Page 218 of Unexpected Heroine

With pep in her step, she leads me through the meeting room toward the open chairs on the far side. As we pass by the food table, I swipe two packages of mixed nuts and a water bottle. Score one for sealed snacks.

After our butts hit the seats, Tina springs back to her feet barely a second later. “Oh my gosh. Amber’s here.” She flaps her hands, and her voice is coated in youthful glee like she’s just glimpsed a celebrity.

My eyes scan the room for the paparazzi, coming up empty.

I don’t recall Tina being this childlike in the nightmare house. She’s only fourteen, but she seems much younger now. Why am I remembering her differently? Maybe this behavior is more aligned with her true nature, and she was forced to be older in the house.

As my last thought swirls through my mind, the answer to my musing hits me like a sack of bricks to the gut, sending a puff of air past my rounded lips.

Of course she was forced to act older in the house. Her innocence was ripped from her inside those walls. Now that she’s out of that place, she’s probably regressing or whatever psychologists call it.

Tina holds her hand out for me, tilting her head toward the other side of the room. “You have to meet Amber. She’s so cool.”

I rise to join her. Let’s pretend she’s giving me a choice.

She drags me across the room, weaving us among the women engaged in hushed conversations. I apologize profusely for cutting through the groupings in this mad quest to get to whoever the hell this Amber chick is.

Tina drops my hand like wet garbage when we get to a very pregnant woman with short, powder-pink hair, fabulous eye makeup, and sparkling rings on every finger. A beautiful necklace with a heart-shaped pink gemstone shimmers at the top of her V-neck sweater. And oh my biscuits... I want to touch that sweater. It looks like the softest, fluffiest material I’ve ever seen.

Amber wraps Tina in a side hug since that’s all her rounded belly will allow. She scoops Tina’s black hair behind her ear.

The gesture, so tender and loving, reminds me of Tomer. He loved to touch my hair like that.

Fiddlestickdicks. I hate that I miss him. And I hate that I had to leave him. Hate him for making me do it.

Most of all, I hate him because I still love him so much it hurts.

I keep thinking about how he’s been so adamant in our texts that he intends to win me back. Each time he says it, I get more confused. Not by his words—he’s quite clear with his intentions. It’s my reaction that leaves my head spinning.

How can his vow make me both outraged and overjoyed? I’m rooting for him to succeed on one hand and flipping him off with the other. When will Simone and I get to the point in my healing journey where we can figure that shit out?

And don’t even get me started on the flirty banter that’s cropped up. I’m totally teasing and taunting him. Why? What’s come over me? It makes no sense. Add it to the agenda for my next therapy session, I suppose.

Tina turns, introducing me to the mom-to-be. “Ana, this is Amber.” She blinks three times and shakes her head. “Shoot. Sorry. I’m still not used to using your real name.” Her cheeks turn pink.

I told her yesterday that my real name isn’t Ana. It blew her sweet little mind.

“Lettie, this is Amber. She’s the one who pays for this place.”

An audible gasp escapes my chest, and I stutter a step backward before catching myself so I can attempt to play it cool.

Tina gestures an open palm between Amber and me like she’s serving us from an imaginary tray. “Amber, this is her. She’s the one who saved us.”

Wait. The what?

All the hero worship and those moon eyes Tina’s been hitting me with for the last thirty hours make a helluva lot more sense now.

“I didn’t save anyone,” I correct, shaking my head profusely.

Amber beams from Tina to me, and a hint of playfulness dances in her eyes. “That’s not what Tina said. And around here, we believe women.”

The burn in my cheeks reaches catastrophic levels as we shake hands. Her skin is so supple my squirrel wants me to ask what moisturizer she uses, but my bank account reminds me I couldn’t afford it.

“Nice to meet you, Lettie. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Well, was any of it true?” I tease. “Because I was hiding in a closet when we were rescued.”

How on Earth does Tina think I saved her? That’s crazy.

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