Page 114 of Hometown Hottie

“This is Mr. Rickman,” the fireman said. “He’s the arson investigator assigned to this case. We’d like to take a look around if that’s okay with you, Ms. Murphy.”

“Of course.” I glanced at my brother once the men started walking toward the bakery. “I’ll be back when they’re done. Then we’ll keep talking.”

“Actually,” he said, clearing his throat. “Will you be okay staying here alone for a few minutes?”

“This is probably going to take longer than that. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to be hanging out while they do what they need to do.”

“Is Carson still at your place?”

Excitement zapped through me as I nodded. “I think so. He was still sleeping when I left, but you’re only allowed to go there if you promise me there will be no more fighting.”

“I promise.” He eyed the officials for a moment before he looked back at me. “Don’t answer any weird questions, okay? The normal, run of the mill stuff is fine, but if they start asking the same stuff that the sheriff did last night, Dad said to call him.”

“I’ve got this,” I assured my brother, inclining my head toward his truck. “Go find him, Ryan. I’ll call Dad if I need any help, but you need to go clear the air. There’s good coffee in the cabinet next to the mugs, and if it comes down to it, the good whiskey is in there too.”

Ryan laughed as he backed away from me. “Thanks. Love you, sis. Call us if you need us.”

“I won’t,” I said.

I watched him go with a sense of relief so strong it was almost dizzying. After all this time, all the fights, and all the fear, Ryan had come around. That felt like a dream come true in and of itself, and the joy of realizing it was so intense that not even the fire could take it away.

The bakery was gone, but it could be rebuilt. It was a setback, but it was temporary. What Ryan was about to do, however, would be permanent. If he had really made his peace with Carson and me being together, then there was nothing standing in our way anymore.

We could be together, out in the open, for real, and if that was true, then not even arson or the person investigating it could bring me down today. This really was the first day of the rest of my life, and I wasn’t about to start it feeling dejected or defeated.

Instead, I was going to look at this as an opportunity to start again and to do it even better this time.