He held Jimmy like that for a long time, until his brother’s tears and sobs finally receded.
* * *
No two ways about it, Jackson thought. He felt completely wiped out when he pulled into his designated parking spot at his apartment.
The scene at the rehab center with Jimmy had turned out to be cathartic for both of them. Certainly for Jimmy, but he was surprised that it had affected him, too. For the first time in he didn’t know how long, Jackson felt something toward his brother other than frustrated anger.
Maybe being around Brianna was rubbing off.
Not that he was about to say anything of the sort to her, he thought the next moment. The woman was bossy enough as it was. If he attributed something positive to her constant harping and preaching, he’d never hear the end of it.
No, this was something that he definitely intended to keep to himself, Jackson silently promised himself.
Turning off the engine, Jackson sat in his car for another moment or so, allowing himself to dwell, just a little, on the good feeling he was experiencing.
Exhaustion, however, was diminishing that good feeling’s aura. As was hunger. His stomach was making all sorts of strange noises at this point. Jackson tried to remember if there was anything even vaguely edible in his pantry or his refrigerator.
The only thing that came to mind was a box of cereal he’d opened more than a month ago. The cereal turned out not to be to his liking, but he hadn’t got around to throwing it out yet. And it had to be really stale by now.
Still, he thought as he got out and locked his car, if stale cereal was the only thing he had to eat in the house, he would have to make do. After all, the flakes weren’t poisonous—as far as he knew.
As he drew closer to his ground-floor garden apartment, he saw something on the ground right in front of his door.
A flat square box.
Jackson frowned.
Any packages that didn’t fit in the mailbox were left in the complex manager’s office. Packages were definitely not left on an apartment doorstep.
Suspicious, Jackson looked around to see if there was any sign of someone watching him, waiting for him to pick up the box or at least examine it.
There was no one.
He took a step closer to the box. The breeze shifted, and that was when he smelled it.
The very strong, tempting aroma of freshly baked pizza was coming from the box.
The tantalizing aroma went along with the logo printed on the box.
Mario’s Pizza.
Jackson carefully looked around again for whoever had left the box.
Still nobody.
He crouched down and saw a small piece of paper tucked into one side of the box. Carefully taking it out so he didn’t rip it, Jackson unfolded the paper.
Knew you’d forget to stop to get dinner. Thought you might be really hungry by now. This is my favorite—pizza with everything. Enjoy! O’Bannon. PS How did your visit with your brother go?
Stunned, Jackson sat back on his heels, staring at the note. Damn, this was positively eerie, he thought. On two counts.
How did O’Bannon know where he lived?
And how the hell did she know he had gone to see his brother? He hadn’t been a hundred percent sure that he was going to the rehab facility until he’d actually got out of the car there. Halfway there, he’d almost changed his mind and turned his car around to go home.
“This proves it,” Jackson muttered under his breath. “The woman’s a witch, pure and simple.” Holding on to the pizza box, he rose to his feet. “There’s no other explanation for it.”
The smell of the pizza was making him salivate, and the box still felt hot. What had she done, raced over with it?
Why?
What made her do something like that? It wasn’t as if they were actual friends. They weren’t even close. He’d purposely tried to squelch her attempts to get closer to him, or to share any sort of personal thoughts.
What did it take to make the woman take a hint and finally back off?
Obviously he hadn’t stumbled across the secret to that because if this pizza was any indication, O’Bannon was coming full steam ahead.
Look on the bright side, Jackson thought. At least you have dinner.
And then, as he let himself into his apartment, what he had just thought hit him with the force of a charging rhino.
He’d just told himself to look on the bright side.
Damn, Jackson thought as he put the pizza box down on the small kitchen counter. The woman actually was rubbing off on him.
He hadn’t been capable of looking on the bright side of anything for many, many years.
Not until now.
Chapter 14
Brianna was at her desk in the squad room early the next morning, researching the Old Aurora Hotel’s history. She was there earlier than usual because she had a feeling that Jackson would turn up early as well. She had no doubt that Jackson probably wanted to talk to her, and anything he had to say to her she wanted as few people to overhear as possible. When he got worked up, his voice tended to carry.
She absently took a sip of the coffee she’d picked up on her way in, her eyes on the screen. The coffee was already getting cold. Frowning, she put the cup down.
Brianna was only beginning to delve into the history of the work permits taken out for the Aurora Hotel when Jackson arrived.
Rather than going to the desk he was assigned to, he came directly to hers. She felt Jackson’s presence before he even said a single word and braced herself.
“How do you know where I live?” he asked, fairly growling out the question. He’d spent half the night expecting Brianna to pop up on his doorstep with some sort of dessert.
Brianna looked up at him, her eyes deliberately wide and innocent.
“What, no ‘hello’? No ‘how are you’? No ‘the pizza was
