Page 89 of Return to Retribution Bay

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. He was pretty upset when he heard about the attack, but he can’t get leave for another month.”

Hope and defiance warred within her. It took her being stabbed for her brother to show any interest. Was he doing it for appearances’ sake? Perhaps he didn’t want his team mates to look at him badly.

“Do you want to see him?”

She shrugged. “Why does he care now?”

“I can chat to him about it when I go back to Perth if you want.” He smiled. “I’ll support whatever you decide.”

It was a scary concept. She didn’t know how she would react seeing her brother again. Part of her worried she would release all her anger and pain at being abandoned and ruin any chance of reconciliation. The other part worried he wouldn’t really care and she’d be devastated again. “Let me think about it.”

He nodded and opened the car door for her.

Back at the station everyone was waiting for her, including Sam and Ed. “Aren’t you two supposed to be on a flight?” she asked.

“We switched to the afternoon one,” Ed said. “Couldn’t miss welcoming you home.”

“Besides, it’s probably going to be delayed anyway,” Sam said.

Lara flung her arms around Amy. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

Amy winced at the pull on her wound but hugged her. Brandon had mentioned they’d skipped the details of how Amy had been hurt when they’d told Lara. “I’m sorry I missed your race. Congratulations on winning.”

She beamed. “Faith says I’m even better than she was at my age.”

“Miss Arnold’s a popular topic at the moment,” Darcy said.

“Sexy too,” Matt murmured and Darcy elbowed him.

“She said we could call her Faith,” Lara said. “Dad filmed my race so you can still watch it.”

“I’d love to,” Amy said and Lara grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the house. Amy laughed. “Let me put my things in my room.”

“Uncle Brandon said you’re getting married. That will make you my aunt. Will you be staying in Granny and Grandfather’s room now with Uncle Brandon?”

“Ah…” It was hard to keep up with Lara’s excitement.

Ed and Sam laughed while Darcy placed an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Come and help me set up the recording.”

The others followed them in and soon it was just her and Brandon. “You’ve moved inside the house?”

He nodded. “Darcy invited me to when I told him I wanted to move back. I figured it made sense.” He slipped his hand into hers. “I’d love for you to be in my bed, but I understand if it might feel a bit weird.”

She had three weeks with him until he had to go back to the army to finish his commission. She wasn’t wasting a second of it. “I’d love to move into your room.”

He beamed and kissed her. “Thank you. Come on. Let’s go watch Lara’s ride. Then we can move your stuff into the house.”

A blanket of belonging settled over her as his arm wrapped around her waist. He was her family now. This was her home. She realised with startling clarity that it didn’t matter how Arthur reacted when he visited. She’d found her own family, her own love and a permanent place to call her own. “Tell Arthur he can visit if he wants.”

Brandon glanced at her. “You sure?”

She nodded. There wasn’t anything he could do to take this away from her.

She was home.