Page 64 of Hero Unbound

“Overall plans can be worked out later. Tonight, you just need to rest.”

She looked over at the sleeping dogs. “I could’ve never started over without those two. They’re the only thing that has always made sense to me.”

He wrapped his arm more tightly around her. “That love goes both ways.”

“There’s more I should tell you too.” She let out a sad sigh. “Things I’ve done you wouldn’t like. That might change stuff between us.”

Her voice was so small, so exhausted, he couldn’t stand the thought of dragging her through more tonight.

“That can wait too. Tonight, let’s just rest.”

20

Aweek later, Eva barely recognized the woman staring back at her in the mirror.

How long had it been since there had been any sparkle in her eyes or a flush of happiness on her cheeks? Way longer than she could remember.

Hell, for the past year, she’d avoided looking in the mirror as much as she possibly could. The person she’d seen there had sickened her, although she hadn’t been sure exactly why.

She still wasn’t completely thrilled with the woman staring back at her now. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be completely comfortable in her own skin again. But at least the woman looking back at her now wasn’t half starved and homeless. She wasn’t terrified and lonely.

She was…happy.

It had been a week since her car fire and telling Theo about her relationship with Gareth. She wouldn’t have thought a week would make such a difference, but the evidence was literally staring her in the face.

Some for the obvious reasons: not needing to worry about having a roof over her head or if the pups would get fed, always being warm enough and able to take a shower whenever she wanted.

And the fact that Theo fed her nearly every chance he got. She smiled at the thought. He loved to cook for her—made her a full breakfast every morning and dinner every evening. He’d even brought lunch out to her at one of the barns a few times while she was working.

She’d joked that she was going to get chubby if he kept feeding her like that. And damned if that hadn’t turned him on so much that he’d dragged her into the barn storage room and made love to her up against the wall.

Now the face in the mirror flushed at the thought.

She turned away so she could finish getting changed out of her work clothes. She was going out with Becky tonight since she hadn’t seen her friend since the burning car incident. They’d both been busy with the aftermath of the storm and, in Eva’s case, not being able to keep her hands off Theo.

She loved the time she spent with him, but she also appreciated that he’d understood her need for independence. He’d allowed her to pick what section of the big house she would live in and hadn’t insisted on staying with her when she needed a little space.

He understood way more quickly than she had that too much of her life had been controlled for too long and she needed to learn to take that back.

Easier said than done, unfortunately.

She had to tell Becky the truth tonight. Some details about what happened with Gareth, but most importantly, the truth about her job.

She wasn’t a trained vet tech. She wasn’t technically qualified to work with animals at all. She had to explain the situation to Becky first, then to Theo, and pray they would both understand.

The Pennsylvania Veterinary Board certainly hadn’t when they’d stripped Eva of her veterinary license.

She let out a steadying breath. She’d have to find a way to face what had happened and see if she could turn it around. That feat had seemed completely impossible a week ago.

Now it only seemedmostlyimpossible.

A small smile crept over her face. It wasn’t much, but it was a step in the right direction.

The smile faded as her phone buzzed over on the kitchen counter. Another reason this week had been so good was because Gareth had stopped calling and texting her all the time. Maybe he was finally getting the hint that she truly wasn’t coming back.

She grabbed her phone and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t know the number. It was a Wyoming area code, but then again, that didn’t mean too much since there was only one area code for the whole state.

“Hello. This is Eva.”

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