His chuckle made her heat as desire ripped through her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to confuse you. When I was deployed, a bomb went off. I lost friends, my leg, and the two fingers on my hand." He wiggled his hand with the missing fingers. "The grief came in waves."
“Oh, I’m an idiot. Here I am worrying about myself when you actually went through something terrible.”
He put his hand on her arm. "Hey, don't discount the pain you suffered. Sometimes, emotional and mental torture is much worse than physical torture. Like losing my buddies, that was worse than losing my body parts. Sure, I have to live withmissing limbs every day, but the mental toll of my buddies being gone was much worse than the physical one of losing a limb."
Calla let her gaze drift as she thought about Thario's words. She had bruises, and her wrists might have permanent marks, or at least semi-permanent marks, but she was whole. Her mind was fractured, though. There was her life before her parents had been killed, then after.
She shook her head. “I don’t really know what to do.”
“You don’t have to know anything right now. You have time.”
She nodded. “But how much time?”
Thario took her hand. “You have as much time as you need. Once you get out in nature, you’ll have time to clear your mind. It will help.”
She knew it would. She used to love being outside with the wind in her hair. Moving to the mountains with Elowen and Griz sounded great. It also helped that Thario would be close by.
Griz came in to get their plates, and guilt hit hard. "I can clean."
“No worries,” Griz said. “I’ve got it. You two should relax. You’ve both been through a lot.”
The front door opened, and a dog ran in, heading straight for them. Thario laughed as the dog jumped up on him. He looked so happy to have his dog with him.
"Hey, Frog, did you miss me?" Thario asked, and his dog replied with a lick to his face.
She liked watching Thario laugh. By Frog's reaction, he would be laughing if he could. Maybe dogs do laugh, and we just don't see it. She didn't know much about dogs, but she would be happy to learn with Frog and Thario.
Thario reached over and took her hand. “Frog, this is Calla. She’s going to be around for a while.”
His dog turned to her and sniffed, then licked her hand. He sat and looked at her. She reached out and let him sniff her hand before scratching his head.
"Hi, Frog. You're a cute dog."
Frog barked and stood on all fours. “He wants to play. Do you want to go out in the backyard and toss a ball around?”
“Sure.”
They headed outside, and she kept an eye on Thario, making sure he didn't fall. She could tell he seemed dizzy and needed to take it slow, but he did look very happy to be with his dog again.
After a few tosses of the ball, he sat in one of the plastic chairs. She studied him, thinking he really looked good. His dark hair was a little curly because he’d allowed it to grow out a bit. He had kind eyes, and when he turned them on her, she wanted to pull him close and see what it felt like to kiss him.
Heat filled her. She shouldn’t be thinking that. There was no way he would want her, not with everything she’d been through. Her life was a mess, and she had no clue what she wanted to do if she ever could do anything other than just sit around like a lump.
Brent had almost ruined her, and she had no clue how to live. A few weeks in the mountains would help her get her act together. She hoped Thario came around often, because having him to talk to made her feel much better.
But she didn’t need to rely on him. She needed to stand on her own. If she couldn’t deal with her own problems, maybe she didn’t deserve to get better.
Chapter 16
Thario wokethe next morning feeling good. Frog lifted his head and stared down at him. “You want to go outside?”
Frog's small bark sounded like a grunt. Thario laughed and sat up, then grabbed his prosthetic and put it on. The crutches he used in a pinch had probably burned in the fire. It wasn't like they were super special, just convenient to have around at times like this.
Once he had his leg attached, he stood. "Ready?" Frog jumped around and barked. "Okay, okay, just not so loud."
Frog quieted and made small grumbling noises. They made it to the main room when he saw Calla standing in the kitchen.
“Hey, good morning.”
