighed. “This hasn’t been as helpful as you probably think.”

He didn’t know if Jet was referring to the trip or the conversation. He conceded, either way. “Probably not.”

“I don’t hate it here, though.”

“Me either.”

“Did you know Mom was trying to talk me into therapy?”

“I did not. How do you feel about that?”

Jet just shrugged.

“Lucky is opening a shelter for troubled teens.”

“I’m pissed off my mother died on me. Not troubled.”

“Oh. right. Because those are different things.”

“I just mean that I’m not, like, homeless or on drugs or whatever.”

“Okay. Fair. My point is that he knows people.”

“I don’t want to talk to a stranger.”

“Okay.”

Myles let him go when Jet straightened. “Did you know Ozzy was an army chaplain?” Jet asked.

Myles grunted. Why Jet was bringing up his ex, he had no idea. He wasn’t even really sure if Jet knew the extent of Myles’s and Ozzy’s previous entanglement. However, they were talking about things that mattered, so he kept his dubious feelings to himself and left room for Jet to get to his point.

“What am I saying. Of course you know.”

Myles waited. When it seemed like Jet wasn’t going to say anything else, he finally prompted him. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, he’s not a stranger, right?”

“No. He’s not.”

“And he’s sort of trained. Like a shrink, I mean.”

“Not sort of. He is trained. And he’s very good at it. So good he used to tick me off with it on the regular.”

“Well, he doesn’t tick me off,” Jet blurted. “He helps.”

“Helps how?” The lightning bolt of dread that ripped through him caught Myles off guard, and he rubbed at his chest.

Jet jerked his head around to glare at Myles, defiant suddenly, and Myles had a sinking suspicion he knew what was coming. “You’ve been talking to him.”

“So what if I have?”

“And he helps.”

Jet set his jaw, the same stubborn line his mother often got when she was about to lay down the law to Myles. He might have been the older sibling, but he had never been the one in charge of that dynamic. Natalie had a spine of steel under her gentle ways. “He just lets me say what I need to say. No judgement.”