Page 78 of Operation: Return

Epilogue

In all the years Eric had worked at Wayside, he’d kept his temper in check. What good did a temper do? But he couldn’t just sit and let his anger simmer anymore, either. Connor had to make a choice and he wasn’t going to like it.

Eric stomped his way across the yard and headed for the house after his last meeting with his guest. She’d decided that staying in the safehouse for the night a few weeks ago after Pete had been kidnapped was just too much. She was done with Wayside, and he was certain she wasn’t really ready for the world. Which meant he’d failed.

Wayside had failed.

Shoving the door open he marched toward Connor’s office. He knocked and went in the moment he heard Connor admit him.

“Eric? You don’t usually venture in here. What can I do for you?”

“You’re going to have to plan a graduation.” His voice was more growl than he usually allowed, especially with his boss.

“Graduation? Is Paula ready to move on?” Connor narrowed his eyes.

“No, but she says she is.” He looked away, toward the picturesque grassland out the window and tried to gather the right words to say. He’d tried to do that all his life and only once had he failed miserably. Then again, that had been the only time it had really mattered. Ali had laughed at him when he’d tried to explain all the reasons they were perfect for one another. He would never, ever, ask a woman for her hand again.

“If she says she is, then we have to trust her.”

“But she’s not.” Eric scraped his hands down his jeans, trying to get rid of the sweat on his palms. “I’ve worked with her for months and she’s still really spooked. She told me she had a regression when they had to stay downstairs after Pete was taken.”

“I couldn’t help that, I wasn’t here but it sounds like it was the right decision, given the circumstances,” Connor said.

Eric held up his hand, needing a moment to gather his thoughts. “Are we here to help victims or are we here to get our wishes? Making things right with women we left behind is a great idea on paper, but not in practice.” He swiped his thumb under his nose. “We both know Gabby didn’t mean to, but she brought trouble. Erica is a big help, but having her here doesn’t help the guests. This ranch either needs to be for the victims or for the men. It can’t be both.”

There, he’d said his piece. They’d managed this ranch for the purposes of healing for almost ten years, though he’d only been here for eight of those. In all that time, they’d managed to stay off the radar. They’d helped hundreds of people. But now, they couldn’t. Not with a split focus.

“Interesting.” Connor tilted his head.

“I don’t think it’s interesting. I think this mission is useless. We should stick with our original plan of helping people. Not helping ourselves.”

Connor chuckled. “Oh, I agree with you. What I think is interesting is your timing.”

Eric gripped the armrests of his chair. If his guest was leaving, only one thing could have interesting timing. “You didn’t.” He’d only mentioned her name to Brendon. Confidentiality should matter.

“Mrs. Wellthorp will be here in a week to assist Cole in regaining his identity.” Connor smirked.

The floor could’ve fallen out from under him. It felt the same. He’d wondered if she’d married the guy who’d offered to give her the sun and moon in the form of support and education. So, she was a lawyer now and a missus. Great.

“If she isMrs.Wellthorp, then you won’t mind if I just stay out in the barn while she’s here.”

“She’s divorced, Eric. It’s none of my business, but she mentioned it wasn’t amicable. Not on either side.”

His chest hurt and he struggled to breathe. “I’m sorry to hear that. I still have no interest in speaking to her.” Not after how she’d treated him. After she’d stomped his heart into the ground, told him he wouldn’t amount to anything and being the best was all that mattered to her. Let her have her best. He just wanted his horses and to help the people who came to him broken so he could send them on feeling better than he did.

“Eric, you have to at least try. I’m not asking you to marry her. I’m not asking you to care about her. I’m asking you to tell her that you regret what happened and see if forgiveness can come from it.”

Eric swallowed back his angry retort. He’d already given Connor enough of his anger. “I regret giving her two years of my life that she treated like nothing. I regret buying a ring that she threw in my face. I regret putting my heart on the line for a woman who didn’t care about me then, and got exactly what she wanted out of the deal, success.” He stood and headed for the door.

“Eric,” Connor said, his voice demanding Eric listen.

As much as Eric didn’t want to stop, he halted immediately. “Yes?”

“I meant it when I said that your idea was sound. I talked to Lacy last night about putting a halt on new guests until we finish this. Or, only taking people who have been in the world for a while and who just need a month or two away from normal life to finish healing. Maybe that’s not possible, but we’ve talked about it.”

Eric turned back to face him. “Why would we do that? Aren’t our clients more important than this? I get that you think this mission is important, but I feel like we’re saving lives in a small way with what we do.”

Connor motioned for him to sit back down so he took his seat.

“It absolutely is, but you’re right. Bringing strangers in here that don’t know how to act or how to treat our guests might hurt either one or the other and I’d prefer to hurt neither. We also need to make absolutely sure the threat of Viceroy is gone before we invite another guest here. So, while you might feel like our mission isn’t as important as saving the victims of trafficking, this is what we are going to do while we work to irradicate Viceroy.”

“Either way, we’re putting people in danger. Either the people we’re trying to help, or those we’ve loved in the past. I don’t know how we’ll ever know that it’s safe to bring people back. Where do you draw that line?”

“We can pray for an absolute line. The Lord wants these people protected as much as we do.”

“Then I’ll just pray you get that line soon. Before Ali gets here.” Because he wasn’t ready to face his one regret yet. Not when his heart was still thoroughly tangled.

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