Into the Fire

From my novel Seeing . . . 

A part of Chapter 17

“I have to go east early tomorrow morning. Are you coming or staying?”

     Quiet. “Do I have to go?”

     “No, of course not.”

     “Then I’ll stay and take your calls, clean up the house. May I clean your bathroom?” She tried to look nonchalant but only made it to subservient.

     He laughed. “Believe me, you don’t want to tackle that.”

     “Micah Jones, if you’re going to let me stay here, I plan on earning my keep. If you could just show me where you keep the cleaning supplies, I’ll have this place shining when you get home.”

     The fire warmed the room and made her hair gleam. “Do you have any idea how hard this is going to be for me?”

     “I—” He watched her think through her response. “I don’t want it to be.”

     He sat back hard in his chair. “Do you remember some of our conversations the last time you were here?”

     “Okay, yes.” She jerked up and began to pick up her dishes.

     He sat forward and set his tray aside. He stood and intercepted her as she headed for the kitchen, taking her dishes and setting them on his own. “Sit down. Please.” He took a deep breath. “If this is going to work, you can’t be overreacting to everything I say. You’re going to have to tough it out once in awhile when communication doesn’t go the way you might want it to. Alright?”

     Her pale blue eyes darted away from his, but she sat down on the couch.

     “I’ve grown up about as opposite of you as is probably possible. We don’t think alike, we don’t act alike. Since Jean died I’ve had no problem being alone. Frankly, no woman has caught my eye for more than a first glance. And then I stop to have breakfast and I get a visual image of you as a helpless little girl being raped. Prior to that, all I’d had were verbal declarations of what had happened to some people. It shook me up pretty good.” Micah was still standing, but he sat back on the edge of his chair. “Then you got beat up, and I knew I was supposed to bring you here. We had a pretty good week, and, yeah, I didn’t want to take you back, but I can’t trust my feelings, Bonita. I’ve been lonely so long, and you filled that gap. But that’s not enough. I mean, just you making me feel good about comin’ home. There’s so much more goin’ on here.”  

     “I won’t try to seduce you, Micah Jones. I promise.”

     He barely made out the words. He stood and ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t have to try, Bonita. It’s the elephant in the room. Maybe you don’t remember what you said to me, but I sure do. It’s ringing in my ears right now.” He hadn’t meant for his voice to elevate, and he only realized it when her expression changed. He grabbed the back of his neck with both hands and looked up to the beams. “God!” He clanged the dishes together as he grabbed them and went to the kitchen, shoving them in the sink. He stood there, looking out the window into the dark, his arms stretched tight away from the counter with his hands in a taut grip around it.

     Peace, be still.

     For a moment, he wanted to argue with the Lord, but he succumbed to the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit. He looked at the floor and let go of the counter. He turned to see her at the kitchen entrance. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice under control.

     “If you’ll just let me stay here until I can get some money coming in, then I could move out.”

     He couldn’t help the baffled laugh that escaped. “Bonita, the cost of living over here is twice what it is over there. We’ll work something out, okay? I’m beat. I should be gone before you get up.” He walked past her and started up the stairs but stopped and turned back to her. “You going to be here when I get back?”

     She nodded. “Micah Jones, can you tell me where you keep the cleaning supplies?”

     He stared down at her. “You live here now. You’ll find ‘em.” The fire’s glow reflected in her eyes. He gave her a smile and headed up to bed.

     “Micah Jones,” she called.

     He kept walking. “I know. You’re welcome.”

Father, apart from you, I can do nothing. That's a fact. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.