Page 63 of Hero Unbound

“I knew I wasn’t happy. I wanted to try to figure out my job…situation and do something about that.”

Theo heard the slight hesitation in her phrasing but didn’t press. This was her time to share whatever she felt was important.

“I was so isolated. Gareth suggested that we only needed one car since he was the only one who was working, and I agreed. He always had good reasons for why I shouldn’t be friends with certain neighbors or shouldn’t get involved with activities. Said my brain needed a rest and I needed a chance to recharge before making new friendships. To get myself mentally healthy.”

“Were you mentally unhealthy?”

She turned to stare at the fire. “I don’t know. I’d never had any mental health issues or been on any medication. But Gareth told me he saw signs. That he was the medical professional and knew best. That he could help.”

She turned back to look at Theo. “He had me on different medications, but I didn’t like the way those made me feel, so I eventually stopped taking them without telling him. Ironically, because I wanted to make him proud. I wanted to get my life together to show Gareth I was worthy of his love and attention. I started going to a women’s therapy group in secret.

“They were the ones who finally made me see that Gareth was controlling every aspect of my life and that couldn’t be healthy.” She sat back down on the couch as if she was too exhausted to stand anymore. “That stuff I thought had been accidents maybe weren’t.”

“Like the burn on your arm?” Things were falling into place for him now.

“Yes. How stupid is it that I really don’t know how that happened? My shoulder too.” She rubbed it. “I’m honestly not sure what’s the truth about either. If they were things that happened because of my clumsiness or something else. Every day, I’m always so clumsy.”

“You’ve said those exact words before.” In that same robotic tone.

“Because it’s true.”

“Is it?” he asked gently. “Or have you just been told that?”

She thought about that for a long moment. “I don’t recall ever being clumsy as a kid. The opposite. I was nimble. Always on horses and balancing on fences. Dad used to joke that I was a cat.”

“I don’t think you’re clumsy at all. And nothing I’ve seen you do around here suggests any sort of clumsiness.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes while she processed that.As an outsider looking in, Theo could already tell what had been happening in her relationship.

Gaslighting.

Psychological manipulation. Causing someone to doubt their perception of reality and the validity of their own thoughts and memories.

And it was very definitely a type of abuse.

I like it rough.

Bile pooled in Theo’s gut as he thought of her words and actions the night before. Eva very definitely did not like it rough. She’d been conditioned to think that in the same way she’d been conditioned to think she was clumsy.

“Gareth found out about the women’s group and we had a big argument about it, but then he said he understood. A couple days later when I was gone was when the dogs got hurtroughhousingwith each other. Gareth suggested that if I’d been home, it never would’ve happened. But I knew he’d done it on purpose. Sugar and Spice were so afraid of him.”

“So you left.”

“I had a couple of paychecks worth of money left in my original bank account he didn’t know about. I took all that, bought a junker car from someone in the paper the next day, and left. I knew if I stayed any longer, I would never leave.”

“You did the right thing.”

She looked over at him, despair clear in her green eyes. “I didn’t have any insurance on my car. I don’t have any credit cards or access to bank accounts with money. All I have left now are the clothes I happened to be wearing last night. Thank God it was cold.”

“You and the pups are safe, that’s all that matters. The rest can be replaced. Even the car. You can use one of the Linear trucks for as long as you need. Hell, half the town has borrowed an LT truck at one time or another.”

Her small shoulders curled in on themselves. “I don’t want to be a charity case. I don’t want to be…beholden.”

He pushed himself up on the couch next to her. He could understand why she would feel that way. “It’s not charity. It’s enabling you to do your job here—something we need that you’re providing way beyond what anyone would’ve hoped for in a temporary employee. And you’re damned well going to stay in the big house. I don’t even want to hear any argument about that. It’s ridiculous for it to sit empty when you need a place to stay.”

He put an arm around her, letting out a silent breath of relief when she didn’t pull away.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she leaned against him. “For the three months since I left, I’ve worked some odd jobs, but I was pretty much out of money and options when I rolled into town. This job has helped so much, but I still don’t have an overall plan.”

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