Page 53 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“Wasn’t talking about cleaning anyway. That’s just you.”

Myles jumped at the nearness of Jet’s voice, turning to find him leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re wearing your going-out jeans,” Jet said, following him to the main room to flop onto the bed.

“My what?” Frowning, he pulled open his shirt drawer, though he knew the contents were properly aligned. He started straightening them anyway, telling himself he wasn’t second-guessing what he’d chosen to wear.

“You wear those when you’re going somewhere you expect people will judge.”

“I do not.”

“You do,” Shelly agreed.

He had to wonder if she even knew what she was chiming in on, or if she was simply agreeing with her big brother. Grunting, he closed the drawer with a muted thud.

“Well, as it happens, I’m going to help Steven with some book inventory.”

“As it happens.” Jet made some interesting facial contortions to keep a grin off his face. “Have a good time.”

“I will, thank you.”

Jet leaned over his sister, set the video playing again, and Shelly waved at Myles absently.

“All right, then.” He didn’t wait for one of them to come up with a reason he shouldn’t go. If Jet was voluntarily watching over his little sister, Myles wasn’t going to point that out. He wouldn’t even mention that Jet’s part of the room, while “cleaned” to Jet’s standards, still gave Myles a mild fit when he walked past.

“You know where I’ll be,” he said at the door. “I have my phone.”

Jet waved his own phone again, though he’d returned all his focus to his sketch.

“Good deal.” Shaking his head, Myles left them to their videos.

In the kitchen, Lucky greeted him with a smile. “Sleep well?”

“I did, actually.” Better than he had in weeks. “I hear my kids roped you into room service.”

“Sort of. I mean, Kreed’s cooking anyway, and Jet’s going to come fetch it, so.” He shrugged. “All covered.”

“Still, thanks for that.”

“This is what we do.”

“I know that. But I don’t want to become a burden on you.”

“You’re not, and neither are they. We’re perfectly happy to have you here. As long as you need. So.” He gazed sternly at Myles in a way he never had in the past. “Stop saying that, alright? You’re here because we invited you. All of you. You are not a burden. You are not imposing. We are not going to get tired of you. There is no weight here that you have to pull. Understand?”

Myles nodded.

For another heartbeat, Lucky kept him pinned with that unfamiliar self-possession, and once again, Myles felt himself wildly out of balance. Lucky had always looked to him for guidance. It had never been the other way around.

“Say it,” Lucky demanded.

“Say what?”

Lucky squinted. “Not there yet?”

“Not where?”

Instead of answering, Lucky leapt forward and embraced Myles in a tight, tight hug that took Myles’s breath away. “It’s okay,” he croaked, then cleared his throat and went on in a whisper. “We’re all okay, I promise. You’ll get there too. I know it.”