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Probably for the same reason he’d just found out Claire had been the class valedictorian. Because he hadn’t been around.
He cleared his throat. “The separation must have been tough on you and Claire.”
Cameron looked down at the empty root beer bottles. “It sucked,” he said softly. “I really hated when Dad wasn’t living with us.”
“But now everything’s good, right?” Please say everything’s good.
“Oh, yeah, it’s great. So, I really shouldn’t do anything to make them upset. Right?”
This is why Luke didn’t do kids. What was he supposed to say to that? “Right,” he said, but deep down it didn’t feel like the best advice.
It was definitely time to change the subject. He pulled two ice cold root beers from the cooler and handed one to his nephew. “Are you excited about your new baby brother or sister?”
Cameron got a goofy look on his face. “Yeah. But, you know, it’s kind of weird, too. I mean, how did that happen?”
Aw, crap. “I would have thought… I mean…” Luke took a long sip of his root beer, desperately wishing it was real beer. What was wrong with his brother-in-law? Zeke should have covered this topic years ago.
If his brain could sweat, it would be dripping right now. “Let’s see, how do we start? Okay. I got it. When a man and a woman love each other, there’s, well, they—”
Cameron threw his head back and laughed. “No, Uncle Luke! I know all about sex.”
“Oh.” Thank God.
“I just meant, you know, it’s kind of gross thinking about Mom and Dad doing it.”
“Tell me about it, kid. So, you’re all good on the subject of the birds and the bees?”
“Why do they call it that, anyway? And yeah, I’ve known all about it since I was five.”
“Five? Isn’t that a little young to find out about—” He stopped himself from using any more childish euphemisms. Clearly, Cameron was beyond that. “Your dad talked to you about sex when you were five?”
His nephew’s eyes lit up with mischief. “He gave me the lowdown when I was ten, but I already knew the drill on account of I was hiding under Claire’s bed when Mom told her all about it.”
Luke grinned. “You hid under your sister’s bed?” It sounded like something he would have done at that same age.
“Yeah, I used to do that a lot as a kid. I found out a lot of neat stuff that way.”
I bet. “Did your parents ever find out?”
“Nah. I didn’t want to ruin Dad’s big moment when he told me the good stuff. Besides, he told me some extra things that Mom didn’t tell Claire, so it was totally worth it.” He hesitated. “You won’t tell them, will you? About me hiding under the bed? Claire would kick my butt from here to tomorrow if she ever found out.”
“It’s our secret, Little Man.”
Cameron smiled, as if he liked the idea of sharing a secret with his uncle. Then his face clouded over. “And you won’t tell them about the soccer thing either, will you?”
“Nope. I won’t tell them about that either.”
They sat on the pier for another half hour, talking about school and sports when Luke noticed the sun was getting low. It was probably almost five. The two of them loaded up the truck and headed back to the house. Cameron carried the cooler containing the fish into the kitchen while Luke dumped the leftover bait into a small freezer container. He was about to lock up his truck when Cameron came running back into the garage.
“Uncle Luke!” he said, clearly in a panic. “Toby’s gone!”
Luke stilled. “What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“He dug a hole under the fence. He must have been scared and come after us!”
Chapter Twelve
Luke studied the three-foot hole beneath the fence. Cameron was right. The damn dog had made like Houdini and escaped. “Okay, no worries. I got this,” Luke said trying to act as if he actually believed it.
