Page 7 of Redwood Blaze
“Thanks for all of the congratulations treats.” I lean in closer but she doesn’t move. Our foreheads are a nickel’s width from touching.
Something slickens in my chest, almost like my heart is wanting to reach out to her. I close half the distance and now our breaths mingle. Her eyes fall closed.
“Millie, please, I want to?—”
She slides back, dropping my hand in the process.
I miss the connection like a phone call dropped in the middle of an important conversation. Her absence emotionally stings more than I anticipated, a sharp reminder of the space between us that seems to expand with each second. She opens her eyes, a mixture of uncertainty and something deeper flickering within their depths. It’s a hurt that calls to me, urging me to bridge that gap once more.
“I can’t,” she whispers, her voice barely above a sigh, as if saying it aloud might shatter the fragile intimacy that lingers in the air. It hangs between us, thick and heavy with unspoken words that have been so close to threatening a boil over.
My pulse quickens, each beat echoing the truth I’ve been too afraid to express. “Millie, I need you to know that?—”
“Please,” she cuts me off, urgency tinged with sadness in her tone. “You don’t understand. It’s just not that simple. I can’t.”
The walls she’s built around herself, intricate and fortified against any emotion that threatens to seep through, grow a little taller. I want to dismantle them, one brick at a time, yet there’s a futility in any effort. The fragile threads of hope weave through my heart, but the weight of her hesitation and denial rip them back out again.
She stands. “You’re welcome for the treats. Now, you better get out there and enjoy.” Her phone buzzes and when she glances to the screen, her mouth drops open and the phone clanks to the desk.
“Everything okay?”
“Ummm… yeah. Go on… get some food.” The words are all stunted and feel like her brain is processing something else. She doesn’t look at me again.
I start to open my mouth to ask more questions, but she stands and rounds her desk, that professionalism returning full-force.
It's not just fires I want to fight. It’s the fears and worries that are inside of her.
If only she knew that even in the flames, I’d stand beside her.
FOUR
MILLIE
I hearthem cheering for Rusty from down the hallway. He’s well-loved and respected on the team. And he’ll never be a problem from a job standpoint, but personal one… I almost let it get too far. I almost gave in to temptation and I can’t do that.
Especially after that text. I lift my phone and my hand shakes as I open the messages to read it again.
Unknown: Millie, it’s me Terra Stivrins. I know this isn’t normal and I could get fired, but I just heard from Gideon’s parole officer that he’s disabled his ankle monitor and they believe he’s hijacked a car and headed out of Oregon. If you haven’t left, please, please, think about getting out of town.
I change her contact card to read her name and shake as I respond.
Millie: I can’t keep running, Terra.
Terra: Then please let people around you know what’s happening so they can protect you.
No, I can’t. I won’t put them in danger, too.
Plus, they have jobs to do. Sooner or later they’ll be out on the mountain, facing their own challenges.
Millie: I will.
Terra: Promise me.
I huff. For a woman who I’ve only met twice, she sure is an insistent thorn in my side.
But there’s someone else who has been a knife in my side.
Millie: I
