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“We all are,” said Shep. “Every last one of us is broken in a different way. Your choice is whether you piece yourself back together again and live the life you want.”
“B-but my parents,” she started.
“Your parents will be speaking with all of us soon,” said Ham. She opened her mouth to speak but Ham held up a hand. “Not about this. They owned the cannery, Aurora. Did you know that?”
That seemed to snap her back to reality faster than anything. She looked shocked, her mouth open as she stared at them.
“No. There’s no way. My father would never own something like that. He believes you shouldn’t get dirty hands. He invests, banks, trades, but do manual labor? Never.”
Jethro scooted a little closer and Erin kissed Aurora’s forehead. She smiled at her as she stood and backed up. Winter squeezed her hand, settling it back on her knee. Ashley and Alexandra stood as well.
“We’re here for you. Always.” When Jethro was right in front of her, she launched her body into his lap. She was so small, she curled into a ball and was nearly made invisible by his arms wrapping around her.
“I’m here, honey. I’m not going anywhere,” he said over and over again.
Shep nodded at the other men and moved into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
“Shep? What can we do for her?” asked Gator.
“This. Be there for her. Get her to talk more. She was pretty tight-lipped when she first came in and then I asked her a simple question. Did they touch you? It was like a switch flipped for her. She was right back in that hut. What they did to her,” he said shaking his head. “Well, I can’t repeat it but none of us would have survived. It’s no wonder one of the women took her own life.”
“Fuck,” muttered Ham. “Now we have this bullshit with her parents and the fires to deal with.”
“They treated her terribly when she got back, Ham,” said Shep. “Looked at her as an embarrassment. Encouraged her not to speak to anyone about what happened and wanted her to say she was studying abroad. Fucking studying.”
“One more reason we’re going to have a conversation with the Langley’s,” said Gator.
The door opened and Jethro walked out with Aurora tucked beneath one big arm. She was clinging to him like he was the last life raft on the Titanic.
“I’m taking her to my place for a while.” Ham nodded.
“Understood. We’ll handle the rest.”
CHAPTER TEN
It took a solid thirty minutes to get to Jethro’s cottage with Aurora by his side. Every few minutes she would start sobbing again, uncontrollable, painful sobs that nearly tore Jethro’s heart out.
Finally, he lifted her in his arms and just walked slowly, cradling her against his chest like a sleeping infant, or at least an infant he was trying to get to sleep.
“I’m s-sorry, Jethro,” she sobbed into his t-shirt. It was soaked from her tears and her snot but he didn’t care. He’d never wash this shirt again. He wanted to remember her pain, her strength, and the trust she was giving him today.
“Nothing to be sorry for. Nothing at all.”
“I’m heavy,” she cried. He let out a low, rumbling chuckle that reverberated against her cheek.
“You don’t weight half as much as a bale of hay. I think I’m good.”
He opened the door to the cottage and stepped inside, settling her on the sofa. Stepping around the island, he put the kettle on for tea and then brought her a bottle of water.
“Do you want me to close the door?” she asked staring at the wide-open front door.
“Only if you want to. I want you to feel comfortable with me. For now, the door stays open unless you say otherwise.”
Aurora couldn’t believe his level of kindness. What kind of man thinks of things like that? What kind of man knows that open doors mean everything to a woman like her?
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked taking the seat across from her. She shook her head at first, then lowered it and nodded.
“Shep. H-he asked if they’d touched me and it all came back, Jethro. All of it,” she said crying again. “I thought I’d pushed it all away. Suddenly I was there again. I f-felt their hands, their eyes. I could smell them.”
