Page 35 of The Way Home

“But what about—?”

“Believe it or not, a jam tart is not going to make my headache go away. In fact, I don’t think sugar is what I need right now at all.”

Guilt flooded Jamie at the sight of his mother’s sad eyes. He didn’t usually speak to his mum in this matter—or get so easily irritated—but holy bloodyfuck.Living at home had been nice for about one day before he felt like chucking himself on his bike and pedaling full tilt back to London.

But he couldn’t.

Due to his head injury, Jamie could hardly hold a conversation for more than five minutes, wasn’t cleared to bike, and oh yeah… apparently lived with a man he barely knew named Caleb. Brilliant.

With a sigh, he said, “Sorry, Mum.” She lingered in the doorway of his childhood bedroom, looking at him with wide, concerned eyes. She only wanted to help. “Could you send Pippa in? I want her to show me how to play one of these games.”

The doctor said he should avoid screens for a while, so hisbrothers and some neighbors had dropped off a bunch of board games. It was a sweet gesture, but he was also annoyed by it.

These days, Jamie felt annoyed by everything.

“Yes,” his mother said, hurrying off. After a few moments, he heard his sister rushing up the stairs.

“What isup?”Pippa flopped onto his bed beside him, and the anxious ball in his chest instantly loosened. While he loved his mum, his younger sister always had a way of making Jamie feel normal.

“Oh, nothing,” he grumbled, picking up one of the games Benji’s wife, Laur, had bought him. “Want to play… Bananagrams?”

Pippa eyed the banana-shaped bag critically and then scrunched up her nose. “No, absolutely not.” She tossed the bag aside and turned to him.

Pippa looked the most like their father out of all of them. At least, that’s what Mum said. Jamie didn’t really remember his father’s face. He’d been so young when he left, but the man was the only explanation for Pippa’s ocean blue eyes and freckled face. That, along with her straight, blonde hair, made her look like she belonged near an ocean somewhere, not in the countryside of Bucks. Unlike her brothers, who all had their mother’s brown curls and green eyes and looked about as British as humanly possible.

A mischievous smile spread on her face as she hastily threw her hair into a pony.

“Let’s chat. How are you doing? Like...” She glanced at the closed door where Mum was almost definitely eavesdropping. She lowered her voice. “How are youactuallydoing?”

“Shit, to be honest.” It was true. Jamie felt irritable and confused and smothered. His head hurt when he was awake, and he had weird, confusing dreams when he was asleep. Being this way felt annoying and unfamiliar.

“Talk to me.” Pippa frowned, propping herself up on a pillow. “It must be strange. Not remembering your life.”

Jamie blinked. “Yeah, it’s bloody strange, Pip. I… When I first woke up, I was so surprised to see, uh, Caleb.” The name still sounded weird in his mouth. “I was worried Mum would judge me.”

“Makes sense. If you have retro-whatever amnesia—”

“Retrograde,” Jamie muttered.

“Yeah, whatever. If you havethat, then you woke up and were, like, still in the closet, right? That’s such shit. I hate that you were ever closeted. None of us bloody cared when you came out.”

Jamie shifted uncomfortably. “Even Benji? And Sam?” His brothers were nice guys, but they weren’t the most progressive humans ever.

Pippa paused to contemplate this and nibbled the skin around her nail. “I suppose Sam was a bit weird about it. But he never said much. Benji and Laur didn’t care, and I, of course, was super happy because I’m the most supportive, best sibling ever.” Her smile scrunched all the freckles up towards her eyes.

“You are,” he agreed. “How did it go? When I came out?”

Pippa’s blonde eyebrows pulled together. “Am I allowed to tell you? Didn’t the doctor say—?”

“Pip,” he interrupted. “Come on, it has been a week. I’ve rested. I’ve stayed off my bloody phone. Give me something.”

She sighed and squared her body to him. “Alright. Well, you called me and told me.”

“When?”

“Uh.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I think it was spring? Of 2023?”

“Wow. And that was…” Jamie did the math. “Two years ago?”