Page 38 of Built of Flames

“I should go. It was good to see you.”Good.

He rose as well and followed her to the front door. “Have you talked to your brother?”

Bella nodded. “After running into Mitch, it seemed like the right time.”

“Good.”

More beats of silence.

Bella opened the door. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at the fire hall.”

“Good. That’ll be good.”

She saw the moment her father realized Mitch was waiting in his car at the curb. A small frown and then he nodded. Mitch lifted his hand in a wave.

Bella moved down the steps. “Bye, Dad.”

“I’m glad you came by.”

Her eyes flooded with tears, but she blinked them back before she turned back to him. “Me too.”

Mitch thought about getting out of the car to open Bella’s door for her, but that would prolong the moment and force another interaction with the Chief. Her stiff body language and smile told him it hadn’t been a disaster, but he could tell she wanted out.

As soon as she was in the car, she blew out a breath and buckled in. Mitch sent another wave to the man watching them from his stoop and then started the car and pulled away.

It was only a few blocks, so he didn’t ask her anything yet. He squeezed her hand instead and drove.

Once they were home, he closed the back door behind them and then pulled her in for a hug. “How are you?”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled in. “Good. It was good.” Then she burst into laughter. Not happy laughter, or at least not only happy laughter.

She gulped in breaths, but kept reverting to laughter and whatever else it was. Her body shook with the emotion and he held on even as he expected her to burst into tears.

Finally, she drew in deep, steadying breaths until she stopped laughing and shaking. With a squeeze, she stepped back and looked up. She wiped her eyes, although he didn’t think any tears had fallen. “Sorry about that. And thanks. That was just what I needed.”

He ran his hand over her hair and down to cup her cheek. “Any time. You want a glass of wine or a beer?”

Bella held up her hand which continued to tremble a bit. “A glass of white if you have it. If not, a beer is good.”

He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and then opened the fridge to grab a wine bottle. “My mom likes Pinot, so I hope that’s okay.”

She nodded and when he passed her the glass, she took a sip, kicked off her shoes, and moved into the living room.

He had an early shift in the morning, so he filled a water glass and followed in to sit beside her. “Ready to tell me what happened?”

Bella turned to face him, tucking one foot underneath her. “I think so. It was so weird. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but not much worse than it was before. We haven’t really been close since my mom died.”

She sighed and sipped her wine, staring at nothing. “I think between the two of us, we used the word good at least a dozen times. How’ve you been? Good. How are you? Good. I’m going to the station tomorrow. Good. It was ridiculous, like we didn’t know any other words.”

Mitch rubbed her knee with his hand. “That’s not a bad start. He must have been shocked when he opened the door to see you.”

Bella nodded and sighed. “I think so. He’ll have more time to think it over tonight. But I told him I wanted to visit the fire hall and see people. I also told him we’d started wondering about a serial arsonist.”

That surprised him. He hadn’t expected her to reveal that to the Chief. “How’d he take it?”

She lifted a hand and wobbled it side to side. “Not bad. At first he said if there was one, the squad would have caught it. Then I mentioned that not all arsonists need to burn frequently.”

“So he knows you’re an arson investigator?”