Page 65 of Hero Unbound

“There’s my baby.”

It was all Eva could do to keep the phone in her hand at the sound of Gareth’s voice. She gripped the sink with white knuckles as her stomach tightened almost to the point of cramping.

Her eyes flew to the door. Why did Gareth have a Wyoming area code? Was he here in Oak Creek? Here on the property?

“I d-don’t want to talk to you.” She could barely get the words out over the pounding of her own heart.

“Wait now, baby. Don’t hang up. You haven’t taken my other calls or replied to my messages, so finally, I got an unknown number from God knows where so I could hear your voice. I just want to talk for a second.”

Some of her terror eased. He wasn’t in Wyoming; he was just using a number that had been assigned from here.

“We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Come on now, baby. We’ve been through so much together. Surely you can chat with me for a few minutes. I want to know that you’re okay. I’ve been worried about you for months.”

He sounded so sincere. Then again, he always sounded sincere.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You know how things can sometimes get confusing for you. Do you have someone who can help you if you start feeling overwhelmed? You know how you sometimes make bad choices when you get overwhelmed.”

“I’m fine,” she repeated. She should hang up but somehow couldn’t force herself to do so.

“It doesn’t have to be me, baby. I understand you’re upset with me, and although I hope we can talk through our differences at some point, right now I just want to make sure you’re okay. Do you have a job? Somewhere to live? Do you need me to send you some money?”

“I have a job.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m working with animals.” As soon as the words came out, she knew she shouldn’t have said it.

“Eva. Do they know? Do your employers know what you did?”

“I—”

“They don’t, do they?” Gareth let out a long-suffering sigh. “Baby, you need to tell them. Remember, it’s important not to pretend to be someone you’re not. You need to tell the truth.”

He sounded so reasonable. And that was the most difficult part of it all, wasn’t it? There was always some bit of truth to everything Gareth said.

“I am going to tell the truth,” she whispered.

“Good. That’s good. Are you sure you don’t want me to come get you? Tell me where you are, baby, and I’ll be there as soon as I possibly can. We can still work this out. Don’t you want to come home? We can get you whatever you need to make sure you’re happy.”

“No.” Her voice was still a whisper.

But she could feel herself being drawn to him. Even after everything, she still couldn’t force herself to shut him out. Couldn’t force herself to end the call.

Not because she wanted to be with him, but because she was so used to it. Like some sort of twisted muscle memory. She was so used to being with Gareth, doing whatever he said, that choosing to go against him felt unnatural.

“Okay, I’m not going to press because I really do just want what’s best for you. I’m not around to help you, but I hope you’ll find someone who can. Someone who understands you like I do.Someone who knows how clumsy you are and how you sometimes get in trouble.”

Now she stiffened.

I don’t think you’re clumsy at all. Theo’s words came back to her.

“I’m not clumsy.” For the first time, her voice wasn’t a whisper.

Gareth let out a laugh. “We both know that’s not true.”

---