“Does Jenny know it was you?” I ask.
She nods, tears spilling from her lashes. “Do you think Raffe will understand?”
“I think he’s going to be so happy she’s here, he’s not going to care how it happened. Did my sister ask you to do this in the letter?”
“Not exactly.”
Her head dips, but I grab her chin, forcing her to look me in the eye. “She shouldn’t have put this on you.”
“She knew I loved him, and I’d do whatever it took to see him happy.”
“And you thought setting a fire was the answer?” I admonish her gently.
“A good fire is always the answer,” she jokes. She reaches in her pocket and pulls out a shiny silver lighter. “Jenny gave this to me yesterday. My dad gave it to her.”
I look down and watch as she caresses a dragonfly on the front of a silver lighter. My lips press to her forehead. “He’d be proud of you for finishing what he started. She’s finally home.”
We look around the room. “I hope this place makes them as happy as it did us,” she says, wiping her eyes.
“I’m sure it will,” I tell her, pressing my lips to hers.
“I love you, Dirk. I love you more than anything. I hope you know that I would set the entire world on fire for you.”
“I do.”
Someone knocks on the door, interrupting our conversation. Tank peeks his head inside. “Oh shit, sorry. I didn’t know you guys were here. Lily sent Kelsie and me over with a bunch of stuff for Jenny, but we can wait.”
“No. We’re done here,” my wife says as she stands, pulling me with her. “We were just getting ready to head home.”
We move aside so Tank and Kelsie can set armfuls of stuff onto the bed.
“I’m surprised your mom isn’t here supervising. Has she even seen Jenny yet?” Jesse asks.
Kelsie turns away. “She hasn’t, but I’m sure they’ll get together soon.”
“I figured she would be excited. Jenny and she were close.”
“Yeah. Mom’s just been busy.”
“With what? I haven’t seen her in weeks,” my wife continues her interrogation.
“Um.” Kelsie looks at Tank.
He jumps in. “You know Lily. She always has projects of some sort going on. She’s immersed herself in this new thing she’s been working on.”
“Yeah,” Kelsie agrees, and I see the relief on her face that Tank came up with a bullshit story to save her.
“So, she’s okay?” Jesse asks.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Kelsie assures her.
I nudge Jesse in the ribs. “You need sleep. Go.” I point toward the door.
She sighs, because she knows I’m not going to let her dig any deeper. I’m fucking beat. She’s had me on a goddamn wild goose chase all night, and I’m ready for bed. I rub my finger over the side of her face, catching a tiny bit of makeup I missed.
“Fine, we’ll go,” she says, rolling her eyes at me.
Sleep can wait. I think I’ll spank her fine ass first.
