Bound to Burn

15. Wildfire Season

15

WILDFIRE SEASON

SASHA

Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus

The sun peeks through the morning clouds as the fog begins to lift. Anger licks at my skin, crawling up my chest and into my neck. I stand at the end of my dirt driveway, staring at my Jeep.

The keys are sitting on the driver’s seat, but there is no note, no phone call, and no text from Cash. I know it was him. Who else could it have been?

After confirming that the Jeep starts right up, I turn it off and slam the door shut. It’s a nice gesture, but the circumstances taint it. Did he still feel guilty about kissing me and then disappearing without saying goodbye?

I bite my lip, remembering the smell of gasoline and leather as he leaned into me. I feel like a moth to a flame when he’s around. When my hand was on his chest, I could feel how fast his heart was beating. I know he wanted to kiss me while we were dancing, and Grandma Jo interrupting us was strategic on her part.

That didn’t stop me from finding him in the powder room, gripping the sink and cursing to himself. Maybe I took advantage of him in that moment, knowing he was already weak, only because I wanted to know what he felt like, what he tasted like. When he grabbed me and lifted me onto the sink, he sent sparks zinging through my body that caught fire. That kiss was everything I hoped it would be - and more - because he damn near knocked the cowboy boots right off my feet.

But then he left.

I look a little closer and notice my Jeep is clean. The dust and dirt I had become accustomed to is gone.

He washed my f*****g Jeep.

I stomp back to the house, past the remnants of last night’s party. The lights need to be taken down, the grill needs to be cleaned, and the patio swept, but all that will have to wait until later. Grandma Jo stands in the kitchen and slides a cup of coffee across the island to me.

“You’re up early,” she says.

“Did you see Cash when he dropped off my Jeep?” I ask without any preamble, taking the coffee cup and rearing back as I burn my tongue with the hot liquid.

Grandma Jo shakes her head. “He must have dropped it off before I woke up.”

I can sense her watching me as I stalk out of the room. In my bedroom, I change out of my pajamas and pull my hair into a top knot. I grab my camera off the bed and tuck it in my bag.

Back in the kitchen, I grab the cooled off cup of coffee and pour it into a travel mug so I can take it with me.

“I thought you didn’t have to work today,” Grandma Jo comments, as I grab my keys off the counter and shove them in my pocket.

“I don’t.”

“Then where are you off to?”

“I need to run some errands.” I give her a peck on the cheek, slide my feet into my Converse, and head out the back door. Technically, I’m not lying. One of those errands is to stop by the record store.

Grandpa John is closing the gate to the pasture after turning out one of the horses. He carries a lead rope in his hand, wrapping it around his forearm.

Before he can say anything about the mess, I yell to him, “I’ll be back later to clean up the rest of the patio. I just have to run some errands.”

I take a turn towards the side of the house but he calls my full name, Sasha Magdalena Leone, stopping me in my tracks. I take a deep breath before turning around.

He makes his way towards me, his boots kicking up dust in his wake. I meet him half way, not wanting to make him walk all the way from the gate to the side of the house.

“Everything will be cleaned up by the end of the day,” I reassure him, trying to leave before he wrangles me into staying.

“I wanted to say thank you for last night.” His grey mustache lifts at the sides in a bashful smile. He’s not very good at the emotional stuff; that was always Grandma Jo’s job.

I never got a chance to introduce him to Cash, although that might have been a good thing because Grandpa John can be a little intimidating until you get to know him. This land has always come first, which includes the animals, then family, and at the very bottom of the list, fun, so it means a lot that I was able to give him one night off.

“I’m glad you both had a good time,” I say sincerely.

His expression turns serious. “If you’re running errands, I got a list for the clearing party tomorrow.” He refers to the yearly task of clearing away all the dead brush around the perimeter of the house in anticipation of any fires coming this way. “Chaney’s coming with his equipment, and were gonna help some of the neighbors too.”

All it would take is one stray ember to land on a dead bush near the house, and everything we hold dear could go up in smoke. Wildfires have already broken out to north of us, and the threat of them moving south grows more ominous by the day.

“You’re getting too old to do all of that by yourself,” I tell him.

“Did you just call me old, Sunshine?”

“You know what I mean.” I give him a stern look. “You’re not as young as you used to be, and you’re going to end up hurting yourself.”

“Gotta be done.” He chews on the inside of his cheek.

“Maybe we could hire some help?” I offer, getting an idea that would benefit both of us.

“Well, I’m not opposed to that, I guess.” He shoves his hands in his pockets, jiggling his keys against other odds and ends.

We had a wet winter that caused a lot of growth, but the summer heat and drought has caused a lot of plants to die, leaving behind fuel for the fires.

Grandpa John looks past me to the Jeep sitting in the front of the house. “I see you got your Jeep fixed.”

I nod, trying to hide my discomfort that Cash was responsible for fixing it. Aside from when I was five and Grandma Jo had to complain to my kindergarten teacher that someone stole my favorite unicorn pen, I’ve always been taught to fix my own messes, hence why I didn’t ask them for help when Danny got us evicted from our apartment and I needed to come home. I don’t want Grandpa John thinking I let someone else take responsibility for my problems. I had every intention of calling a tow truck to pick it up today if Cash hadn’t beat me to it.

“You got a real nice boss to do something like that for you.” Maybe he saw Cash drop it off, or maybe Grandma Jo mentioned something to him, but either way, nothing gets past him.

I look over my shoulder at the offending Jeep. It was nice of him to do that, and I wouldn’t have been offended except for the fact that he dropped it off knowing he would be able to avoid me.

“Yeah,” I grumble.

Grandpa John nods before he walks back to the barn, and I hop in the Jeep. The road into the valley is quiet, so I crank up the volume of the music from my playlist.

Traffic is light, and twenty minutes later, I’m pulling into the parking lot of Underground Records. On the wall in my usual parking spot is a sign that reads Employee of the Month.