Chapter 116

“You’ve got to let him win once in a while. Otherwise, he’ll get discouraged.”

“Or he’ll try harder.”

“It’s the one thing he does well. You’re grinding your poor little brother into the dust. Do it for me?”

“Maybe,” she offered.

“Don’t stay up too late.”

“Ten o’clock,” she promised.

“I trust you,” I said. “I’m not going to check on you because I know you’re going to do right by me.”

“I said I promise. Now get out of here—I want to find out what happens in my book!”

“Night, pumpkin.”

“Night, Daddy.”105: Just a Coincidence?

Jackson was already in bed.

“I’ve got surgery at six,” he explained. “It’s one of those where the patient has to stay awake, but she’s deaf so I need to be there to communicate instructions, make sure she’s okay. And it’s a brain surgery thing—I hate those.”

“Better you than me,” I allowed.

“You’d pass out as soon the buzz saw started.”