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We rose from our seats and headed out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the living room. Aubrey was there, standing in front of one of the big windows, her hands clasped behind her back watching the snow come down.
“Last thing I said to my mom was how I’d never abandon this place,” she said. “And now that’s just what you guys are asking me to do.”
“Only for a short time,” Tyler assured. “A few days, at the most.”
She turned, her dark eyes flashing with anger. “And what about the animals? I’ve got lives that I’m responsible for, you know. And now I have to uproot everything that I’ve built because you four dragged me into some mess with a psycho warlord?”
The guys and I glanced at one another again. I nodded to them, letting them know I’d be taking point on this one.
“Aubrey,” I said.
She said nothing, keeping that fiery stare on me.
“We’re sorry.”
Just like that, the anger seemed to have been taken out of her sails. Her expression softened, her shoulders slumping. Aubrey was a woman who wasn’t afraid to stick up for herself, to get angry when she needed to. At the same time, she wasn’t the sort to hold onto a grudge, either.
“You’re sorry,” she said, softly repeating the words.
“We’re sorry as all hell,” I said again, stepping over to her and taking her hands.
“And he speaks for all of us,” Adam chimed in. “You don’t deserve to have to deal with this.”
I held her hands in mine, feeling them shake slightly. The shaking let me know that she wasn’t just angry, she was scared.
“I know we’re asking a lot. You’ve got a life here, one that you’ve busted your butt building. And here we are, expecting you to pick it all up and take it to our place. Even if it’s for a short time, that’s no small thing.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing what needed to be said next.
“But Aubrey, we love you.”
She opened her mouth slightly, knitting her brow.
“You what?”
“We love you. I love you.”
“So do I,” Adam said. “I love you, Aubrey.”
“Same here,” Tyler added. “I love you like crazy.”
Marcus grunted. “I never thought I’d say this to a woman, but yeah. I love you, too.”
“I don’t know if you feel the same way,” I went on. “For all I know, we just ruined everything with our admissions but none of us are the type of man to live dishonestly. With that said, there’s no way we could ask this of you without you knowing how we feel about you. Hopefully, that helps to explain why we are so adamant about keeping you safe.”
Aubrey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her eyes jumping from man to man. She blinked hard, a tear trickling down her cheek. Without thinking about it, I took her face into my hands, wiping the tear away with the side of my thumb. She smiled, closing her eyes once more.
“I love you all, too,” Aubrey said, opening her eyes, her gaze on me. “I don’t know what kind of thing we’re building together here, but I can say for damn sure that there’s a lot of love involved.”
I wrapped her in my arms and held her close, Aubrey pressing her face against my shoulder.
“And I have to admit, I’m scared.”
“You don’t have to be,” I reassured her. “We’ve got each other. And we’re going to get through this.”
* * *
“Come on, Larry!” Aubrey stood at the back of the animal transport truck, clapping her hands on her knees. It was a few hours later over at our place, the last of the animals having been unloaded into our barn. It was a tight fit, and I could sense that our animals weren’t too happy about the arrangement, but it’d have to work for the next few days.
