“Thank you, ma’am,” Axel and Micah said at almost the same time.
My mom laughed. “My mama and my granny were ma’am. You boys can call me Stella.”
Both guys looked at me, but all I could do was shrug in disbelief. “Right, uh, Stella,” Micah nodded, stumbling over her name. “We appreciate the hospitality.”
I appreciated it, too, but I knew her well enough to know she wasn’t just being nice for my benefit. Had my mother been abducted by aliens since the last time I’d visited? I mean, yeah, it had been a while—probably too long, if I was being honest—but she had never had anything good to say about Axel or anyone in his family. And although she didn’t know Micah, she surely would have recognized him as one of my high school tormentors.
Axel and Micah... Micah and Axel. She’d heard their names hundreds of times over the years. Yet there she was, inviting them in and using her friendly Mom voice with them.
I liked it, but I didn’t trust all that motherly warmth and kindness.
I was too dirty and exhausted to ask questions. First, I needed a shower before I’d find out what the hell was going on with my mother.
“I’ll be quick,” I whispered to my guys as my mom walked off to find more clothes. “Try not to say too much. Oh, and please call for me if Uncle Jeff comes back.”
Axel pressed a kiss to my forehead as Micah skimmed a hand down my back. “Take your time in there, and don’t worry about us,” Axel said.
“Yeah,” Micah added. “You deserve a nice, relaxing bath. We’ll be okay out here with your mom.”
I wasn’t so sure, but the prospect of some privacy and clothing that didn’t include a dirty bed sheet was too tempting to pass up.
I only hoped everyone would still be getting along so well once I’d freshened up.
***
God, I’d never been so grateful for a bath and clean clothes in my life. My feet were wrecked, and I had a pretty ugly bruise on my cheek from the back of Randy’s hand, but I’d suffered minor injuries compared with what almost happened, given a little longer trapped with that man.
“How are you feeling, baby?” Axel’s tone was a mixture of relief and worried as I walked into my old bedroom.
He and Micah were both there waiting for me, and it was so strange seeing them in my personal space—the room where I’d grown up and cried myself to sleep way too many times while coping with the hurtful things they’d said to me at school.
I had to stop and collect my thoughts for a moment before I answered.
Which, of course, only made their worried frowns deepen. “Do you want to lie down here on your bed?” Micah stepped aside to clear a path through the small room. “Or we can leave you alone for a while if—”
“No,” I interrupted. “I don’t want to be alone right now. I want to be with you. Both of you.”
I didn’t know what else I wanted or needed at that moment, but I wanted them—my guys—to be there with me for sure.
“This was your room when you were a kid, huh?” Axel said, taking my hand in his and sitting down with me on the bed while Micah moved to sit on my other side.
“Yeah,” I smiled, looking around and taking it all in. It was exactly like I’d left it so many years ago. “My mom would have killed me if I’d even thought about bringing a boy into my room back in those days.” I looked over to Micah. “She probably would have passed out if I’d tried to bring two boys home.”
“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t try anything back then,” he answered with a rueful grin. “Not that I didn’t want to...”
Axel gently squeezed my hand. He didn’t need to say anything. It was there in his touch. In his eyes.
I looked back and forth between them without saying anything else. Even if I’d known what to say, I wasn’t ready to discuss my plans after the weekend was over.
A couple of hours ago, I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the weekend at all. It sort of felt like I had a new lease on life, like I’d been given another chance to do all the things that were important to me.
I didn't have a great long list of things, but they were each important in different ways.
Spending more time working on the historical projects that fed my creativity and my soul was high up there—and spending more time with my friends—with Poppy and Muriel, especially. They were like sisters to me, and I needed to make sure I didn’t ever take those girls for granted.
And finally, I wanted Micah and Axel. I truly wanted them. Needed them in my life.