Cherished

11

Eva froze at the sight of her old master, but it was strange to see him. She felt like a completely different person now.

"A few weeks away from me and you've already lost your manners," he said, seeming smug. His grip tightened painfully into her shoulder, and she tried her best not to flinch, trying her best not to be afraid of him anymore. He no longer owned her.

She took a deep breath.

"Let go of me," she demanded, pulling on his grip.

He gave a disgusting chuckle. "Where's your new master? I don't see him anywhere. Maybe I'll just take you back home with me."

Despite wanting to freeze, she continued to try to get out of his hold. He squeezed her shoulder painfully, amused by her struggles.

"Take your fucking hands off of her," a familiar voice said behind her. Graham.

He let her go, and Graham ushered her behind him protectively.

"Graham, I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was yours. I swear, sir, I just-"

It was weird to see the man she had feared for so long show fear of his own.

Graham towered over him, reminding Eva just how large he actually was. It made her realize that he had never used his size to intimidate her.

"How dare you show up at my business, threatening and hurting her? She no longer belongs to you. If I ever see you around her again-"

"Alright," he said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm leaving."

Graham turned to Eva finally. She looked up at him. She couldn't believe he had defended, without claiming her. Not once did he refer to her as his, or his property.

"Let's get warmed up in the car, and then we will talk."

She followed his tall form to his car that was still warm. It was a relief to be out of the cold after so long.

It was quiet for a few moments. She knew he was upset, and he had every right to be.

"Eva, I understand if you don't want to live with us anymore, but leaving on your own with no place to go is dangerous."

She was not expecting that.

"I can help you find a job, and then we can find you a place to live," he said. "It's not something that happens instantly, but I have done it for several others before."

He would let her go? She didn't understand.

He pulled the car out smoothly into traffic. He was still so angry. She could feel it.

Her shoulder ached, and she reached up to brush her fingers across it with a grimace.

He pulled his car up to the front of the house. The two of them stayed put for a few more moments.

"Just get it over with," she whispered, expecting him to lash out. He didn't.

"You didn't tell anywhere where you were going, and you've been gone for hours in the freezing cold. We didn't know where you were, or where to look.  Pierce has been in the woods for several hours thinking you might've run off in there. You're not even wearing proper clothing. How did you get all the way to town anyway?"

"I snuck into Logan's car," Eva mumbled.

Graham gave a soft curse, getting out of the car with a slam that startled her.

It almost bothered her that he was upset. Why should she even care?

"Graham," she called, following him into the house. He ignored her, going up to his side of the house and leaving her standing in the foyer.

She went up to her room. She was freezing. She took a shower and changed her clothes, getting in bed.

She couldn't wrap her head around how reasonable Graham was. He validated her wanting to leave, only upset because she put herself in danger. Did that even make sense? Why would he care?

Kenzie knocked on the door, poking her head through. "Rosetta wanted to make sure you got something to eat."

"Thank you," Eva said, letting her damp hair rest on her shoulders.

"You're welcome. We're all here for you, you know that?"

Eva gave a short nod. She reached over to the bedside table, handing Kenzie the five dollar bill.

"I took it from Logan. I'm sorry," she whispered.

Kenzie studied it a moment. "Geez, Eva. Where were you going to go on five dollars? We would have each given you some money if you had just asked."

"I realize that now," Eva admitted. "I hope Logan won't get in trouble. Graham was pretty upset."

"It'll be okay," Kenzie said, putting the five dollars in her pocket. "Graham would never hurt you, even if he was upset."

She nodded. She was starting to come to that realization on her own.

"I hate that I upset him," she admitted to Kenzie. "I hate that they were out looking for me. I didn't think that they, that anybody would ever-"

Kenzie interrupted her. "We all care about you. You're safe here. I know it takes more time than just a few weeks to heal from everything that you've been through, but we are all here for you."

Eva brushed away the few lone tears that she allowed to hit her cheeks.

"Eat and rest," Kenzie said. "We'll check up on you later."