Page 6 of Hero Unbound

She looked ready to fight him as she repeated the statement again. Apparently a sensitive subject.

He bent his head in agreement. “Yeah, definitely yours. There’s no doubt about that. They clearly love you.”

She nodded, still not letting go of them. These might not be therapy dogs in the strictest sense, but ever since Linear Tactical had branched out into training animals to help with PTSD, Theo had become very aware of how dependent people could be on their pets. Eva was definitely dependent on hers. And vice versa.

“Is it okay that they’re here?” she asked in a small voice. “I can put them back in the car while I work. But honestly, they rarely go far from me.”

He would have three pairs of sad eyes staring at him if he forced those pups back into her car. “No, I’ve got no problem with them, if they’re not aggressive.” Which they obviously weren’t.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you. Becky is supposed to meet me here in a little while. I didn’t actually think anyone would be here this early.”

“I live here on the property.” Theo shrugged. “Have a house out on the south end away from everything else. I’m generally here pretty early.”

“Oh.” She stared down at the dogs.

“Can I show you around?”

“Really, it’s not necessary. I’m not trying to take you away from your work. I can figure it all out. Some of it I remember from when I was a kid.”

“We’ve made a lot of changes to Linear Tactical since then. Plus, I’d feel more comfortable showing you, rather than have someone wandering around.”

He was Ray and Dorian Lindstrom’s son. Nobody in his family liked anyone—especially someone setting off weird instincts—wandering around. More than once, a stranger here had turned deadly.

“Yeah. Okay.”

They walked toward the barn. He adjusted his stride to match her shorter one—something he’d learned to do early on, having two younger sisters. “Linear Tactical has expanded a lot from when we were kids.”

“Becky told me. Although honestly, all I remember is the playground.”

He smiled. “We’ve still got one of those. Plus, a lot more animals than back in the day. Do you have a particular animal you like to work with best?”

“I’m a large animal vet.”

“You are? I must have misunderstood Becky. She—”

Eva shook her head rapidly. “No, I mean, I trained as a vet technician for large animals.”

“Great. That will be very helpful here. I thought for a second you were saying you’re an actual vet.”

She stopped walking. “Oh. I—I… No. Just vet tech. Is that a problem?”

There was something happening inside her head he wasn’t privy to. “No, it’s fine. I just meant Becky might never let you out of Oak Creek if you were an actual vet. She’s getting run pretty ragged around here since she’s the only one.”

“Oh. Right.” She started walking again.

Definitely something going on he didn’t understand. The real question was why he felt the urge to figure out what was up with her.

Theo understood the need for privacy. He’d grown up in a world where isolation had been not only desired, but required. He didn’t tend to butt into people’s business or even want to.

Eva Dempsey was somehow the exception to that rule.

“Do—doyouhave a favorite kind of animal?” she asked.

He recognized the change of subject for what it was, but he let it go. “I’m on horses a lot. We provide the horses for a lot of equine therapists, so I learned to ride a few years ago. But I’ll be honest, Mushu is my favorite.”

“Mushu? You guys have dragons here too?”

Theo chuckled. He’d seenMulanenough times to get the reference. “Actually, he’s a miniature donkey. He’s the kindest animal I’ve ever been around. He’s been highly effective for use with people who fall on the autism spectrum—he’s gentle and soft to the touch.”

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