“I can start clearing up the debris,” Noah says. “That okay?” he asks Dylan.
“That’d be great.”
“I brought muffins,” Goldie adds. “And granola bars. And I will absolutely be DoorDashing something more substantial soon. Both grandmas tried to send Lutheran Jell-O as comfortfood for all of us. You’re welcome that I convinced them that it wasn’t travel-friendly.”
We all have a good laugh over that.
Everett gestures toward the rubble near the front counter. “Want to walk us through what’s salvageable?”
“Absolutely,” Dylan says. “Rudy’s going to be so excited to see all of you.”
“Can’t wait to see him,” Everett says.
“And I can take this nugget for a while,” Tully says, bouncing Chloe on his hip while she giggles and holds on to his hair.
My heart melts into a warm puddle.
Rudy arrives, and he gets teary when he sees the Whitmans too. Once they’ve hugged it out, we get to work. Within minutes, everyone is moving with purpose. Camden hauls out ruined shelves, and Noah sorts through the inventory with Rudy. Goldie sweeps and sets up piles for all the things that don’t have a home anymore. Everett stands beside Dylan, listening carefully when Dylan tells him what the detectives and insurance adjusters said yesterday.
With them here, there’s hope in the air.
Hours pass in a blur of sweeping, lifting, sorting, bagging, and cataloging.
Chloe rotates among the siblings and is in her element. Goldie braids flowers into her hair from a bouquet someone dropped off. Tully teaches her how to say “surfboard” with the world’s most exaggerated surfer accent. Camden keeps her well fed. When she comes back inside after hanging out with Noah, they have a little house made of sticks that’s held together with wax. And she and Everett come back with so many shells, they could make a little path lined with them.
Every now and then, Dylan catches my eye, and there’s so much gratitude, so much love there, it steals my breath.
By late afternoon, the progress is visible. The chaos looks organized, and the air smells a little less like smoke.
Dylan comes over and loops an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him. “I can’t believe they came,” he murmurs, voice thick.
I lean into him, resting my cheek against his chest. “They’re amazing.”
He presses a kiss to my temple, and we both startle when his phone buzzes. He looks at it. “Detective Ruiz.” He looks around the room. “Hey, I’ve gotta take this call. It’s the detective.”
Everyone stops what they’re doing and goes quiet.
He answers the call, putting it on speaker.
“Dylan? Detective Ruiz, LA County Sheriff’s Department.”
“Hello, Detective Ruiz,” Dylan says, voice already tight.
“I’ve got news,” she says. “We picked up Paul Johnson this morning in Oceanside. He had your shop’s address in his GPS and a half-empty gas can in the bed of his truck. He’s been arrested.”
My mouth drops.
Ruiz keeps talking. “Johnson is claiming he was hired. Says Bruce Granger paid him three grand through Venmo to make sure the place went up. Was supposed to get another seven, but that never came through. Gave us a phone number and everything.”
My dad’s name feels like a slap. I’ve tried to put him out of my mind until we know for sure, vacillating between numbness and staggering guilt.
Dylan’s arm slides around me automatically. “You’re sure it’s him?”
“That’s the problem,” Ruiz says, and her voice lowers. “Johnson’s pointing the finger hard, but so far we’ve gotnothing solid that ties Granger to it. The Venmo account he named is registered to a prepaid card bought with cash at a Walmart in Madison, Wisconsin. No texts, no calls on Johnson’s main phone, no emails. Just Johnson’s word. And Johnson’s a three-time felon who’s looking at fifteen years, so you can guess how much we trust his word without corroboration.”
“So…what happens now?” Dylan asks. “It’s no coincidence that Dahlia recognized Paul as someone her dad knows. For him to mention Bruce by name as well?”
“Believe me. I’m seeing the intersection. Johnson gets arraigned tomorrow on arson, burglary…vandalism. We’re asking the DA to hold him without bail. Victim impact statements help, if you want to submit one.”
