sweaty, and hungry, I look around my living room at my best friend, my parents, and my brothers—who came over when they got off work—and watch them haul the last of the garbage outside. I glance across to Tyler, his guys Jake and Mike, and Scott, who are in the process of seeing if the TV might still work, and let out a deep breath. Because of all of them helping clean and haul garbage to the local dump, my house is just about back to normal. I still need to wash my clothes and put them away and then get a couch and a new mattress, but for the most part, things look like they did before I left. I thought it would take me days to clean everything up, but with everyone’s help, it’s just about done.
“If I had millions of dollars, I’d buy you each a car or a house or whatever you wanted,” I say, and everyone turns to look at me. “Thank you.” I wave a hand around the room. “I don’t even know how to tell you how grateful I am for all your help.”
“Think you just did, sweetheart,” Scott says, smiling. “Though if you were a millionaire, I’d ask for Jet Skis.”
“I’ll remember that if I ever win the lotto,” I reply, and he grins at me before turning back to the TV just as it suddenly comes to life.
“It still works.” I grab the remote off the side table resting against the wall and flip through the channels. “I can’t believe it’s working.”
“If I were you, I’d still put it in my claim with the insurance company,” Jake says, looking from the TV to me. “I know it works now, but it could stop working in a day or a week, and you don’t want to have to pay out of pocket if you don’t need to.”
“You’re probably right,” I agree as Tyler walks across the room toward me. Once he’s close, he wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses the side of my head. I tip my head back to look up at him and whisper, “Thank you.”
“You know you don’t have to thank me,” he whispers back; then he leans down, touching his mouth to mine. The front door opens, and I turn to see who’s coming in. I grin from ear to ear when Bruce bounces into the room, heading right for Tyler and me with his tail going a hundred miles a minute.
“You’re home!” I wrap my arms around his furry neck and laugh as he licks my face. “I missed you too,” I tell him while standing to greet Angie as she comes inside with my brother.
“I thought about keeping him, but you know where I live, so I didn’t think it would work,” she informs me, and I laugh as she gives me a hug. “I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“Me too,” I say as she lets me go to accept a hug from Tyler. “Where are the boys?”
“With Beth. I didn’t want them to get freaked. Noah told me that things were pretty bad.” She glances around. “I guess you guys got everything cleaned up.”
“We did, but I still wouldn’t know how to explain to them about my missing couch, so it’s probably good they aren’t here.”
“True,” she responds, then looks between Tyler and me. “Do they know who could have done this?”
“Not yet. They said it will take a few days before they’re even able to get the prints into the system to do a search. Hopefully, we’ll know something soon,” I tell her as Tyler’s cell phone rings. I watch him walk off with his phone to his ear, and then I turn to ask if anyone wants pizza. I stop when Tyler comes back, looking furious.
“What happened?” Scott asks.
“That was Detective Miller. He said that when he got to the office today, he heard my name mentioned along with the break-in here. When the officers who took the prints got back to the station, he asked them if he could have a look at them, and on a whim he compared the partial he collected during the arson investigation to the prints they pulled today.”
“They got a match?” my dad guesses, and I look at him, then back to Tyler.
No way.
“They got a match,” Tyler agrees.
“But . . . but that doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone set a fire at your storage unit and then weeks later trash my