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“Yeah, and he knocked her up!” I say, stopping to give him a break when I let that nugget slip.
“Oh, fuck,” he gets out, looking appropriately shocked and even Banks lets out a whistle. “So that’s nine, plus you, your mom, Dylan, and that Trisha woman. Who’s left?”
“Trisha’s an OBGYN nurse, how lucky did we get finding her, right?” I answer, suddenly nervous about my own news. “Then there’s Russ.”
“Let’s keep moving,” Max says. “Who’s Russ?”
“Um, he helped me get home from college when The Event happened.”
I keep focused on the path and almost miss it when Banks lets out a soft whistle.
“Julia’s got a boyfriend,” my uncle sings out, his voice filled with humor. I shrug but refuse to give into his teasing, mostly because I don’t want him to see how red my face has become.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about now, Julia,” Banks cheerfully says, nudging me with her elbow. “Your big, bad Uncle Max is home. He’ll help whip your boyfriend into shape and make sure he becomes everything you could want in apost-apocalyptic man.”
I bite down on the laugh that threatens to bubble out of me and try to sound hopeful when I say, “Well, he’s not very good with weapons.”
“Oh, dammit. Don’t tell me you brought home someone useless, like a Latin scholar?” Max groans while I play innocent.
“He used to make curtains before, but he really loves me and that’s what counts, isn’t it?” I retort, leaving out the part where he was making curtains in jail, while he served time for manslaughter. “And how about you two? Are you a thing or FWB?”
“Nah, Banks is banging Javier on the DL,” Max calls out and she lets out a grunt.
“I told him you knew about us,” she replies softly.
It’s not long before we’re tucking Dad’s body into the barn, and Max enfolds me in his arms. “There’ll be time for us to mourn later, Jelly Bean.”
That’s when it hits me. Uncle Max had been friends with my dad practically since they were born.
Shelby
“Are you sure, Mike?” Elsbeth keeps her voice quiet, but I can hear the worry in it. She had brought the kids and Trisha to her home the night before to assess what it would need for some of us to move into it in the spring, and was beside herself when she woke up this morning to realize that her three houseguests had snuck out at some point.
When Dad brought word that Jace wasn’t on our property, I could pretty much feel my blood pressure shooting through the roof.
Apparently, Russ is worried also, from the look he gives me. He wanted to head out the moment he got back from Lee’s, swearing he had heard gunshots. Unfortunately, the sounds of shooting have become more common, especially in the early evening or dawn hours.
“I’m not letting her spend another night away from me, I swear to God,” he mutters, not for the first time since my dad forbade anyone from running off.
“God knows if Jace is with them, or when he’ll be back. Eddie is way overdue to be back, and what? You want to leave Shelby, Rachel, and Sara here alone?” he had said, making a very valid argument in an attempt to stop Aiden and Russ from rushing off.
“There!” I call out, pointing at the tree line that Dylan and Trisha just emerged from.
Both Russ and I already have our boots on, so we just grab our coats from the hooks on the way out.
“Slow down, who’s that with him?” Russ calls over his shoulder and while I don’t recognize the man, the fact that he’s shouldering a good portion of Eddie’s weight tells me more than enough.
I spin back to the door that I had left open and poke my head inside to call out directions. “Aiden, go and get the stretcher. Eddie’s been hurt. Elsbeth, I don’t know what he’ll need, but please start gathering things.”
With that, I move faster than I have in weeks, trudging through the snow to reach the others. Thankfully, Dylan starts running to save me most of the distance.
“Uncle Max is here!”
His words ring out loud and clear, but as they were the last thing I expected to hear, all I manage to do is look at the stranger beside Eddie and shake my head.
“He’s back with Julia and…” Dylan’s words cut off as his arms wrap tightly around my neck.
“Max is here?” I interrupt him, still not sure I heard him correctly.
