Page 71 of Mine to Keep

“That’s true. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask for them to respect my boundaries, and they don’t. They expect me to sit around the campfire, holding hands and singing Kumbaya. It doesn’t work that way. And every time they say they are going to give me a little space, it lasts all of a week.”

“Your family has always been insanely tight. Maybe you could find it in your heart to meet them halfway.”

Jamison knew Troy was right, and it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. Only, every time he gave his family a little slack, they came at him aggressively. Well, his mother did, anyway.

Maybe he just needed to deal with her differently.

“I agree.”

“And maybe you should go for it with Bryn because when you talk about her you grin from ear to ear.”

Once again, Jamison tried not to smile, but it proved impossible.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Troy said.

“It’s complicated. And not just because of Zadie.”

“I know,” Troy said, pointing to the television as the programming changed from the news to true crime. “Do you ever watch this shit?”

Jamison glanced at the TV. “No. Never. Why?”

“It’s fascinating. Tonight, they are talking about the Perishes, a crime family out of California. They have never been caught, but the son, who died a little over a year ago, was thought to have been involved in money laundering and Ponzi schemes. I don’t understand it all. A month after he died, his wife was killed in a car crash. Some believe that one or both of them are still alive. It’s totally crazy.”

Jamison blinked. A picture of Brenda Perish flashed across the screen. She had incredibly short, blond—no, it was almost white—hair that was spiked on top. If it weren’t for her eyes, Jamison wouldn’t have seen the resemblance.

Or maybe it was because he’d become so sensitive to these things that he recognized how close they were to Bryn’s eyes. So close, they could have been sisters.

Before he could say anything, the radio went off.

Duty called.

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