Page 86 of Rekindle My Heart

“Someone pushed me into the wall, and when I got the lights on and went back to my computer, all my files on the fires were wiped.”

“Why am I just hearing about this now?” Ryan bracketed her face with his hands, and he scanned her for injuries. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, a bump on my head. Nothing to worry about. I have backups, but I didn’t think anyone knew I was working on it except…” Round blue orbs stared up at him. Her head shook ever so slightly.

“Who?” Ryan stood. His fists flexed as he thought of what he’d do to that person.

“It can’t be. I just told him today. Besides, he left on the call.” She picked up the peas and turned the bag over in her hands.

“Erica.” The growl in his voice rivaled Karma’s.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. “Minutes before, I’d told Walker. He’s the arson investigator. He wrote the original reports. If he wanted to cover something up, he’d have done it then, not go back and change it.”

She had a point, but he didn’t like it. He made a mental note to check into Walker Evans.

“I know what will make you feel better. Mom’s lasagna. Come on.” He held out his hand.

She eyed it.

Shit. She was backpedaling. Only one way to handle it. Avoidance. She’d slice his heart in two if he gave her an opening. So, he would talk about anything and everything but them. “It will be okay. We’ll find the guy.”

She pushed up on her knees, ignoring his hand. “I don’t know if I should go to dinner.”

“Come on. Mom will never let me live it down if she can’t cook to thank you for taking care of me, her baby boy.” He batted his eyes at her.

She rolled her own eyes in return. “Will she have that yummy garlic bread she makes from scratch?”

“Uh huh.” He could see she was about to cave. Victory was on the horizon.

“Fine. But only because she makes a killer lasagna.”

Score. Now, he just hoped his mom’s cooking could woo her back into his life permanently.