I nearly trip over one of the new fences on the ground, heat radiating on the sole of my bare foot as I stumble. But the pain doesn't matter to me. I need to get to her. I need to explain.
She doesn't understand…
Fuck!Why did I ever keep those damn clippings in the first place?
“Millie!” Skidding to a stop outside her campervan, my knuckles hover over the door, but I hold myself back. My instinct is to always be bullish, but I can't be with a precious flower like Millie. She needs me to be gentle, and I want to be so damn gentle with her. But right now, I’m scared as fuck that I’m going to lose her.
I take three deep breaths, then gently knock. “Millie?”
Like the night before, I’m met with silence. But that’s not going to stop me from talking to her and trying to get her to understand.
I place my hand against the door, hoping it’ll make me feel connected to her somehow. "I know what you found, Millie," I start, trying my hardest not to let desperation seep into my voice. "And I need to explain. Please let me in. It's not what you think."
Straining my ears, I hear nothing. Not a single response.
A dagger stabs my heart, and my throat turns thick with emotion. “You have to understand that those articles…they came outbeforeI was cleared of any wrongdoing. It was an accident. I never meant—” My throat closes as my eyes burn, memories of that night flooding my brain and taking my strength away. I drop my weight on her step and rest my head in my hands. “Please talk to me, sunshine.”
Silence.
“Fine. I’ll talk to you then,” I say, gathering my strength to force myself to recount the details of that night. The night that ended my career and took the lives of two innocent people and one very guilty one.
“It’s a night that has haunted my dreams for over a decade,” I explain when I finish, wiping the tears dripping off the end of my nose as I sit back and take a calming breath. “I’ll always regret it, even though I know I can never change its outcome. All I’ve ever been able to do is live with it, and hope their souls understand how truly sorry I am.”
I look at the wall of the camper, imagining her in there listening to me, curled up in a ball like she was when I found her last night. "But if that changes how you feel about me, then I understand completely”—my voice shakes, and so do my hands—"but I need you to know that I wouldneverhurt you, sunshine. I couldneverhurt you. Nor would I ever hurt anyone without cause. That kind of violence isn’t in me."
When I strain my ears, there’s still nothing emanating from the camper, not a sob nor a sigh. Nothing.
Rising to my feet, I furrow my brow and reach for the door handle. When I pull it open, I met with the same thing I’ve been getting this whole time—nothing. She’s not even in there.
“Fuck.” My shoulders slump in defeat. I've never shared my story like that, never wanted the acceptance of someone so much before now, and she wasn’t even here to hear it.Where is she?
Millie
Driving past the signpost that announces I’m exiting Whisper Valley, I decide to pick up my phone and call my brother. I’m freaking out here and I really need a little perspective. Since my brother is the most logical person I know, I really need him to talk me down.
“Hey there, you've reached the personal phone of Wes Lee…”
Voicemail. I sigh and hang up the phone, figuring I’ll just have to wait to talk to him when I get back to Kismet Cove. I know it’s considered cowardly to run back home at the first sign of trouble, but right now, I really need my family around me. I don’t know what to think of what I saw in Dylan’s kitchen, but what I do know is that I need a little time and space to figure it out and decide how I feel about it. And since my brother is also a cop, he might be able to look into this and give me a little insider knowledge.
After a couple of hours’ worth of driving and deep breathing, I pull off the main highway and make my way along the familiar roads that lead toward Kismet Cove. The dashboard clock tells me it's just before noon, so I should make it to Lovers’ Lake just before Wes gets off for lunch. He’s the bike cop in charge of that area, and since he’s a creature of habit, I know exactly where he’ll be taking his break.
“Hey, big brother,” I say when I find him sitting under a big oak tree eating a donut.
Wes looks up at me in surprise, shifting to the side to make space for me to sit with him. "Millie? What are you doing here?"
“Needed a familiar face.” I relax against the thick tree trunk next to him and gesture to the jelly-filled donut. “Last I heard, getting your hand on one of those donuts was tough work.”
A funny little grin takes over his face and I’m quick to recognize it as a man who’s head over heels in love. “Seems that was all a bit of a misunderstanding. Tamara—the woman who owns the donut truck—didn’t have the right permits. But I got Mom to help her out and…” He grins and lets out a sigh.
“Now you’re in love.”
“Now, I’mengaged.”
My eyes go wide and I immediately slap him against his chest. “Engaged! What the hell, Wes? Why don’t I know this already?”
That gooey grin of his gets bigger. “It happened kind of…suddenly.”
“What do you mean?”
