I do just that and place my palm on his shoulder, squeezing gently.
“I am now. I had to change my undies ’cause I shit myself from that blast. But holy crap, Uncle Jack, what the hell was that?”
Warmth blooms in my chest, humour dislodging some of the fear that’s taken root there.
This kid has a mouth on him, which, sensibly, he curbs around his parents.
But not around me.
I swear I’m the best kind of influence on my nephew. Admittedly, Harper doesn’t always agree. But this kid’s a mini-me. Even his poor folks can’t deny that.
“For real,” he continues, barely taking a breath, “I fell on my butt.”
“Are you hurt?” I cut in before he no doubt continues talking nonstop.
“Bruised.” He stops, his eyebrows shooting high as he takes me in. “Bloody hell, you’re bleeding.”
I touch the back of my head, no longer feeling fresh blood there. “I’m good.” I shake my head. “It’s stopped.” It still hurts like I’ve been whacked with a piece of two-by-four, but since there’s not a pool of blood at my feet and I’m still standing, I figure I’ll be okay.
“So, what happened? One minute I was making myself a bowl of cereal, and the next I hit the floor and the air-con went out. I’ve checked the trip switch, but nothing’s working. Ridge hasn’t stopped kicking off.”
With my panic subsided, I hear Jamie’s horse. Ridge does sound like he’s going apeshit.
“Is your phone working?”
Jamie shakes his head. “Nope. The internet is down too.”
A given, as there’s no electricity.
“I tried the Can-Am,” he says. “It won’t start. I was going to come over, check on you.”
Of course he was.
This kid’s been brought up knowing how to make a Vegemite sandwich, fix a fence, and ride a bike and a Can-Am. He’s also a sure shot with a rifle and can ride a horse even better than I could at his age.
His dad’s a good guy—an accountant, if you can believe it.
Which is the reason why my parents shaved off just five acres fifteen years back for them to build a home, knowing that Derek could ride a mower, but beyond that, running a property wasn’t his thing.
My dad spent the time teaching Jamie how to live and love the property life, and I did, too, when I visited.
“Let’s just settle Ridge, and I’ll give Geralt a quick brush down. We’ll then figure out what’s going on, yeah?”
“Okay.” He hesitates, his focus moving beyond me. “And what are we doing about that?”
Fuck.The plume ofsand—not freaking dirt.
I jolt around and follow his line of sight. Narrowing my gaze, I try to figure out what I’m seeing. It’s closer now, but I still can’t work out what it is.
“What is that?”
I shake my head. “No idea.”
“Are we ignoring the fact that there’s sand where Mr Bates’s property used to be?”
Why Jamie’s so damn calm is beyond me, but my pulse is going berserk. Not only because the plume is likely just seven kilometres out, but before Jamie spoke, I could have pretended I’ve been hallucinating.
“You see that too?” It’s best I double-check.
