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“I think she needed some time.”

“We need to see her, Zarek. Especially Evie.”

“Why Evie?”

“I told her that Chloe said she hated me―”

“She didn’t mean it.” I interrupted.

“When I was able to step away, I knew that. Chloe will always love me. But part of her really does hate me for that day. We need to have a ‘Come to Jesus’ talk. Evie figures Chloe needs to see her too.”

“What are you talking about? Evie saved her life.”

“Evie watched while Chloe was beaten to unconsciousness,” Zoe said softly. The last four words I barely heard. “She let it happen.”

“Chloe doesn’t think that.” Or did she?

“Expect a visit soon. You’re good for Chloe—she’s going to need you beside her.”

“You can depend on it.”

Chapter Eleven

Chloe

Zarek was on one of his twenty-four-hour shifts. I’d dropped him off at the station so I could use his truck to go to my appointment. Hell, I didn’t even have to be tricked to go anymore, I was beginning to look forward to my time with Dr. Michaels. He didn’t even seem short anymore.

It was like a cloud was lifting and I could see the world a little more clearly. But in some ways, it made things suckier. Eventually I would need to leave Dallas, get a job, deal with my family. It was that last part that made me shudder. Maybe I would move away from Tennessee. I had always wanted to move North, maybe to Montana. As soon as I thought that I discarded the idea. Too cold.

I wandered around Zarek’s house, Slayer following me. He had his leash in his mouth. Couldn’t be more blatant than that. These days I could actually trust myself to walk around the neighborhood without a panic attack. Of course, having a dog that weighed more than I did definitely added to my sense of security.

“Come on boy, I’ll take you out.” I swore I could see him smiling under all his hair. I attached the leash and took him out the front door. This time I only had to check twice that the door was locked.

Progress.

I decided to go toward the small park so we could take a mild run around the swings. Slayer loved that, and God knew I could use some exercise. I’d lost a lot of muscle mass with my weight loss, so a little bit of a jog and then some of Zarek’s protein powder should help me out. When Slayer figured out where we were headed, he pulled at the leash in excitement.

“Hey, not too hard.” As soon as I said the words, he immediately came to my side. He looked up at me, his eyes filled with apology. Would Zarek allow me to take his dog to Montana? I bit my lip. I didn’t just want Slayer to go with me, I wanted Zarek to go with me too.

I got to the park and gave the leash more play so that Slayer could run with me following him. He kept me running, so I didn’t have time to think, thank God.

“Okay, done boy.”

I sat down on one of the swings, breathing hard. I tried not to think about anything but the pretty Texas day. It sure was a pretty state.

No, must consider Montana.

Slayer barked. I looked at eyes that were level with mine.

“Okay, is it Miller time?”

Slayer barked again. Apparently, it was. I got up from the swing. We could both use some water. I should have brought some with me. What was I thinking?

I took a sedate pace back to the house, talking to Slayer the entire way.

“So, what do you think? Does Montana sound good? You’ve got a mountain of fur, you’d probably love the snow. Now that I’m feeling better, I’m not cold all the time.” The idea of winter six months out of the year did not sound good anymore.

Slayer barked three times.