Chapter 10

“Nottingham?”

“No.”

“Myers?”

“No.”

“Whorestershure.”

Amantha looked at me. “What?”

“Westminstershore.”

She looked amused. “I don't understand.”

“Washingtonshire.”

Amantha laughed. “You’re getting worse. Were you trying to say ‘Worcestershire?’”

I sat up. I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Yes. That.”

“No to everything you just said.”

Damn. I slumped in my chair and put my hands on the armrests.

Amantha went back to work.

I hadn't slept last night, dedicating it to research, then I'd picked Amantha up that morning for work and had spent all morning in a chair across from her desk, guessing names while she worked. I stayed out of the way when clients came through and let Amantha take any phone calls so no one could say I disrupted business. Unfortunately, so far, I hadn't guessed the right name. I wondered what it would take to bribe Neo.

I pulled a pack of Reese's cups from my pocket and opened them.

Joey walked in from the hangar. Surprise flashed across his face when he saw me.

“I thought you were off today,” he said.

“I am.” I took the paper wrapper off the Reese's cup.

“Then why are you here?”

“I'm annoying Amantha.”

She laughed.

Joey nodded. “Amantha, do I need to make him leave?”

She waved a hand but didn't look away from her spreadsheet. “Nah, he's fine. I wouldn't want him to find a way to say I cheated on our bet.”

I probably would, too. Anything to give her a hard time. No shame.

I bit into a Reese's cup and enjoyed the peanut butter and chocolate.

“Well, if he gets too annoying, let me know. I can either put him to work or make him leave.”

The weather had cleared, so the instructors were taking jumps today. Someone else worked Thursday through the weekend while I was off.

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.”

“Chenoweth?”

“No.”

“Smithfield?”

She paused then went back to typing. “No.”

“It's not fucking ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’ is it?”

She laughed. “Nope.”

“Dammit, I'm running out of names.”

She hummed innocently. “Give up? How's your Cockney accent?”

I growled. “I'll never admit defeat.”

As she laughed again, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and used the browser to bring up a list of popular surnames. I blinked sleepily at the screen. My all-nighter was starting to wear on me.

“Isn't using outside sources cheating?” she asked.

“No. It's cheating if I find out your actual name by outside means. This should be considered research, which is fair game.”

She chuckled. “Okay.”

I started reading names from the list. Thirty names in and every name received a resounding no.

“I should look you up on social media,” I grumbled.

“Good luck with that,” she said.

“Why? Do you not have any accounts?”

“Oh, I do. But none of them have my last name.”

“Seriously? Fuck.”

Amantha laughed again.

I put my phone down on my lap and ran my hands through my hair. “Let's take a lunch break,” I suggested.

Amantha glanced at the clock. “It's only 11:30.”

“That's okay. Just take your break from 11:30 to 12:30. It'll be fine.”

“I was told 12 to 1. That's what we're doing.”

“Ugh. If you insist. I'm taking a nap. Wake me up at noon, would ya?”

“Sure.”

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. Sleep quickly overcame me.