Suddenly her head pops up, green eyes peeking out from between the curtains to look at me. “Explain.”
I shift a little closer, even though this position means the rain is pouring straight down my face and I can barely see her. “Back when I was your age, I was a cop in the city. I saw some stuff. Stuff that’d make your skin crawl. It messed me up.”
She pulls away from the window, and I wait a moment to see if she’s about to open the door and let me in. But when she doesn’t, I sit myself on the steps of the camper and continue my story.
"When I started, I was like any fresh-faced kid. I thought I could change the world for the better, make a real difference, you know?” I let the weight of my head drop against the door and I sigh. “But after a few years in the thick of it, I realized we were just puttin’ Bandaids on knife wounds and nothin’ was ever gonna get better because the system is messed up. It picks kids up, chews them up and spits them out again, over and over, while offering no hope of real reform.”
Swiping a hand over my face, I wipe away some of the rain water and take a deep breath. “God, I wanted to do something good so bad, Millie. I really did. But in the end, all I managed to do was take a bullet to the thigh and get my partner killed. It was a routine call out over a home invasion, and it wasn’t supposed to go down that way. But it was the point where I knew I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t do anything anymore. So, I packed up my shit and moved back home to Whisper Valley, built my cabin and convinced myself I was happy that way—isolated, alone, away from the dark depths of society. But that stuff, once you see it, it seeps into your bones. It felt like the only thing I’d ever manage was to learn to live with it.” I stop and take a deep, shaky breath, then continue. “So that’s what I did. Until I met you…”
A hot, wet streak slides down my face as I smile, a chuckle unexpectedly bursting through at the thought of her. "You're so damn happy all the time, Millie. And Iknow,just from observing you these past few weeks, that it doesn’t come naturally to you. I see your struggle, sunshine. I know you have to work for it, which just makes you all the more special. Just bein’ near you has made me believe that there's still some goddamngoodin the world. Some happiness available for the lost. You give me hope. And you make me want more in life. Even though I don’t think I deserve it."
At first, I’m met by the same silence that greeted me on my arrival, and I let out a sigh, expecting her to tell me it’s too late and I messed all this up.She doesn’t want to know me anymore.Then suddenly, a loud sob pierces through the noise and I jump to my feet.
"Millie?" I reach for the door handle and thank my lucky stars that it turns. “Are you OK?”
When I pull the door open, I find her sitting in the middle of the van, sobbing in the center of a makeshift fortress of pots, pans and buckets, with a raincoat over her head as a roof. Dribbles of water stream through various holes in the roof and into buckets, already filled to the brim with leaking water.
"Sunshine," I murmur, my heart going soft at the sight of her. "Let's get you out of here and under some better shelter, yeah? Somewhere warm and dry."
“Wh-wh-what if I-I d-don’t deserve y-you?” she asks through chattering teeth.
“Impossible,” I whisper, holding out my hand. “I see you, remember?”
“I don’t think anyone has before,” she cries, sobbing a little harder as I help her up and pull her into my arms, holding her close as she just lets it all out and cries into my chest.
“I’m not gonna fight this anymore, Millie,” I whisper, my lips in her hair. “I know I should, but I’m just not strong enough.”
In response, her hands curl against the front of my coat, pulling me a little closer as she cries a little harder. When it seems like she’s calmed down, I scoop her into my arms and carry her out of the camper to my truck, driving her over to my cabin where I can look after her the way I want to.
And as I carry her inside, her lush body curled into mine, I make a solemn vow to keep her, care for her, and protect her at all costs. Much like her cabin, my walls have come down and I’m letting her in. There’s no going back now. She’s mine.
Millie
Once Dylan carries me into his cabin, he sets me down on a chair, carefully taking off my rain and mud-soaked shoes and socks, along with my drenched jacket before wrapping a warm blanket around my shoulders and pressing a soft kiss on the top of my head.
"Wait here, sunshine," he says, voice gentle, before he walks farther into the cabin, disappearing from sight. My teeth continue to chatter, but the warmth of the blanket and his kiss starts to fill me up, and my body stops shivering.
A moment later, I hear the sound of running water, and then a sweet, floral scent fills the cabin.
He comes back to where I sit and scoops me back into his arms. "C'mon, I've drawn you a bath. Let's get that cold outta your bones, Sunshine."
I say nothing, but I do let out a contented sigh as I rest my head against his chest and let him carry me around like a baby. I’m perfectly capable of walking, but there’s something so special and thrilling about having a man physically transport you from place to place with a gentleness that seems unnatural for someone so big and burly. In his arms, I don’t feel like the chubby girl trying to spread positivity online while hateful commenters belittle me over my weight. In my arms, I feel…perfect,light,wanted…
He carries me into a large, beautifully appointed bathroom where a massive claw-foot ceramic tub sits against a window that has a view of his property. And to top it all off, the tub is full of steaming, milky water with petals floating in it.
"Here," Dylan says, handing me a towel. “I’ll be right outside getting some food on to warm your belly and finding you something dry to wear.” He looks at me for a brief moment, his eyes moving over my body before he looks away and clears his throat. "You can leave your wet stuff by the door and I’ll get it clean and dry too."
Before I can even respond, he quickly steps out the bathroom door and shuts the door behind him with a soft thud.
Looking around his neat bathroom, I dip my cold fingertips into the warm water and grin over the fact that this big, manly man has dried flowers and milky bath concoctions on hand. It only makes me love him more…
One by one, I peel off my soaked items of clothing and drop them next to the door, pausing for a moment while I wonder if calling to him while I’m like this—naked in his bathroom—would be a good idea. I don’t get to find out the answer, because my courage eludes me and I quickly make my way to the tub with a stifled giggle. I’ve never had a man see me naked before, and as much as I want Dylan to betheman who sees me, I don’t think I’m ready to be the bold one just yet. I really need him to show me the way.
Placing my foot in the water, I slowly lower myself into the steaming pool and my whole body seems to sigh in relief. Something I vocalize as the fragrant warmth seeps in through my bones.
“Oh, god...”
Dylan's muffled voice sounds from behind the door, but I can't quite make it out. "What did you say?" I ask, then chuckle when he tries again and all I get is a gobbledygook of sound. "You can crack the door open a little, you know. I can't hear a word."
