His outburst makes me laugh—it’s an old joke. I peer over at Jamie. The sneer of contempt that curves his lip up makes me frown. Is this what everyone else has been seeing? Maybe he does play a role for me. My stomach knots. If someone in KOC saw this, they’d bust him down in a heartbeat. What have I gotten myself into?
He catches me watching him and quickly turns his frown to a smile.
Does he find all of my family so distasteful? “You’re going to be forty and still doing that bit,” I say, ignoring Jamie.
“It makes you laugh every time,” Bolt counters.
“It does,” I agree, happy to see his real smile. Four more months and Shadow would be home to help him with the things I didn’t rate to. I could nurture, guide, and teach him many things, but how to be a man wasn’t one of them. He needs his father.
“How was school today?” Jamie asks.
We turn toward him.
The smile fades from Bolt’s face. “It was school.”
“One more year, kiddo,” I say apologetically.
“Then what do you intend to do, Bolton?” Jamie asks.
I cringe. Only a select few can get away with using his full name.
“It’s Bolt, and I don’t kn
ow. Why are you so concerned about it?”
“Bolt,” I say, begging him to be nice with my eyes.
“I was just trying to make conversation,” Jamie replies.
“I’m going to do what my father did, and my grandfather did, and my great grandfather did…be prospected,” Bolt answers, and narrows his eyes.
I could practically hear him daring Jamie to say something.
“Hmm,” Jamie mutters.
Bolt tenses up.
I intervene. “How about we dish up some of this food before it gets cold?”
“Sounds great, Aunt Blue,” Bolt replies.
We limp our way through dinner with stilted small talk. By the time I gather the dirty dishes, I feel like a referee. “You got homework tonight?” I ask Bolton.
“Nope, got a test to study for though, so I’ll be in my room.” He leans in, places a kiss on my cheek, and heads down the hall.
“Your nephew seems like a good kid,” Jamie says, joining me a few minutes later.
“He is,” I reply with a huge smile. The pride swells in my chest, and warmth spreads through my body. I had a hand in raising this amazing young man.
“You think of him as your own,” Jamie says.
“You know I do.”
“What do you want for his future?”
“Whatever will make him happy. Above all in life you need to enjoy.”
“You believe that?”