Kissing Fire Read Online Free Page B

In reality, the women were chasing him . He’d actually been the gentleman
about it and was honest with them and all, but they were so darn
relentless. I accused him of being an asshat and all sorts of
things. We had words and well, things never were quite the same
between us. I apologized and all, but I think I really hurt him. I
didn’t stand up for him and he was my brother. I was wrong. So, I
really don’t think he’d want me around his new wife and
all.”
    Melissa was super quiet for a long time. That was
unusual because she always had something to say about everything.
She finally nodded and said, “I can see why you would say that. But
maybe this is your big chance to redeem yourself in his eyes...to
show him that you were an idiot, you were wrong and that you love
him. Blood is always thicker than water, Ava. I’m bettin’ he’ll be
happy to have you close to him.”
    I smiled. Maybe she was right. Maybe I could find a
friend in his new wife, Caroline, and everything would be perfect
between us all.
    “I hope so.”
    “So, what are you gonna do about a car when you’re
out there?”
    “I’m just gonna do a month long rental until I come
back here and get the rest of my stuff.”
    “Damn girl, that’s a lot of dough.”
    “I know, right? The company’s paying for it
though.”
    We headed to my bedroom and started tackling the
closets.
     
    ********
     
    The following afternoon, Melissa took me to the
airport. My dad was on call (he was a physician like the rest of
the guys in my family) and my mom had conveniently decided she was
too busy. We pulled up in front and Melissa single handedly
unloaded the trunk and carried in all my luggage in one trip. I’d
never seen anything like it. Then she handed me a wrapped gift.
    “Here’s a going away present for you. I thought you
could open it on the plane. I think it’ll come in handy, wherever
you are.”
    “Oh Melissa, you didn’t have to do that!” I threw my
arms around her, or tried to anyway. There was a lot of her to get
around, so I did the best I could do. “I’m really gonna miss
you!”
    “Well, make sure you get a two bedroom because I’ve
never been to Seattle and I’m coming to visit. Hell, I’ve never
been out of South Carolina. We’re gonna have so much fun!”
    “You bet! Thanks for everything and I’ll call
you.”
    She left and I suddenly felt bereft. She had been
the best neighbor I could ever have asked for and she’d never asked
for anything in return. As soon as I was settled, I would send her
a plane ticket to visit me, I decided.
    After I checked in and paid that ridiculous fee for
my extra baggage, I made my way to the security check point. I’d
stuffed Melissa’s gift into my carry on, pulled out my laptop and
put it into one of those gray bins. Next I took off my shoes and
put them in one and added my purse.
    The TSA man motioned me through and I walked into
the metal detector X-ray machine thingy and held my arms up over my
head like I was doing the Village People YMCA dance. Apparently I
wasn’t wearing a bomb or didn’t have an AK-47 hidden in my vagina,
because they waved me through.
    As I waited for my belongings to be scanned, another
TSA worker held up my carry on and hollered out, “Who does this bag
belong to?”
    I was so proud of that bag. It was white with black
and pink polka dots on it and I just loved it.
    I hollered back, waving my arm in the air, “It’s
mine! Isn’t it cute?”
    He didn’t comment except he said, “You need to
follow me ma’am.”
    I knew how scary these people could be on any given
day, so I just smiled and followed him to another table, where we
were immediately surrounded by several men. Now I began to get
curious.
    They started pulling everything out of my bag and
dumping it on the table as they muttered among themselves. I
silently stood by and watched. One of them got on his radio and
called for the Charleston PD and told them to locate an FBI agent.
Now I was