Page 55 of Hero Unbound

Dangerous mental health issues to Ray could mean a lot of things. Hers had meant she’d once tried to kill her husband, Dorian—although those had been pretty extenuating circumstances.

But Ray took mental health seriously. Her own struggles with it meant she was more sensitive to the same in others. Which was why Ray was who he’d wanted to talk to.

“I don’t think she’s dangerous. But sometimes she seems confused, like her sense of reality is warped or something.”

Ray’s quiet bark of laughter held no humor whatsoever. “Is she wandering around wearing giant headphones?”

Ray’s headphones had been mostly before his time, but they’d come out every once in a while, even after he and Savannah had been adopted by Ray and Dorian. The headphones had been a safety net for Ray—assuring her reality remained the correct one.

“I think her dogs are her anchor. And she’s theirs. But there is definitely more that has happened to her than she’s telling people.”

“Abuse?”

Theo leaned against the porch railing. “Maybe not physically. Other? I think probably so. She’s recently gotten out of a bad relationship. She’s not scared, but…it’s that she seems sort of confused about things she shouldn’t be confused about.”

“Well, it sounds like it’s too late for me to warn you not to get involved with her. Not that I would tell you that anyway,” she continued quickly before he could protest.

“She’s special, Mom.”

“I have no doubt she is, if she’s sleeping in your bed right now. You’ve never had much interest in casual relationships.”

“No, this isn’t casual for me.”

“You’ve also been taking on too much responsibility since you were about a week old.”

He knew she was talking about the incident when he was sixteen. The first time he’d ever killed someone. It had fundamentally changed who Theo was. But he didn’t regret the decision.

But whether he took on too much responsibility wasn’t the point. “I don’t know how to help her, Mom.”

Ray let out a sigh but didn’t try to convince him to leave it alone.

“You help her like your dad helped me—by being there. He was there when I wanted to talk, or when I couldn’t. He became my center when reality blurred around me. But more than all of that, he gave me time to sort through things at whatever pace I needed.”

Could he be all that for Eva? “Honestly, I’m not sure she would even allow help. She can be so closed off.”

“I had to hit bottom before Dorian could help me. And if she’s just coming out of a relationship, I’m afraid the road in front of her is going to be pretty long and twisty. One step forward, twelve steps back.”

“Recovery is never linear.”

“How many times have you heard Dad say that to me?” Theo could hear the smile in his mom’s voice. “But you’re patient like he is. Okay, go back to bed. It’s going to be a long day of cleanup tomorrow. Storms leave a lot of debris behind.”

Physical storms and emotional ones.

* * *

“Good morning.”

Theo turned from the pancakes he was making at Eva’s soft greeting. After the talk with his mom, he’d gotten back in bed with her, but she’d been so exhausted that she hadn’t stirred even a little bit. As the sun came up, he knew they both had work to do, so he’d eased out of bed once again to make breakfast.

He smiled and walked over to her for a gentle kiss. “Good morning.”

She’d gotten her clothes out of the laundry room and was wearing her normal uniform of colorful scrubs. The rest of the clothes she’d been wearing yesterday were folded in a neat pile on the couch.

“Do you know how much damage the storm did yet?” She eased out of his arms to get a cup of coffee, and he turned back to the pancakes.

“Tucker is already making the rounds here on property. Buildings and barns are all fine. We’ll need to do some debris cleanup, but overall, not bad.”

She leaned up against the counter near where he was cooking. “I have to figure out what to do about my car.”

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