Page 141 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“He said something would happen if he left her alone.”

“He only found them because he was in the attic room at the Oaks and saw one of them crawling through a broken bit of his soffit.”

“What was he doing there?”

“Delivering some records for Lucky. And it’s a good thing he did see it, because he did not need dead kittens in his roof, and there was a leak that needed fixed that would have caused a lot more damage if it had been left much longer.”

“So he’s okay.”

“He’s okay.”

Despite the slow calming of his worry, he still needed to hear Steven’s voice to know for sure. “When you see him, tell him to call me?”

“I will.”

“Thanks.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Are you okay?” Ozzy asked.

“Is it weird that it feels a bit like my life is happening there without me?”

“Your people are here,” Ozzy parroted.

Myles sighed and dropped onto the couch. “Why can’t I get this right?”

“What are you getting wrong?”

“Maybe I should have stayed there?”

“Jet had to meet his father, and he has to choose for himself how he wants the rest of that relationship to go.”

“But dragging them back and forth across the country like I have.”

“Hey. You know that airplane safety thing. Put your own mask on, first. That’s all you were doing. No one thinks otherwise. It isn’t selfish to look after yourself first so you can look after others. The difference here is that you ran to your own rescue. That’s the part you’re not used to. Now you’re okay, you can focus on what the kids need.”

“I suppose.”

“And whatever you might think, the fact he told you how Priory’s meddling made him feel tells me a lot about who he really trusts. Who he thinks will have his back when he’s unsteady.”

“I miss Steven with my whole being.”

Ozzy said nothing.

“But not enough to rush them through deciding where we want to be.”

Still, Ozzy remained quiet.

“And not so much that I can’t function. I mean, he’s doing good, right?”

“He is.”

“Somehow knowing that is enough. For now.”

“Myles.”

“Yeah?”