Page 123 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“About six million, according to the internet.” He shrugged. “Who knows.”

Myles nodded. “More than five, less than ten. These things can be a bit nebulous.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s a lot.”

“Don’t need it. I have the business.”

“You going to run your grandfather’s company?”

“Mom and I talked about it a lot. She was in the middle of fixing it.”

“There was something wrong with it?”

“Grandpa was a money-grabbing asshole. He put people on the street to buy their homes. He drove property values up until old people who had lived in their houses for fifty years suddenly couldn’t afford their taxes anymore. He tore down affordable apartment buildings to build condos the original residents couldn’t afford to buy. He raised rents to pay for renovations people didn’t want or need.”

“I know what he was like. It’s why I refused to work for him.”

“I know.”

“It’s good your mom did. She made a good living⁠—”

“She fought him on everything, you know. Made him change policies, made sure the people he was evicting had places to go. After he died, she changed everything. Or she was trying to change it. She fired a bunch of people. Kicked people out of positions that were just excuses to take his money and not do any work. She was relentless.”

Myles smiled. “Sounds just like her.”

“I want to keep doing what she was doing.”

“Jet, you’re sixteen.”

He snorted. “No shit. I didn’t say tomorrow or anything. But knowing now what I know, I get why she hired some of the people she did. They’ll take good care of things until I get there.”

“But you said you don’t want to go back.”

Jet narrowed his eyes at Myles. “You think people don’t need houses in Ontario?”

“So you plan to move the whole company?”

“Or expand it. Or shut it down and start over. Point is, I don’t need money from an asshole who never had the time of day for me my whole life. I’m not afraid to work for my own. I’m not even afraid to not have any while I figure it out.”

“I see.”

“I can work for Ozzy. He already said I shouldn’t run a construction company if I have no idea how to build a house.”

“And finish high school.”

“Well, duh.”

Myles chuckled. Leave it to Jet to have already worked out his entire life. If only things were as easy as all that.

“I’m thinking,” Jet said, “that we could sell Grandpa’s company to the people Mom has running it. Sell his awful house. We’ll have enough to relocate then. You can stop being all righteous about your trust fund, or you can get a job. I can get a part-time job. We can live here, Uncle Myles.”

“You have it all figured out.”

“One of us has to be a grown-up.”

Myles laughed.