Page 3 of Firecracker

She really did. More gratitude flooded through Arden, a little of the weight lifting off her shoulders. “Thank you, Mom.”

* * *

A week later, Arden arrived at O’Hare. Jamie was there to meet her, and when she saw him, sudden emotion swamped her. She’d felt lonely in Phoenix, abandoned by the people she’d thought were friends, until Mom showed up.

“Hey!” He threw his arms around her in a big bear hug. “You’re here.”

She nodded against his broad chest. He may be her younger brother, but he sure wasn’t little anymore, now over six feet tall, still lean but broad-shouldered. She hugged him back. “I’m here.”

“I’m glad. We’ve been worried about you. It’ll be good to have you here where I can keep an eye on you.”

Her head jerked back, and she frowned up at him. “Jamie. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m fine.”

He grinned. His mop of dark curls still fell over his forehead and ears, and he still wore dark-framed glasses, but now had a layer of dark stubble on his jaw. “I know, I know. Humor me. It’s been hard being so far away from you, knowing what you’re going through.”

She’d tried to downplay the disaster her life had been after Michael’s death, but eventually had to tell her family everything. They’d been there for Michael’s funeral, but she’d insisted she could deal with things on her own after that.

“It’s done,” she said. “Finally.”

“Good.” His smile faded and he studied her face. “You sure you’re okay? You look like you’ve lost weight.”

“Yay.”

He rolled his eyes. “As if you needed to.”

“Ten pounds. I always wanted to lose ten pounds.” She smiled.

They headed toward the baggage carousel for her flight, Jamie’s arm slung around her shoulders. “So, is the apartment ‘habitable’?” she asked.

He laughed. “Yeah, it’s habitable. We worked on the kitchen first, so you have a nice new kitchen, but there’s still a lot to be done in the rest of the place.”

“When you say ‘we worked,’ you mean Tyler worked.”

“Hey.” He frowned in affront. “I do help. I’ve been learning from him.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Well. Some. Mostly I’m just his gopher. I tried to use some crazy huge power saw once and nearly cut my hand off. But I have other talents.”

“That you do.” Even though Jamie’s success made her feel even more like a loser, she was proud of her geeky little brother. He’d started his business when he was in his senior year of high school and holy fuckbuckets, look at him now.

Literally, look at him now. Because all the other women around them were definitely looking. Jesus. She squinted at him.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She elbowed him in the ribs. “Those girls are checking you out.”

He smiled.

“I’m trying to figure out why.” She put on a mystified expression.

Jamie scowled. “Thanks.”

She grinned. Teasing her baby brother was making her world all better.

Eventually her bags arrived. “Holy shit,” Jamie said as he hauled one off the conveyor belt. “What the hell did you bring?”

“All my worldly possessions. In two suitcases, FYI.”

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