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Michael tapped his pen on his pad and then nodded, returning to his questions about me and my plans once I reached the Senate.

His comments about Eva bothered me too, the same way that Reid’s had when he’d mentioned finding something suspicious about her and her background.

What did it all mean?

What wasn’t she telling me?

Thirty-Two

Eva

AUGUST 1

I saddled Acorn and Autumn as Warren pulled into the driveway a little after four the next morning. He was early.

And tomorrow he’d be leaving.

My stomach churned with nerves, and my heart ached at the same time. The reporter showing up yesterday affirmed what I’d feared. Right now, they’d want to know all about Warren Hayes, war hero. When the election got intense, they’d dig deeper into all his acquaintances, including the trainer in Oregon with the famed stallion rescued from Nazi capture. A trainer with holes in her history.

Everyone in Baker knew I wasn’t Bill’s biological granddaughter. What if someone dug up the adoption records?

What if Keith leaked the story to hurt me? To hurt Warren?

I was sick at the thought. The Keith I’d once known never would’ve done such a thing. Now I think I’d lost that version of my childhood friend.

“Eva?”

Warren was in front of me, studying me with concern etched in his handsome face. He brushed my arm lightly when I didn’t answer right away.

If I had any ounce of courage, I’d tell him the truth, give him the warning so he could prepare for such a backlash. But I was a coward. The box of medals still sitting on the kitchen counter—the box I still hated to touch—was a mistake. I didn’t deserve any of them.

“What is it?” He drew closer, his masculine scent washing over me and reassuring me.

I closed my eyes, fought every muscle in my body that wanted to lean into his embrace.

“Talk to me, Eva,” he whispered, so earnest, so kind.

“Let’s just ride.” I couldn’t talk with him. I was too emotional—I’d spill it all.

He studied me a moment longer and then took a step back and nodded.

We mounted the horses and set out on the trail, the stars still glittering overhead, their last sparkles before the glow of the sun overtook them. Warren led Autumn next to me, our horses keeping a steady pace as the wind brushed the trees around us.

“Any advice for me?” A smile played at the edge of his lips. “For the campaign trail?”

I appreciated the change in conversation, the levity. “What would I know?”

“Everyone likes you. Every man in my unit remembered you, and you spent all of two weeks in Kötzting.”

I chuckled. “Shake hands, kiss babies.”

“How is it you remember so many details about people?”

I blinked in surprise. It had always come naturally. “I sometimes pick something notable about their appearance and repeat their name a few times, visualizing that detail.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Perhaps you should write it down?” I shrugged. “I’d put patient details down in my medical charts. Doctors hated it, but it helped the other nurses, and they liked to claim they just knew all those facts.”