"Then why is LuckyUncleLucky, but I'm not Uncle Jack?" Lucky was a good friend of ours who was ex-Special Forces and a current co-owner of the Swamp Commando Airboat Rides with two of our other friends who were also ex-Special Forces, twin brothers Dallas and Austin Fox.
It was Six Degrees of Separation toeverybodyin Dead End.
"Because you can't be my uncle and my brother at the same time!"
Well. There weresomeplaces in the swamp…
Not going there.
But Jack looked confused. "How am I your brother?"
This time, she let loose with a silvery peal of laughter. "You will be when you marry Tess!"
I almost ran the car off the road.
"Shelley, Jack and I are not getting married! We only just went on our first date!"
I didn't dare even look at Jack, who was probably calculating how fast he could get out of my car and get the heck out of Dead End.
"Not really," Shelley persisted. "You guys are always together. For months and months now. Zane says Aunt Eleanor says it will be wedding bells before we even know it."
"Eleanor should not gossip," I said sternly. "And you shouldn't repeat gossip, Shelley."
Jack was now making choking noises.
Did tigers get hairballs? I was afraid to look at him.
"Tess," Shelley said, rolling her eyes at me in the rearview mirror. "Everybody in Dead End gossips."
The choking noises got worse, and then abruptly stopped with a gargling gasp.
Oh my goodness, we'd killed Jack.
2
Shelley reached over the seat and started pounding Jack on the shoulder. I still refused to look at him. Instead, I concentrated fiercely on pulling the car into the driveway of Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby's sprawling old farmhouse and parking without clipping the corner of the overly large mailbox.
I was too busy trying to remember the CPR class I'd taken in high school. Was itpush, push, breatheorbreathe, breathe, push?
I slammed the car into park, shut it off, and finally turned to face Jack, who was…
... laughing.
"This… family," he gasped out. "You're going to kill me."
"Jack!" Shelley pointed a finger at him, but it wasn't the finger I was tempted to point. "You need to be nice to Tess and her family."
"Oh, no, little one," he said, still laughing. "Notherfamily.Yourfamily too. You're an honorary Callahan now. Officially adopted and everything."
She beamed and started to say something else but caught sight of Uncle Mike out by the barn with Bonnie Jo, our elderly horse.
"Let me out, Jack! I need to go see Bonnie Jo! She's feeling better now!"
Shelley talked mostly in exclamation points these days, which was probably difficult on Jack's sensitive ears because it was even hard on mine sometimes.
Uncle Mike liked to amuse himself by reminding me I'd been the same way at nine years old. I pretended not to believe him, but I had too many memories of running through the house while laughing and shouting with Molly to deny it.
Jack climbed out of the car, still grinning, and let Shelley out. I waited a few seconds to give my face a chance to cool off and—hopefully—give Jack a chance to wander off somewhere.
