Page 62 of Scatter the Bones

I plant my hand on my hip. “He’s a kid.”

“So? I just told you what a shitty thing I did to him and his mom.” He holds up his hand as if he wants to preemptively cut off any argument. “What you said made me look at the situation differently, but that doesn’t meanhesees it that way.”

“What did he say when you met with him?”

“Not much. He wants to see Jezzie. I told him she’s busy with school right now.”

“Jensen.” I fail at keeping the scolding tone from my voice.

“You don’t get it.” His voice lowers. “Jezzie was furious with me for years.” He swallows hard and glances away. “When I took her away from the farm, she assumed she was coming to live with me.”

My stomach sinks. “Oh no.”

“She didn’t remember our aunt. She was only a baby when we moved out west. I had some money, but I didn’t know how to raise a teenage girl and I didn’t have a stable living situation for her.”

“Understandable.” It’s not even remotely the same thing, but as someone who lost her mother young, if my brothers had tried to raise me, that would’ve been a disaster.

“When we got to my aunt’s and Jezzie realized?—”

“No! You drove all that way and never explained it to her?”

His eyes narrow. “No, Margot. I didn’t know how.” His expression softens. “Besides, I told myself if Angela seemed off, or if anything felt wrong, I’d figure out a way to keep Jezzie with me.”

Well, that’s something.I blow out a breath. “But their reunion went well?”

“Oh yeah. They got along great. Angela set up a really nice room for Jezzie. She never married or had kids. But she actually seemed excited to have her. She was my mom’s oldersister, and it hurt her when my mom cut off contact. So she welcomed Jezzie into her home. Me, not so much.” He lets out a bitter laugh. “I think I reminded her too much of my dad or something.”

“That’s unfair. Did she know what happened?”

“I never told her. But I’m sure she guessed.”

I nod slowly. “And Jezzie? She was happy?”

“Oh yeah. Loved it at first. Angela took her shopping for normal clothes—stuff she’d never had before. She was excited.” His jaw tightens. “But when it was time for me to leave, she lost it. Screamed, cried. Wouldn’t speak to me for months. Angela kept me updated, but it took a long time for Jezzie to come around.”

“She probably felt abandoned,” I say gently. “Even if it was the best choice.”

“Yeah. She thawed eventually. When I finally moved to the East Coast, I was closer, so I visited more often but as you’ve witnessed, things are still tense sometimes.”

“It had to be hard to stay mad at you for leaving her someplace she was happy.”

He shrugs. “That’s one way to look at it, yeah. But as prickly as she can be, Jezzie’s sensitive. She doesn’t like hurting people’s feelings. Well, except mine.”

I elbow him lightly. “Maybe stop being so stoic and let her know youhavefeelings.”

A slight smirk tilts his lips. “Sure, that’s an option.”

“Does your aunt know about Cain?”

“Good question. I don’t know if Jezzie ever mentioned him to Angela or not.”

“Do you think Jezzie wants to see him?”

“She rarely mentions him. I’m the one who brought him up last time I saw her.”

I bite my lip, unsure I should offer my opinion. “I feel bad for Cain. He has no family.”And no one seems to care about him at all.

He exhales a long breath, like the weight of that landed hard. “I know. I told you I’m a piece of shit.”

---