Page 68 of A Fine Line

Dare laughs. “If that guy hasn’t had a heart attack yet, he never will. He’s seen some shit, that’s for sure.”

Carolina doesn’t ask any other questions, but I take a few minutes to give her the cliff notes of the situation, and when I’m done speaking, Carolina shakes her head and mutters, “Sometimes, I forget that there are people out there dealing with even more fucked-up situations than my own. Holy shit.”

I nod in agreement. Regardless of how shitty our situation may be, it’s highly likely there’s always someone out there in an even more complicated and dire situation than your own. It doesn’t make your situation any better—it doesn’t make it right—but the idea that it could always be worse is quite often true. It goes along with the idea that there are far worse things than death, a common theme you hear in our business.

There’s a commotion across the room, and I look over in time to see Jayme come strolling in. He’s looking over his shoulder, speaking to someone out of sight, but then, I hear a little voice squealing, “Mama! Mama!” and Flora comes bounding out from behind him, running as fast as her little legs will take her right toward Carolina, who made a beeline for her as soon as she came into sight.

Carolina meets her along the way and scoops her up in her arms, Flora wrapping herself around her mother like the little spider monkey she is. Carolina turns back to me, her eyes meeting mine as she walks over to me, carrying her little girl. She leans her head close to mine and whispers, “Thank you, Tony.”

I say nothing in reply, relieved I don’t have to, as the overload of emotion in the room tries to get the better of me. I wrap my arm around her back and hug them both to me a little awkwardly, but then Flora pulls away from her mother and catches sight of me, “Tony!”

She leans toward me, her little arm snaking around my neck until she’s strangling the two of us, and I raise my free hand and pat her on the back, surprised by how strong she is for such a small thing.

Jayme clears his throat from behind us, and Carolina cranes her head around. She’s obviously surprised to see him standing there, and I take Flora from her as she turns to face her brother, stepping forward into his embrace. Her arms come up awkwardly, and I laugh at how stiff she is in his arms, but either he doesn’t notice, or he doesn’t fucking care. He murmurs something into her ear, and her arms tighten, her hands pressing into his back. Flora giggles in my arms with a big smile as she watches them.

After a few moments, they step apart, and Jayme comes over and shakes my hand as I ask, “Where did you all come from?”

He laughs and shakes his head as he replies, “Lils and I wanted to come over here and help, but when we told this sweet cherub we would be gone for a bit, she threw an epic fit. There was no consoling her or changing her mind, so here we are.”

Flora pats Jayme on his cheek, then looks at Carolina and says, “Uncle Jayme said Tony fixed his owie, like Tony fixed my owie.”

Jayme chokes and sputters an uncomfortable laugh at her childlike statement. “Well, I don’t know if we’d call it an ‘owie’, but I suppose that’s mostly accurate.”

Carolina looks between us, a slight frown on her face as she asks, “And what does that mean? Saved you from what?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I think we’ve got time.”

Jayme looks at me, and I shrug my shoulders. “You tell her whatever you want, man. It’s your story.”

I whistle sharply, drawing Nettie’s attention from across the room, and I incline my head at Flora. She smiles and nods, so I lean into Flora and whisper, “Go see your Aunt Nettie. She missed you.” Flora wiggles to get out of my arms, and I set her on the floor, and she races off with another squeal of delight.

We move over to a sitting area in the corner, and Dare joins us. Jayme sits on the edge of his chair, leaning forward with his arms braced on his thighs. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Why don’t you start with the trouble.”

The three of us look at each other and laugh, and she rolls her eyes and adds, “Start when the saving-Jayme trouble started. Jesus Christ, you guys are trouble all the way around, I can tell.”

I smile at her comment, pressing my hand against her thigh and resisting the urge to pull her into my lap, knowing the story will likely either pull her closer to me or have her running in the opposite fucking direction.

Not that I’ll let her go or anything, but that would make it a little more difficult than I feel like dealing with right now.

Jayme pauses for a moment, then takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. Then he begins to speak.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jayme

Twenty years ago

Iwakewithastart, jerking upright, only to have my head collide with something solid and unforgiving.

I fall backward, cracking my skull on the hard surface I’m lying prone on, cursing as pain explodes in my head.

I take a few moments to get my bearings, taking a few deep inhalations followed by slow exhalations, then I open my eyes and blink into the darkness. My palms come down onto the cold surface and slowly move outward until they come into contact with barriers on both sides of me. My hands move upward, probably not even a full two feet, before I come into contact with the top of what is clearly some kind of box.

My heart jackhammers in my chest, and I close my eyes against the darkness and begin counting in my head, fighting the overwhelming anxiety of claustrophobia. I have no idea how I got here or how long I’ve been here, but as the fog clears from my brain, I become increasingly aware of the various pains in my body.

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