Page 21 of War
She said, “Thanks. Good to know.” She looked at Joey and smiled wickedly. “Ask him to say ‘Worcestershire.’”
Joey laughed. “I think you have him handled.” Joey turned to me. “If you want to volunteer, I can find something for you to do.”
“I'm good. I'm content with getting on Amantha's nerves.”
Joey chuckled. “Okay. Let me know if anything changes.” He turned and walked back to the hangar.
“Clint?” I asked.
“No.”
She went back to her spreadsheet. I ate the second Reese's cup.
When I swallowed, I said, “Thompson.”
“No. That's Neo’s last name but not mine.”
Interesting. I sat forward in my chair.
“Tell me more about what happened. I know he's your nephew. He's lived with you for a while?”
Amantha looked at me sadly.
“Neo is my godson. He's not my nephew by blood. I'm more of an honorary aunt.”
That... didn't sound good.
“What happened?”
“His mom was my best friend. Val. His dad, Sam, treated Val like a queen. They met in high school and instantly knew it was love; they had Neo when they were both 16. People said they were crazy, but they didn't care. They both loved him with everything. Neo was the light of their lives.”
“Was?”
Tears filled her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. She smiled. “They’d just graduated and gotten married. Beautiful ceremony. They lived together as a happy family. Christmas card cliché, I guess is how you'd refer to them.” Her smile morphed into a frown. “Then... Sam worked construction. A beam fell and crushed him to death. A few months later, Val stopped at a grocery store to pick up some random ingredient for dinner. The store was robbed. For whatever reason, the robbers shot Val. After three days of unconsciousness in the hospital, she died. Her will left Neo in my care. I've had custody of him since he was three.”
I nodded in understanding. Neo was why Amantha didn't go to college. “Life happened.”
Amantha nodded. “I got one semester of college done. Then I dropped out mid-semester to take care of Neo. He knows his parents loved him. I made sure he knows about them. He's seen pictures and heard all the stories I can tell. I've always been Aunt Amantha to him.”
“You raised him, though. Neo is basically your son.”
She smiled sadly. “I wish Val hadn't died, but I will forever be thankful she had Neo. I see her in him every day. I've tried to raise him like Val would.”
“I'm sorry things happened that way, but he seems like a good kid despite all the obstacles you've faced together.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, then turned back to her spreadsheet.
Sending the topic was closed, I cleared my throat and went back to listing names. “Morris?”
“No.”
I shoved the empty wrapper in my pocket. “McKinney?”
“No.”
“Kennedy”
“No.”