Page 71 of Hero Unbound

The music turned to an up-tempo beat, and half the bar, including most of Sam’s helitack crew, hit the dance floor. Obviously, everyone loved having the firefighter team here.

“Let me get us some drinks, and you can tell me more about it,” she said.

“Drinks are on me. It’s not often a guy can buy his long-lost baby sister a drink. But I can only have one beer.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Turn into a lightweight over the past couple years?”

“Nah. But we’re all still officially on duty, so only one for all of us.”

He got the attention of a waitress, and soon they were deep in conversation. The more she heard her brother talk—about his life and their parents’ lives in Colorado, about all the things she’d missed—the more she wished she’d never allowed herself to become isolated from her family. She could see clearly, here from the other side, how much stronger she was with them.

She kept the information about herself pretty brief. She still had a lot she needed to sort out before she was ready to tell the whole truth. Plus, she was too busy soaking in all the details of her loved ones that she’d missed.

Sam was walking her over to introduce her to his teammates when his phone buzzed. Not just his—everyone’s on the team.

“Looks like the one-beer policy was the right call tonight.I hate to cut this short, but we’ve got to go.” He pulled her in for a hug.

She hugged him back. “I’m so glad I got to see you, Sam. I’m so sorry that—”

He put a finger over her lips. “No need for sorry. You’re my sister. The only one I’ve got. I hope you’ll stick around here so I can see you more.”

“I’m hoping I can do that too.”

He kissed her forehead. “Call Mom and Dad.”

She rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know if they want to hear from me. The things I said to them…”

“They do. I promise.” He pulled her in for another quick hug. “Call them.”

Before she could respond, he and the team ran out the door.

“Looks like we both lost our dates for the evening.” She turned and found Theo behind her.

“Is Derek going to be okay?”

Theo rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s a pretty complicated situation, and although Derek thought he was doing right by Becky with his choices, I’m not sure she’s ever going to see it that way. Some things can’t be fixed.”

Eva was afraid Theo was going to feel the same way about her when he found out the truth. “Yeah.”

“Hey, you want to finish our talk? About the car fire and stuff?”

The music had mellowed back down to a slow dance tempo. “Actually, I was wondering if we could just dance. It’s been a long day.”

She was being a coward, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

He pulled her into his arms. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”

22

The next day, Eva walked into the Oak Creek pharmacy to pick up a prescription for one of the miniature pigs. The pharmacy worked with Becky to keep her most-needed animal medical supplies in stock so she wouldn’t have to drive the hour into Reddington City every time one of the animals needed something.

The twinge Eva felt this time picking up the medication was different from the one she’d felt the past few weeks when she’d done it. Before today, it had been a ping of sadness because she wasn’t the one writing the prescriptions. She would never be the one writing the prescriptions.

Today it was because she still hadn’t told Becky or Theo the details behind that fact.

But enough. She was ready to tell both of them and let the chips fall where they may. She wasn’t going to let this hang over her head any longer.

If Becky weren’t MIA, Eva would already be with her right now. But evidently, seeing Derek last night had done a number on the other woman’s psyche, and she’d told Eva she’d be taking a couple days off. Thus, Eva here picking up the prescription.

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