Page 7 of Burning For You

With that done, she switched over and went back to her full-time job. The one that paid the bills and gave her the freedom to return home, even though she’d said she’d never come back.

She went to her inbox to see her next task, saw the user manual and rolled her eyes.

Ugh, she really hated healthcare products, but it was part of her job as a technical writer.

Especially for a company who contracted out nationwide. Anything could land in her box and had.

Before she could start, she picked her phone up, scrolled through her recent calls and saw it’d been two weeks since she’d talked to Carrie Lancaster.

Her mom now. Well, she’d been her mother for eleven years.

Skye was adopted right before her eighteenth birthday, but it’d taken another few years for her to call them Mom and Dad.

“Hi, Skye. I was going to check in and see how you were doing. Are you all settled into your new place?”

“I am.”

She always appreciated the space and time they gave her.

Never forcing her to bend to their rules, just follow and be respectful to the best of her ability.

It wasn’t hard to do, even as uncomfortable as it all felt living in the same house with someone she went to school with.

Someone who knew her background, or what she’d chosen to share, which wasn’t much.

But moving in with them, she knew the Lancasters would be privy to more.

“I haven’t wanted to bother you too much, but was wondering if you’d be around for dinner sometime this weekend? I’m trying to get everyone together.”

“Which isn’t always possible,” Skye said. “I can make it, as long as nothing happens that I have to run out and report.”

Her mother laughed on the other line. Soft but understanding. “You still need to take time for yourself. You’re okay financially here?”

She smiled and leaned back in the chair.

“I’m doing well. It’s not about money.” Even though she’d just told Kyle otherwise.

That had been a lie. This was about experience.

Finding the answers. Finding the truth.

The last two no one knew about.

And she wasn’t so sure when she’d tell them. Or if there was much to even say.

“Well, you made it in New York City on your own, so I’m assuming being back here is easier, even if Glens Falls costs a bit more than Warrensburg.”

“I’m not that far and you know it. And I saw Tate today.”

She’d keep the fact about seeing Ash out of the conversation for now.

“Where did you see him?”

“At a car fire. He was keeping people back. I heard it go off over the scanner and went to check it out and get a story. I was the first one there, and with my connection to my big bro, he got me an interview with the fire captain and inspector.”

“Don’t use your brother like that,” her mother said, humor riding high. She did miss their conversations, even if they texted a few times a week. But texting was less intrusive and she could get back to people when she chose.

“I let him hug me,” she said. “He’d do anything after that.”