“Larry wants to know the address to our new house, Mom. Do you want to talk to him?”
She sighed, looking at the two wonderful men in her bed. “No, baby. Grab a pen and I’ll give you the address to share with him and Grandma.”
“I’ve got one right here.”
She gave Autumn the address to the rental house. “I will call you when I’m ready to leave.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too.” After the call ended, she turned to Bane and Adam.
“You look happy, Em.” Bane cupped her chin.
“I’m very happy to hear from Autumn.”
“I’m glad it was one of your daughters instead of whoever you were afraid was calling.” Adam was getting too close to the truth.
“What do you mean?”
One of Adam’s eyebrows shot up. “We saw how you reacted when your cell rang.”
Emma wasn’t ready to tell them about the voices. She might not ever be ready to tell anyone. She didn’t like to lie, but she didn’t have any choice right now. “I thought it was this old friend of mine that just talks and talks and talks. I certainly wasn’t in the mood for that. You can understand that, can’t you?”
Bane leaned forward. “Sure, sweetheart.”
“When are you going back to get your things, Em?” Adam asked.
“I need to clear it with Mac. As you know, she is my new boss. I’m hoping to leave tomorrow, but I need her okay.”
He nodded. “We’ll help you move your stuff.”
“We can rent a truck here and drive down together.” Bane traced her bare shoulder with his fingers. “We can make a nice trip out of it.”
“Guys, it’s over sixteen hours to drive there. That’s asking too much of you.”
“We’re not scheduled to start our new jobs for another week, Em.”
Adam smiled. “And if Mac decides you have to wait, it will be easy to get leave.”
“You mean time off, bro,” Bane said. “We’re civilians now.”
“Right. Em, we know our supervisor quite well. We served with Caleb during several of our tours.”
“Adam and I want to help you. Let us. It would be so much fun for all of us to go together.”
“Oh it’s really fun when you’re loading furniture on a truck,” she teased. “I think it would be fun, but I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“I don’t think you’re taking advantage, sweetheart.” Adam traced her chin with his finger. “We’re the ones who are offering to help you. I, for one, am not ready to be away from you, Em.”
“I for two,” Bane added.
She smiled. “I for three. Okay. You can help me.”
Adam smiled. “Now you’re talking, baby.”
“Our first road trip together.” Bane kissed her. “I’ve never been to North Dakota before. Maybe we can take a detour and see Mount Rushmore.”
She laughed. “That’s in South Dakota, soldier. That would be quite the detour.”