Page 84 of All We Carry Home

Eddie walked up and handed me a canteen. “She might need this.”

I took it, and the clear signal of what he thought I should do.

I saddled Autumn rather clumsily, had Bennett check my work since he’d ridden his whole life, and then followed Eva’s path.

I found her where I expected, on the wooden structure built two generations prior. I tied Autumn to the tree, though Acorn grazed nearby, unrestrained. Eva sat with ankles crossed and knees to her chest, looking at the horizon.

There wasn’t any sign of tears. No red-rimmed eyes or tear streaks down her dusty cheeks. I hadn’t ever seen her cry, even after all the setbacks we’d faced.

I sat beside her. The humid air whirled around us, the trees swaying in the increasing wind.

A storm was coming.

She closed her eyes, the soft tendrils of her hair sweeping over her face. “Did Cheryl bring up the banquet again?” she asked calmly.

“Said you have to go.”

She nodded and opened her eyes, brushing the hair behind her ears. “I know I should. But it’s another two days of training lost.”

“You should capitalize on the momentum from the show.” I handed her the canteen.

She looked over at me sheepishly. “Will you come with me?”

“Of course.”

“I thought about what you said.” She drew in a deep breath, took a swig of water. “That we need to fight back. I know a guy in the FBI. I think he might be able to help since Sheriff Lowe is compromised.”

“FBI?”

“A patient I treated in Guam works for the Bureau now. He owes me a favor.”

“What for?”

“He was laid up for weeks and nearly lost both legs. I helped him write some thoughtful letters to this girl he liked back in his hometown.” She smiled. “He made a full recovery and married that girl.”

“He definitely owes you.”

She rolled her shoulders back. “I’m guessing Victor is monitoring our phone conversations, since the line is shared. We can make some calls in Seattle.”

I wanted to ask about the fear in her eyes and what dark place she’d gone to back at the ranch. I wanted to protect her from ever going to that place again. But now it was business as usual.

She was strong, resilient. Cheryl was right. Eva hadn’t needed me to come rescue her after all.

Yet, as the silence stretched between us, I could feel her pain and fear still radiating.

“I do like having so many people on the ranch.” She pressed her lips together. “It feels like it was when I first came to the ranch, when Gramps had five or six wranglers working for him and we ran hundreds of cattle each year.”

“How old were you?”

“Six.” Her voice was barely audible.

“What happened to your parents?”

She looked down at her lap and breathed, “They died.”

So alone at such a young age. No wonder she was so tough and self-sufficient.

“How did you find Bill?” I knew I was venturing into uncharted territory, implying she was adopted.